Commercial trucking accidents are one of the biggest hazards facing American drivers, and contribute to an average of 4,000 fatalities every year. Although the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has a system for rating the safety performance of commercial truck companies and bus carriers, a new report finds that the system is inadequate, and delivers incorrect results.
Those are the findings of a new report released by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The GAO recently completed an audit of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability program. The Compliance, Safety, Accountability program uses data collected from roadside inspections of trucks and 18- wheelers, as well as data from accident investigations, and uses this information to compare the performance of commercial truck and bus carriers. Trucks and buses are compared to other carriers of similar size and other characteristics.
The data are then used to increase oversight and scrutiny over the truck and bus carriers that the data finds have the highest number of safety violations.The data are compared with other trucking and bus companies as part of the Compliance, Safety, Accountability program’s Safety Measurement System.