Panel Scolds FMCSA Over Safety, Training

hile meeting the Bush administration’s request for more than $500 million in funding for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for fiscal 2007, the House Appropriations Committee issued an accompanying report chiding the agency for its handling of carrier safety compliance reviews and new driver training.

“The committee continues to be concerned that only a very small percentage of registered motor carriers undergo a safety compliance each year,” the report released last week said.

“FMCSA’s own fiscal year 2007 budget submission estimates that only 10,000 compliance reviews will be conducted by the agency in fiscal year 2006 out of approximately 685,000 registered interstate motor carriers — less than 1.5% of registered motor carriers.”