Research and Technology in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

NHTSA · 2002 · ROSA P / United States. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified

Get this paper ↗ (full text — opens at the source; we link to it, we don't host it)

Summary

This document outlines the mission, organizational structure, and strategic priorities of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Office of Research and Technology (R&T). The initiative is motivated by the significant safety challenges posed by commercial motor vehicle crashes, which resulted in over 106,000 fatalities between 1980 and 1999 and cost approximately $24 billion annually based on 1997 data. With commercial vehicle travel projected to increase by 20 percent over the following decade while highway capacity expands only slightly, the FMCSA established a goal to reduce deaths and injuries from truck- and motorcoach-related crashes by 50 percent by 2010. This target translates to saving approximately 2,500 lives and preventing 65,000 injuries each year, using 1998 data as a baseline. The R&T Program supports this goal through five specific focus areas aligned with FMCSA’s 2010 strategic objectives. First, Driver Safety Performance addresses the physical qualifications, training, and alertness of commercial drivers, as well as the behavior of non-commercial drivers near large trucks. Second, Commercial Vehicle Safety Performance aims to improve vehicle performance through the adoption of advanced safety technologies and industry compliance. Third, Carrier Compliance and Safety targets high-risk carriers by enforcing regulations and promoting best management practices. Fourth, Safety Systems and Technologies focuses on testing and deploying new operational concepts, including the Commercial Vehicle Information Systems and Networks (CVISN) for electronic screening and enforcement targeting. Fifth, Crosscutting Safety Initiatives enhance the program’s knowledge base and partnerships to better understand the interrelated factors of crashes. To achieve these objectives, the R&T Program employs methods that continually align research with the agency’s safety goals, facilitate technology use, improve partnerships within and outside the Department of Transportation, and accelerate technology transfer. The program emphasizes delivering safety through the development, evaluation, and deployment of advanced technologies, such as those funded by the Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office. The expected outcomes of these efforts include qualified drivers who are medically fit and technologically trained; smart commercial vehicles equipped with integrated technologies to monitor vehicle, driver, cargo, and roadway conditions; and smart roadside facilities that use information systems to improve safety, compliance, and traffic management. By addressing driver, vehicle, carrier, and technology issues, the R&T Program provides critical support to the FMCSA’s broader mission of preventing crashes and reducing injuries in the commercial motor vehicle industry.

Provenance

The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed. Discovered via bulk_ingest_rosap on 2026-05-23 (8 acquisition events logged).

Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-15; verification: verified.

Topics

Ranked by relevance to this paper. Hover a topic for its definition.

• fleet safety
• bus coach
• truck driver fatigue

Information type

What kind of knowledge this paper contributes, grouped by family — independent of topic (what it is about) and method (how it was studied).

• Empirical Findings: crash risk outcomes