The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) said recently that it has formed the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program (MCSAP) Formula Working Group, as part of Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act directives.
The group is tasked with analyzing the factors needed to develop a new allocation formula for the MCSAP, the state grant program of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
USDOT said the MCSAP group is essential for supporting commercial motor vehicle enforcement activities, which include ensuring regulatory compliance through inspections and audits. MCSAP grant funds are used to maintain states’ commercial motor vehicle (CMV) enforcement programs and support new-entrant audits, state-conducted compliance investigations, roadside inspections and traffic-enforcement activities.
“The Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program provides critical funds each year to states to support their large-truck and bus-safety efforts,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said. “Now that we have expeditiously fulfilled this FAST Act requirement, I look forward to receiving the working group’s recommendations on how we can enhance and streamline this important safety grant program with the ultimate goal of making our nation’s roads safer.”
The group consists of representatives from state governments, police departments and organizations representing various regions of the U.S.