FMCSA wants funding increase for CSA program

Washington – The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has requested a significant increase in funding for its Compliance, Safety, Accountability program to oversee safety of commercial motor vehicles, according to a Government Accountability Office report (.pdf file) released Feb. 25.

Since 2004, FMCSA has been developing its CSA program (formerly known as Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010) and has increasingly devoted resources to it, the GAO report stated. The program introduces a new system for identifying and responding to carrier safety risks.

The agency intends to increase the number of carriers it evaluates and reduce crashes involving CMVs. For fiscal year 2012, FMCSA is requesting $78 million and 98 new full-time positions to fully implement CSA and integrate it into the agency’s operations. FMCSA requested $14.3 million for fiscal year 2011 to support full implementation of the program.

GAO investigators were asked by Congress to review FMCSA’s resources because of concerns with the agency’s ability to implement the CSA program. GAO concluded FMCSA needs to complete both nationwide implementation of its CSA program and a rulemaking for a Carrier Safety Fitness Determination.