The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration awarded $479 million in grants to states for law enforcement to conduct commercial vehicle safety inspections, investigations and audits, the agency announced Monday.
Annual funding is sent to all states under the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program upon the completion of an FMCSA-approved commercial vehicle safety plan. The amount varies each year because it is determined by a formula, according to the agency.
“Across the entire country, we are making our roadways safer and strengthening our national supply chains with resources made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in the announcement. “The funding we’re announcing today will help our local safety partners invest in initiatives that will continue this important work and make our roadways safer.”
The program, FMCSA’s largest source of grants, is the federal government’s mechanism for paying for more than 12,000 state and local law enforcement officers to perform truck and bus safety inspections and enforcement across the country.
The grants reinforce responsible truck and bus operation and promote other initiatives such as outreach and education efforts to combat human trafficking, distracted driving and other roadway safety concerns, according to FMCSA.
In the announcement, Acting Deputy Administrator Sue Lawless described the safety assistance grant funding as “an important tool for reducing crashes and fatalities involving commercial motor vehicles.”
Lawless cited an estimated 8% drop in fatalities on the nation’s roadways from 2022 to 2023.
“We know the needle is moving in the right direction, but until we reach zero roadway deaths, there will always be more work to do,” she said. “These grants help fund that work.”
