The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on Thursday, Aug. 25, announced more than $8 million in federal grants to improve commercial truck and bus safety across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. FMCSA awarded $7.9 million to the Pennsylvania State Police, Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to strengthen enforcement oversight at high-crash corridors throughout the state, conduct safety audits of new truck and bus companies and upgrade the commercial driver’s license knowledge test from paper to electronic form at testing facilities across the state.
“Above all else, safety is our top priority,” says U.S. Transportation Secretary LaHood. “These grants empower our Pennsylvania partners with the vital resources they need to raise the bar for commercial truck and bus safety, and to swiftly remove unsafe operators from the road.”
FMCSA also awarded $174,370 to the City of Philadelphia Police Department to support its full-time commercial motor vehicle inspection unit and to increase safety inspection strike forces and other traffic enforcement activities. FMCSA additionally awarded the Pittsburgh Police Department $239,991 to bolster commercial truck and bus inspections at tunnel entrances and to train its CMV enforcement unit.
“Local and state law enforcement are our first line of defense for identifying and removing unsafe commercial trucks and buses from our roads,” says FMCSA Deputy Administrator William Bronrott. “These targeted resources will help us save lives by strengthening compliance with bus and truck safety standards across Pennsylvania and along the I-95 corridor.”
