Improving Commercial Vehicle Driver Safety: The Employer Notification Service State Pilot Test

A comprehensive Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) study was conducted to define the potential safety benefits of a notification system for drivers with a commercial driver's license (CDL). Under the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986, within 30 days of a conviction for any traffic violation (except parking), a driver must notify his/her employer. These requirements place the burden for discovering driver history on employers and rely on drivers to voluntarily notify employers of convictions for any traffic violations that occur while they are driving either commercial or personal vehicles. This paper describes the prototype Employer Notification Service (ENS) system and the results from an 18-month pilot test of the prototype in two or more states (Colorado, Minnesota). The ENS offers a time-efficient means for notifying employers when the CDL drivers they employ experience driving convictions or CDL status changes, such as revocation or suspension of their CDL. The ENS approach can enable motor carriers to take timely corrective actions to potentially reduce crash risks caused by at-risk drivers. The authors report the preliminary findings of the pilot test to date (as of January 2008). They conclude by offering recommendations for the next steps in implementation in four areas: outreach to governmental agencies and motor carriers; support for independent evaluation; the definition of user needs and the evaluation of next-generation system features; and an assessment of national deployment.

• Corporate Authors:

  ITS America

  1100 17th Street, NW, 12th Floor
  Washington, DC  United States  20036
• Authors:
  • Flanigan, Chris
  • Jensen, Mark A
• Conference:
  • 15th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems and ITS America's 2008 Annual Meeting
  • Location: New York NY, United States
  • Date: 2008-11-16 to 2008-11-20
• Publication Date: 2008

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: CD-ROM
• Features: Figures; Tables;
• Pagination: 12p
• Monograph Title: ITS Connections: Saving Time. Saving Lives

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Certification; Commercial drivers; Data collection; Databases; Driver monitoring; Laws and legislation; Pilot studies; Risk assessment; Tracking systems; Traffic conviction; Traffic violations
• Identifier Terms: Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986; Employer Notification Service
• Geographic Terms: Colorado; Minnesota
• Subject Areas: Freight Transportation; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01142535
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Oct 28 2009 8:51AM