The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) will issue more than $118 million in grants to improve roadway safety in the United States, boost commercial vehicle enforcement, and offer high-quality training for military veterans entering the trucking industry, the Department of Transportation (DOT) said in a statement on Dec. 30.
The FMCSA grants “direct critical resources to state and local partners to reduce crashes through data-driven enforcement,” DOT said.
“The investments also bolster the integrity of the Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) system to ensure only qualified drivers are getting behind the wheel,” it added.
Of the $118 million, $71.6 million will be set aside for high-priority grants to support local and state enforcement efforts, such as reducing commercial motor vehicle crashes, conducting awareness campaigns on unsafe driving in high-risk crash corridors, and deploying new technologies to ensure compliance with safety rules.
FMCSA will award $43.8 million as CDL program implementation grants, according to the department. These grants aid states in complying with federal rules and ensure that the process of issuing CDL remains “secure, accurate, and resistant to fraud.”
“At both the national and state levels, agencies responsible for any component of the CDL program can use funding to strengthen compliance oversight, provide training to prevent the masking of driving violations, and implement solutions that improve the timeliness of conviction processing between courts and state systems,” DOT said.
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