A Model Program for Truck Safety

OBJECTIVES -- The overall objective of this Truck Safety Project is to effectively reduce crashes and losses in Colorado through focused efforts to train and educate motor carriers and the general public; audit and evaluate safety practices; and enforce / inspect at the roadside.

Colorado maintains one of the best commercial vehicle safety records in the United States. One reason for this success is that commercial vehicle safety is at the forefront of Colorado highway and roadside safety programs. Over the past five years, the commercial vehicle crash rate has remained static at roughly 2.4% of all motor vehicle crashes in Colorado.

The current safety programs implemented by local, state and federal agencies have been successful at keeping that crash rate from rising. However, the state has seen little, if any, decline in commercial vehicle crashes. The state and federal agencies responsible for commercial vehicle safety must begin to examine alternate solutions, which creatively combine enforcement, education and engineering to affect Colorado’s truck safety.

ABOUT WELD COUNTY -- Weld County (north central plains) has one of the highest commercial vehicle accident rates in the state of Colorado. In 1998, 20% of all truck crashes in Colorado involving fatalities occurred in Weld County. Causal factors may include engineering, knowledge level, and/or regulatory compliance. Those involved in motor carrier safety acknowledge this problem, and are committed to effectively reducing the accident rate, as well as the associated financial losses.

Weld County presents an opportunity to effect change through a coordinated program of efforts focused on different aspects of commercial vehicle safety. Weld County also offers a number of challenges to creating conditions for positive change. These challenges include a large Spanish-speaking population, seasonal farm worker issues, confusion surrounding commercial vehicle/farm plates, and physical conditions consisting of mostly rural roads and limited urban centers.

 

PERFORMANCE BASED STRATEGY -- Experience with other industries has shown performance-based programs, which incorporate education and behavior modification, to be effective in changing negative actions and increasing a company’s overall safety record. Programs that incorporate performance-based measurements can both be tailored to specific circumstances and generalized into effective models. The Colorado Motor Carrier Advisory Council utilized this knowledge in the comprehensive "Size Matters" safety program.   This approach can also serve as an attractive model for future safety efforts.

The Size Matters program is just being completed and results will be reported as they are sumarized. 

"SIZE MATTERS"
FOR SAFE DRIVING

The outlined program has been designed as a state-wide model for addressing truck safety. This will allow the program to identify general causal factors and develop specific solutions to increase roadway safety for everyone. However, the Program will initially focus on Weld County for the above reasons. This pilot location was carefully chosen, and will allow comparisons to be done across the state of Colorado. Particular concepts that will be explored in this program include:

FUNDING -- Funding for this project has been provided by the Colorado Department of Transportation and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. This program is a cooperative effort among the Colorado Motor Carriers Association, the Colorado State Patrol, the Weld County Sheriff’s Office, the Greeley Police Department and the Evans Police Department.

Program Expansion In 2006 -- In 2006 a second grant was obtained from the DOT's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.  This funding allowed expansion of the program to three rural Colorado counties (Adams, Weld and Larimer).  The outreach effort was enlarged with a series of seminars offered free to carriers and drivers in these counties. 

Also services of a truck safety compliance consultant were obtained to specifically provide carriers in the counties with "free" one-on-one safety consultation.  This was the CMCA "Circuit Rider" program.