Truck Safety: Effectiveness of Motor Carriers Office Hampered by Data Problems and Slow Progress on Implementing Safety Initiatives

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the safety of large commercial trucks on the nation's highways, focusing on: (1) recent increases in the number of crashes involving large trucks; (2) the Federal Highway Administration's Office of Motor Carrier and Highway Safety's (OMCHS) need to better understand the factors that contribute to such crashes; and (3) OMCHS' need for better data and quicker action on implementing improvements to truck safety to be more effective.