The Interstate Commerce Commission's Enforcement Program

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed various aspects of the Interstate Commerce Commission's (ICC) motor carrier enforcement program, focusing on ICC enforcement priorities, the ICC standards used to measure the effectiveness of its enforcement effort, and the procedures ICC uses to allocate resources. GAO identified five problem areas which limit the effective management of the enforcement program: (1) program goals and priorities have not been established by ICC; (2) program response to complaints appears to be less effective than it might be; (3) ICC has concentrated on only one of the five congressionally identified violation areas; (4) unclear ICC program data often lead to inaccurate resource measurements; and (5) uncertain program goals have resulted in questionable enforcement staffing levels. GAO concluded that, although there are alternatives to ICC enforcement, the results may not be satisfactory, and ICC may offer a better potential for proper enforcement.