Appendix A to Part 350 - Guidelines To Be Used in Preparing State Enforcement Plan

1. Designate the lead State agency: The plan should indicate the agency responsible for administering the plan.

2. Program Summary: This section includes objectives, activities, resources, costs and an analysis of the effectiveness of the program.

(a) Define the problem: In assessing the level of commitment to be made to the enforcement of commercial motor carrier and highway hazardous materials safety regulations, the following factors should be considered:

(1) Volume of commercial motor vehicle traffic;

(2) Type of commercial motor vehicle traffic;

(3) Volume of commercial motor vehicle traffic transporting hazardous materials;

(4) Number and frequency (rate) of commercial motor carrier accidents;

(5) Severity of accidents involving commercial motor carriers:

(i) Fatalities;

(ii) Injuries; and

(iii) Property damage.

(6) Seasonal commercial motor carrier operational patterns within the State;

(7) Type and frequency of violations of traffic safety laws and regulations pertaining to commercial motor vehicles and accidents;

(8) Use of alcohol and controlled substances by commercial motor vehicle drivers; and

(9) Problems related to overweight vehicles and safety. (The information in paragraphs 2(a) (6), (7), (8), and (9) of this appendix may or may not be available to the States at present. To be able to measure program effectiveness, however, States will need to compile this type of data.)

(b) Determine current enforcement efforts: The plan should identify the activities currently engaged in by the State to address the commercial motor carrier and hazardous materials safety problems. This should include a description of existing laws, regulations and compliance activities, as well as the agencies within the State with enforcement responsibilities.

(c) Establish the objectives: A key element in each plan is the establishment of the objectives sought to be achieved through the use of Federal funds. The objectives should be stated in terms of quantifiable measurements of results, where possible, or at least of effort. Ideally, the objectives should include a measurable reduction in highway accidents or hazardous materials incidents involving commercial motor vehicles, but may also refer to quantifiable improvements in legislative or regulatory authorities, problem identification, enforcement strategies and resource allocations.

(1) Goals should be identified as:

(i) Short term—the year beginning October 1 following submission of a MCSAP enforcement plan.

(ii) Medium term—two to four years after submission of the enforcement plan.

(iii) Long term—five years beyond the submission of the enforcement plan.

(2) Describe the practices: The plan should describe how the resources are to be employed to achieve the objectives included under 350.13 and should discuss:

(i) Schedules of operation of inspection sites and units;

(ii) Tactics for placing vehicles out of service and verifying compliance;

(iii) Projected number of annual:

(A) Roadside vehicle inspections including Commercial Driver's Licenses checks; and

(B) Safety and Compliance Reviews;

(iv) Methods to inspect all types of carriage;

(v) Strategy for preventing circumvention or avoidance of inspections;

(vi) Procedures for handling hazardous materials carriers and passenger carriers;

(vii) Supervision and recordkeeping; and

(viii) Methods used to coordinate activities with the State highway safety plan under 23 U.S.C. 402, including providing information to the appropriate State agency, describing the information provided, and discussing the comments that were received.

(3) Identify the resources: The plan should detail the resources to be used in accomplishing the objectives, and should include:

(i) State agencies involved:

(A) Lead agency; and

(B) Local and other cooperating political subdivisions.

(ii) Personnel (from each agency involved):

(A) Line functions;

(B) Staff and supervision; and

(C) Administrative, technical and clerical.

(iii) Facilities:

(A) Inspection sites regularly maintained; and

(B) Building space required.

(iv) Equipment:

(A) Vehicles;

(B) Communication and ADP; and

(C) Other specialized tools.

(v) Itemization of Costs:

(A) Personnel (salaries, benefits, etc.);

(B) Equipment (purchase, rental, fuel, maintenance, depreciation, salvage, etc.); and

(C) Facilities (rent and overhead).

(d) Program evaluation: Each plan should include a provision for program evaluation of the effectiveness of previous activities. This should include the economic and operational impact of increased enforcement and provisions for review and update of the plan. It is not practicable to establish objective minimums, as each State has unique characteristics and varying levels of existing enforcement activity. The FHWA will cooperate with State regulatory and enforcement agencies by gathering useful information and experience on elements of enforcement practices that produce positive results.

The bottom line objective in any safety program is a decrease in the number and severity of accidents. Motor carrier safety regulations should be designed to prescribe methods to eliminate the risks of accidents. Compliance with such regulations should, therefore, reduce accidents. The States are encouraged to design their programs to link their enforcement efforts to causes of accidents, whenever possible, and to develop the data necessary to demonstrate the results. The States are encouraged to use the safety and program performance data collected over several years to show trends and effects of program activities. In assessing State Enforcement Plans, the FHWA will be particularly attentive to the methods by which effectiveness is to be evaluated, and will provide whatever assistance is feasible in developing measurement factors.