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itoring, and accident review. Trucking company statistics were Past CTBSSP Synthesis Reports
disaggregated by number of carrier power units (19, 1024,
2550, 51100, and >100). Bus company statistics were pro- This report extensively cites past CTBSSP reports, especially
vided separately, but not disaggregated by company size. The those addressing core carrier safety management functions.
current study definition of small carriers spans several of None of these past reports focused primarily on small carrier
Stock's smaller carrier size categories. To avoid the presenta- issues; however, many of them addressed issues of impor-
tion of an excessive number of statistics, Stock's statistics for tance to small carriers. More information on the CTBSSP,
just one category (typically 10 to 24 trucks) are typically cited including free downloads of all past reports can be found at:
in this report. Exceptions are made when there are large dif- http://www.trb.org/SynthesisPrograms/Public/Commercial
ferences across Stock's smaller categories. Stock also ana- TruckandBusSafetySynthesisProgram.aspx.
lyzed roadside inspection data from the U.S.DOT MCMIS and
compared driver and vehicle violation rates by carrier size. DISCLAIMERS
Best Highway Safety Practices: A Survey of the Survey Five disclaimers are necessary regarding the study method-
of the Safest Motor Carriers About Safety Management ology and the information presented in this report:
Practices. Under the sponsorship of the FMCSA, the Univer-
sity of Maryland (UM) Supply Chain Management Center 1. Several commercial products and services are mentioned
surveyed "best safety performers" to identify and define their in the course of the interviews and evidence review. No
safety management programs and policies (Corsi and Barnard product or service was formally evaluated for this report.
2003). The study identified best safety performers through a Company and brand names provided are illustrative of
two-step process, which included review of SafeStat perfor- available products and services. Neither TRB nor this
mance data and recommendations from FMCSA state safety report endorses any company, product, or service.
directors. A survey completed by 148 safe trucking compa- 2. There are regulatory and government policy issues and
nies formed the basis for their report. Survey areas included activities underway regarding various topics in this
general company information, driver hiring practices, driver report, especially those relating to motor carrier enforce-
training practices, encouraging and reinforcing safe driving ment. This report did not systematically address these
behavior, managing and monitoring driver abilities, and man- issues and makes no policy recommendations.
3. Project survey data are based on convenience samples
aging vehicle maintenance. Many of the questions asked for
of responding motor carrier managers. Survey data
respondent opinions of the importance of various practices,
represent the opinions and practices of the respondent
rather than simply asking if the practice was done. Statistics
samples, not of larger populations such as "all carrier
for three carrier size categories were presented: 124, 2594,
managers." As explained in chapter two, survey sam-
and >95 power units. Statistics were also disaggregated by ples in projects of this nature contain inherent biases
cargo commodity types. No bus companies were included in toward respondents who are more active and interested
the study. in the topic at hand.
4. Statements reported in the project case studies are those
Key caveats regarding both the I-95 Corridor and UM of the interviewees. The opinions expressed in the case
reports are similar to those for the current report. Most notably, study summaries do not necessarily reflect those of the
the respondent samples in each should not be construed as report authors or TRB.
representative samples of the motor carrier industry. Rather, 5. Chapter five suggests 27 safety management practices
they represented "best performers" who were willing to take believed by the authors to be generally effective based
the time to complete project surveys and share information on all project information sources. Not all of these
on their practices. Further, in the UM study there was a con- methods would be useful or applicable to every motor
certed effort to limit the survey to best safety performers carrier. They are presented as ideas for consideration,
based on compliance data. not as industry standards.
