House Moves to Cut OMC Funds Unless DOT Shifts Safety Projects

Rep. Frank Wolf is forcing a showdown over federal motor carrier safety programs by moving to cut off all funding for truck safety projects unless the Department of Transportation quickly agrees to shift them out of the Federal Highway Administration.

Wolf, the Virginia Republican who is one of trucking's sharpest critics, this week persuaded his Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee to remove all funding as of Oct. 1 from the Office of Motor Carrier and Highway Safety unless DOT agrees to move it out of FHWA.

While Wolf has been pushing DOT to shift motor carrier safety responsibility to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, he indicated he would consider an alternative plan that would create a new modal administration within DOT designed to oversee national motor carrier safety.

The unanimous vote capped a flurry of activity in Washington that went straight to the heart of motor carrier safety politics. In the course of four days:

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Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater announced plans to cut the number of truck-related fatalities in half over the next decade;

Slater released preliminary data showing the first decline in the number of fatalities from truck-related crashes in three years;

Norman Mineta, the influential former chairman of the House Transportation Committee, told a congressional panel that safety oversight should be staffed up and kept within a renamed Federal Highway and Motor Carrier Safety Administration;

Lawmakers debated whether to create a separate Motor Carrier Administration within the Department of Transportation without reaching a conclusion;

And DOT said it is still struggling to reach consensus on hours of service reform, dashing hopes for getting the public rulemaking process going by July.

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