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DOT, FMCSA Sweep Removes 2,000 Truckers and CMVs
Trump Administration’s Nationwide SafeDRIVE Initiative Leads to Out-of-Service Orders, Dozens of Arrests
Key Takeaways:
- DOT’s Operation SafeDRIVE conducted more than 8,000 inspections and removed nearly 2,000 drivers and vehicles from service.
- FMCSA emphasized the campaign’s focus on unsafe behaviors, qualifications and impaired driving.
- ATA supported the enforcement effort, saying consistent application of safety laws improves highway safety.
Nearly 2,000 commercial drivers and vehicles were removed from service by the Department of Transportation as part of a conducted in January.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy applauded officials with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration as well as state DOTs from more than two dozen states for carrying out the SafeDRIVE campaign. Key stakeholders, such as American Trucking Associations, endorsed the agencies’ start-of-the-year campaign.
“Operation SafeDRIVE shows what happens when we work together with our law enforcement partners to pull unqualified drivers and vehicles off American roads,” Duffy said Feb. 6, with DOT describing the initiative as “a high-visibility, multistate enforcement and education effort focused on reducing dangerous driving behaviors, ensuring drivers are properly qualified, and addressing unsafe drivers and vehicles on the nation’s roadways.”
“We need a whole-of-government approach to ensure the Trump administration’s strong standards of safety are in place to protect American families and reduce road accidents,” the nation’s top transportation officer continued.
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“This operation was about safety,” added FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs in a statement accompanying the secretary’s announcement.
“When drivers ignore the rules, operate without proper qualifications or get behind the wheel impaired, they put all of our lives at risk,” Barrs went on. “Operation SafeDRIVE demonstrates the value of focused enforcement and strong partnerships in removing these drivers and vehicles from our roads.”
In mid-January, safety officials in 26 states and the nation’s capital conducted 8,215 inspections. They placed 704 drivers out of service for various violations, placed 1,231 vehicles out of service and issued 56 arrests for myriad charges, according to DOT.
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As part of the initiative, FMCSA also carried out educational outreach. The campaign served as an opportunity to remind motorists to avoid blind spots, not cut off large vehicles, never tailgate and pass safely. The agency explained: “Make sure you can see the driver in their side mirror. Signal clearly and safely pass the truck or bus. Don’t linger in the blind spot. Make sure the truck or bus is visible in your rearview mirror before you pull in front.”
For emphasis, the department reaffirmed: “FMCSA’s primary mission is to prevent crashes, fatalities and injuries involving large trucks and buses. FMCSA develops safety and regulatory standards for commercial driver’s licenses; analyzes data and sponsors research; and conducts enforcement and education.”
FMCSA consistently partners with nonprofits, local and state transportation agencies and industry stakeholders to promote driver training, safety inspections, and ensure regulatory compliance and enforcement.
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ATA Vice President of Safety Policy Brenna Lyles pointed to the safety initiative’s contributions: “For safety laws to work, they must be enforced. Thanks to federal leadership, state partnership and the critical work of law enforcement officers, Operation SafeDRIVE has made our highways safer by taking unqualified and potentially unsafe drivers and vehicles off the road.”
“ATA looks forward to continued partnership with Secretary Duffy, FMCSA Administrator Barrs and law enforcement across the nation,” Lyles said in a Feb. 10 statement, “to ensure safety laws are enforced evenly and consistently.”
Operation SafeDRIVE (Distracted Reckless Impaired Visibility Enforcement) was held Jan. 13-15 in Washington, D.C.; Alabama; Arkansas; Connecticut; Delaware; Florida; Georgia; Illinois; Kentucky; Louisiana; Maine; Maryland; Massachusetts; Mississippi; New Hampshire; New Jersey; New Mexico; New York; North Carolina; Oklahoma; Pennsylvania; Rhode Island; South Carolina; Tennessee; Texas; Virginia; and West Virginia.
