Commercial Motor Vehicle Enforcement: Identifying Appropriate Levels

US Transportation Collection2013PDFTech ReportBrachman, Jarret MNorth Dakota State UniversityUpper Great Plains Transportation InstituteUpper Great Plains Transportation InstituteMontanaNorth DakotaSouth DakotaWyomingUnited StatesCommercial vehiclesCrash dataHighway safetySize and weight regulationsTraffic law enforcementTraffic violationsTrucksSP-178Commercial motor vehicle (CMV) enforcement efforts seek to make travel on public highways safer. CMV enforcement professionals secure compliance of CMV's with state laws regulating weight of commercial vehicles to protect state highways from unnecessary damage, and ensure payment of necessary registration fees as well as compliance with traffic laws and regulations to protect the safety of the general public using highways. Commensurate with their levels of training, road patrol officers enforce the laws relating to rules of the road, driver qualification and condition, hours of service, and significant equipment and loading violations. This study of approaches to CMV enforcement taken by four states shows a consistent increase in the willingness and ability use a wide array of mechanisms to minimize the number and seriousness of truck crashes on public roads. It concludes that North Dakota's enforcement efforts compare favorably with the efforts of peer states of South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana. Future studies may produce more robust results as to the specific impact of particular enforcement efforts.143