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Are some states becoming refuges for registering out-of-service commercial vehicle carriers?

That’s the possibility raised in a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) about a voluntary program administered by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).

The report says it appears the Performance and Registration Information Systems Management (PRISM) program is keeping carriers that FMCSA has ordered out of service from obtaining vehicle registrations in the 25 states in which it operates.

An additional 6 states have started collecting identification numbers and may be checking the safety status of the carrier at the time of registration.

But 3 states are not participating in PRISM, and another 15 states and the District of Columbia haven’t started to implement the program despite commitments to FMCSA that they will do so. This includes states with the greatest number of registered commercial motor vehicles.

The 18 states without active programs are: California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

The GAO report is available online here (free Adobe Acrobat Reader required).

Tags: FMCSA, out-of-service commercial vehicle carriers, unsafe commercial vehicle carriers