a

GAO

United States Government Accountability Office

Report to Congressional Committees

December 2005 FEDERAL MOTOR 

CARRIER SAFETY 

ADMINISTRATION

Education and 

Outreach Programs 

Target Safety and 

Consumer Issues, but 

Gaps in Planning and 

Evaluation Remain

GAO-06-103
What GAO Found

United States Government Accountability Office

Why GAO Did This Study

Highlights

Accountability Integrity Reliability

December 2005

FEDERAL MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY 

ADMINISTRATION 

Education and Outreach Programs Target 

Safety and Consumer Issues, but Gaps in 

Planning and Evaluation Remain 

Highlights of GAO-06-103, a report to 

congressional committees 

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Administration (FMCSA) is 

responsible for improving

commercial vehicle safety and uses 

education and outreach as part of

its efforts. The House report 

accompanying the fiscal year 2005

Department of Transportation 

(DOT) appropriations bill asked 

GAO to report on FMCSA’s

education and outreach programs 

to the House and Senate

Committees on Appropriations. 

GAO (1) describes FMCSA’s 

education and outreach programs 

and how they relate to FMCSA’s 

goals (2) identifies the extent to 

which FMCSA has evaluated its 

education and outreach programs 

and (3) describes the extent to

which FMCSA’s education and 

outreach programs are effective.

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends that the

Secretary of Transportation direct

the FMCSA Administrator to 

describe the link between 

education and outreach programs 

and agency strategic objectives and 

evaluate the extent to which 

educational information and safety 

audits are helping new carriers 

learn FMCSA requirements. GAO 

provided a draft of this report to

DOT for its review and comment. 

FMCSA officials commented on the

link between its education and

outreach programs and its overall 

goals. Based on FMCSA’s 

comments, GAO acknowledged 

FMCSA’s comments and clarified 

the recommendations.

FMCSA’s education and outreach programs—New Entrant, Non-Entrant, 

Motor Coach, Safety Belt, and Household Goods— target different 

audiences, including the motor carrier industry, commercial vehicle drivers, 

and the public. Total funding for these programs in fiscal year 2005 was $36.3 

million; the largest share (about $33 million) went to the New Entrant 

program, which is designed to inform newly registered motor carriers (new

entrants) about motor carrier safety standards and regulations to help them 

gain compliance with FMCSA requirements. FMCSA uses many approaches, 

such as direct contact with carriers, media campaigns, distributing printed 

materials, and establishing Web sites to provide information to target 

audiences. FMCSA has not described how its education and outreach 

program activities link expected changes in attitudes and behavior to 

broader goals, such as DOT’s strategic objective of reducing transportationrelated fatalities. FMCSA officials state that the education and outreach 

activities and programs link to agency goals at a high level, but this was not 

evident from our review, with the exception of the Safety Belt program. 

FMCSA has used a logic model as a tool in other programs to show the 

relationship between program activities and broader goals. 

FMCSA has begun some evaluations of its education and outreach programs,

and plans other evaluations of these programs. However, although FMCSA’s 

New Entrant program has existed for over 2 years, FMCSA has no plans to 

evaluate its New Entrant program until 2008. Thus FMCSA has no 

information on whether information on its safety requirements, provided 

through the Education and Technical Assistance package or during New 

Entrant safety audits—targeted toward truckers newly entering the 

industry—effectively communicate information to new entrants. This lack 

of evaluation makes it difficult to determine the impact the education 

portion of the New Entrant program has on commercial motor vehicle 

safety. 

Since FMCSA currently has little information on how its programs have 

affected attitudes and behavior, it is difficult to determine the effectiveness 

of FMCSA’s effort. However, the designs of two programs appear to follow 

theories and research regarding media campaigns, which are intended to 

influence decision making about safety. Research and behavior theory 

suggest that for some types of programs—such as DOT’s Click It or Ticket 

program, which is designed to increase safety-belt use by passenger car 

drivers—enforcement linked to education can improve results, and FMCSA 

has indicated it is linking some education and outreach programs to 

enforcement efforts, where appropriate. Finally, motor carrier association 

officials whom we spoke with stated that, in their view, FMCSA is doing 

some positive things in its education and outreach activities. A public safety 

group stated that FMCSA followed reasonable approaches in starting its 

education and outreach efforts; however, they would like to see more 

information on program effectiveness to help FMCSA refine the programs. 

www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-103.

To view the full product, including the scope 

and methodology, click on the link above. 

For more information, contact Katherine 

Siggerud at (202) 512-2834 or at 

siggerudk@gao.gov. 
Page i GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

Contents

Letter 1

Results in Brief 4

Background 9

FMCSA Has Established Several Education and Outreach Efforts 

but Needs Specific Links to Goals 12

Evaluations of Specific Education and Outreach Programs Impacts 

Are Still in Preliminary Stages, but the Lack of a Plan to Evaluate 

How New Entrant Safety Audits Improve Knowledge and 

Attitudes Raises Concern 25

The Effectiveness of Education and Outreach Programs Is Unclear, 

but Programs Seem to be Reasonably Designed According to 

Theories of Behavior Change and Industry Groups 31

Conclusions 37

Recommendations for Executive Action 38

Agency Comments 39

Appendixes

Appendix I: Scope and Methodology 42

Appendix II: FMCSA Education and Outreach Programs 44

Appendix III: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments 51

Tables Table 1: Overview of FMCSA Education and Outreach Programs 13

Table 2: How Fiscal Year 2005 Outreach and Education Funding Is 

Being Used 18

Table 3: Hierarchy of Objective, Goal, and Indicators for FMCSA’s 

Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Objective 20

Figures Figure 1: Cover of Safety Belt Partnership Brochure 15

Figure 2: FMCSA Fiscal Year 2005 Education and Outreach 

Funding 17

Figure 3: Program Logic Model 24

Figure 4: FMCSA’s Evaluations and Planned Evaluations by 

Program 26

Figure 5: Number of New Entrant Safety Audits Completed by 

FMCSA and State Agencies (first 7 months of fiscal year 

2005) 46
Contents

Page ii GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

Abbreviations

CVSA Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance

DOT Department of Transportation

FMCSA Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

GPRA Government Performance and Results Act

GSA General Services Administration

MCMIS Motor Carrier Management Information System

NHTSA National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

OMB Office of Management and Budget

SAFETEA-LU Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation 

Equity Act: A Legacy for Users

TAG Technical Assistance Group

This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright protection in the 

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Page 1 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

United States Government Accountability Office

Washington, D.C. 20548

A

December 19, 2005 Letr

The Honorable Joe Knollenberg

Chairman

The Honorable John W. Olver 

Ranking Minority Member

Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury, Housing, and Urban

 Development, the Judiciary, the District of Columbia,

 and Independent Agencies

Committee on Appropriations

House of Representatives

The Honorable Christopher S. Bond

Chairman

The Honorable Patty Murray

Ranking Minority Member

Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury, the Judiciary, Housing 

 and Urban Development, and Related Agencies 

Committee on Appropriations

United States Senate

In 2003, large trucks represented 3 percent of registered vehicles in the 

country, but nearly 12 percent of the people killed in motor vehicle 

accidents died in crashes involving large trucks. The Federal Motor Carrier 

Safety Administration (FMCSA), within the Department of Transportation 

(DOT), is responsible for improving the safety of commercial vehicle 

operations—which includes interstate truck and motor coach (bus) 

companies—and has set a safety goal to reduce fatalities from an estimated 

2.81 per 100 million truck vehicle miles traveled in 1996 to no more than 

1.65 per 100 million truck vehicle miles traveled by the end of 2008. Among 

the ways that FMCSA attempts to achieve this and other goals is through 

education and outreach activities.1

 For example, the agency provides 

information to consumers about motor coach safety records and what to 

consider when hiring a moving company. It also provides new motor 

carriers with information on safety requirements and conducts safety 

audits to review motor carrier compliance with these requirements. In 

some cases, education and outreach efforts regarding safety audits may be 

reinforced when followed-up with enforcement.

1

Other activities include working with states and contractors to enforce federal motor 

carrier safety regulations.
Page 2 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

In recent years, we have raised concerns about FMCSA education and 

outreach efforts. In 2003, for example, we reported that FMCSA’s “Share 

the Road Safely” program lacked a clear program strategy and included 

activities that were only tenuously linked to program goals, and we 

reported that FMCSA had not recently evaluated the program’s 

effectiveness.2

 In addition, our 2001 report on oversight of the household 

goods moving industry noted that DOT and FMCSA had made limited 

efforts to provide consumer education that would enable the public to be 

more informed about hiring a mover.3

 Furthermore, the Congress has 

expressed concern about how FMCSA’s education and outreach programs 

are meeting broader goals. In the conference report accompanying the 

DOT appropriations bill for fiscal year 2005, FMCSA was asked to report by 

April 2005 to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations on 

strategies linking outreach and education program initiatives to each goal. 

The House report accompanying the DOT appropriations bill for fiscal year 

2005 asked us to monitor and evaluate FMCSA’s education and outreach 

programs and to report on the status of these programs to the House and 

Senate Committees on Appropriations.4

 We (1) describe the scope and 

nature of FMCSA’s education and outreach programs and how they relate 

to FMCSA’s goals, (2) identify the extent to which FMCSA has evaluated its 

education and outreach programs, and (3) describe the extent to which 

FMCSA’s education and outreach programs are effective. As discussed with 

your staff, we focused on five specific education and outreach programs: 

(1) the New Entrant; (2) the Non-Entrant; (3) Commercial Safety-Belt Use; 

(4) Motor Coach Selection Outreach; and (5) Household Goods Outreach 

programs and did not review the “Share the Road Safely” program, which 

Congress transferred from FMCSA to the National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration (NHTSA) in fiscal year 2004, with FMCSA retaining a 

supporting role. The recent highway reauthorization legislation5

 authorizes 

funding for this program to both FMCSA and NHTSA and asks us to review 

the “Share the Road Safely” program by June 2006. 

2

GAO, Truck Safety: Share the Road Safely Program Needs Better Evaluation of Its 

Initiatives, GAO-03-680 (Washington, D.C.: May 30, 2003).

3

GAO, Consumer Protection: Federal Actions Are Needed to Improve Oversight of the 

Household Goods Moving Industry, GAO-01-318 (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 5, 2001).

4

H.Rept. 108-71, 53.

5

Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users, 

(SAFETEA-LU), Pub. L. 109-59§4127.
Page 3 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

To describe the scope and nature of FMCSA’s education and outreach 

programs and FMCSA’s intended results for these programs, we discussed 

these programs with FMCSA officials at agency headquarters and two field 

locations, and we reviewed program materials and documentation as well 

as observed a safety audit for the new entrant program. We also analyzed 

both the extent to which FMCSA describes how its programs lead to 

agency goals and incorporates its education and outreach programs into its 

strategic and program planning and performance budgeting. To identify 

approaches to describing how agency programs contribute to agency goals, 

we reviewed our previous work on government education programs that 

showed how a program logic model—a model that links activities to goals 

by analyzing program inputs, outputs, and outcomes—illustrates how 

education and outreach activities can influence attitudes and behavior, and 

ultimately contribute to agency goals. To identify what the agency was 

doing to evaluate these programs, we discussed evaluations and evaluation 

plans with FMCSA officials at agency headquarters and two field locations. 

We also reviewed evaluation materials, including proposals and statements 

of work for planned contracts to carry out programs and program 

evaluations. Finally, to identify what is known about the effectiveness of 

the programs, we conducted a literature review of media based campaigns 

and reviewed the structure and evaluation of these campaigns related to 

improving safety as well as behavioral theories used in designing the 

campaigns. We selected two behavioral theories that were directly 

applicable to the programs under this review, which are called the theory of 

reasoned action6

 and the general deterrence theory.7 We also discussed 

what is currently known about the effectiveness of these programs with 

FMCSA officials and with representatives of associations that serve the 

trucking, motor coach, and household goods moving industries, as well as a 

law enforcement association and public interest groups that are involved in 

motor carrier safety. Our work was conducted in accordance with generally 

accepted government auditing standards. Appendix I provides the details 

of our scope and methodology. 

6

The theory of reasoned action helps explain the relationship between attitudes, beliefs, 

intentions, and behavior in that people are more likely to undertake an action if they believe 

that the outcomes are valued and that they have the necessary opportunities to perform the 

action.

7

According to the general deterrence theory, individuals must be exposed to law 

enforcement or receive information about law enforcement before they can be deterred 

from behavior that may be unsafe or illegal.
Page 4 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

Results in Brief FMCSA has recently established several education and outreach programs 

intended to promote motor carrier safety and consumer awareness. 

Although FMCSA documents state that education activities are vital to 

FMCSA’s goal of reducing fatalities, injuries, and crashes, FMCSA has not 

described how most of its education and outreach programs are linked to 

agency goals. Four of the programs we reviewed accounted for a relatively 

small portion of FMCSA’s funding—1 percent of the agency’s fiscal year 

2005 funding. However, the new entrant program accounted for almost 7.5 

percent of FMCSA’s fiscal year 2005 funding. These education and outreach 

programs are part of FMCSA’s overall approach to encourage safer 

practices and better decision making by communicating information to 

motor carriers, commercial drivers, and the public. FMCSA’s education and 

outreach programs are as follows:

• The New Entrant program is designed to inform newly registered motor 

carriers (new entrants) about motor carrier safety standards and 

regulations to help them comply with FMCSA requirements. FMCSA 

disseminates information on safety requirements in its Education and 

Technical Assistance Package. In addition, FMCSA, state, or contractor 

personnel visit new carriers within their first 18 months of operations 

for “safety audits” to explain safety requirements and review 

documentation. Although primarily informational, a carrier can fail its 

safety audit if it cannot document sufficient compliance to pass at least 

four of the six sections of the audit and, as a result, could lose its 

operating license. 

• A planned Non-Entrant program will focus on identifying carriers 

engaging in interstate operations that have not registered with FMCSA 

as required, making them aware of the requirements and getting them to 

register. This program is still being developed but is expected to include 

outreach efforts through truck sales and leasing firms. 

• The Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Belt program is aimed at 

increasing safety-belt use among commercial drivers, which is lower 

than safety-belt use by passenger vehicle drivers. FMCSA, in partnership 

with industry, distributes brochures, posters, and bumper stickers 

describing the importance of wearing safety belts. The partnership also 

distributes its materials at trucking industry trade shows, through law 

enforcement programs, and at truck stops.
Page 5 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

• The Motor Coach Outreach program, officially known as Passenger 

Carrier Safety, provides information to help organizations and 

individuals who hire motor coach (bus) services make safe choices. The 

primary program effort is a FMCSA Web site that makes information on 

motor coach companies’ safety history accessible to the public. 

• The Household Goods Outreach program provides advice to help 

individuals planning a move make informed decisions on selecting and 

hiring moving companies through brochures, publications, and FMCSA’s 

Web site. 

Research indicates that the development of education and outreach 

programs should include identifying how these programs are expected to 

change the target audience’s attitudes and behaviors.8

 However, FMCSA 

has not clearly described how most of its education and outreach programs 

link expected changes in attitudes and behavior to broader goals, such as 

DOT’s strategic objective of reducing transportation-related fatalities.9

 In 

the conference report accompanying the DOT appropriations bill for fiscal 

year 2005, Congress requested FMCSA to clarify the link between the 

agency’s education and outreach programs and program goals. FMCSA’s 

October 2005 response to Congress states that FMCSA considers education 

and outreach programs vital in achieving overall DOT and FMCSA safety 

goals. However, the agency did not describe how the programs are 

intended to influence knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors that will support 

FMCSA’s goals. FMCSA officials told us that the agency uses logic models 

in its performance budget to establish, at a high level, the link between its 

education and outreach program and its goals. However, the link FMCSA 

asserts was not evident to us for most of the education and outreach 

programs we reviewed. For example, FMCSA’s fiscal year 2006 

performance budget does describe how the Commercial Motor Vehicle 

Safety Belt program10 will highlight the risks of not wearing a safety belt, 

which FMCSA officials believe should improve drivers’ attitudes toward 

wearing safety belts, and subsequently meet the program goal of increasing 

8

Monash University Accident Research Centre, “A Review of Mass Media Campaigns in 

Road Safety,” May 2004.

9

We consider DOT’s strategic objective of reducing transportation-related fatalities as one of 

the agency’s broader goals.

10We refer to the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Belt program as the Commercial Safety 

Belt program throughout this report.
Page 6 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

safety-belt usage 10 percent by 2009. However, the performance budget 

does not describe similar links between other FMCSA education and 

outreach programs and how those programs help achieve DOT and FMCSA 

safety and productivity objectives. This lack of clarity in FMCSA’s planning, 

budgeting, and program documents relating to education and outreach 

programs can make it difficult for stakeholders, including congressional 

oversight authorities, to see how program activities that seek to change 

attitudes and behavior can relate to agency goals and whether the 

programs are appropriately targeted. In contrast, FMCSA’s Research and 

Technology group has used a logic model to clearly describe how program 

activities support agency goals in its strategic plan. As FMCSA further 

articulates the links between its education and outreach programs and its 

goals, it might consider using a tool such as the one used by FMCSA’s 

Research and Technology group to make those relationships clear.

FMCSA has begun some evaluations of its education and outreach 

programs. Since most of these programs are relatively new and most 

evaluations are still being planned, little information on results is currently 

available. Therefore, FMCSA has limited information on program 

effectiveness, particularly for the New Entrant program. FMCSA’s 

evaluation related activities and gaps in these activities are described 

below: 

• For the New Entrant program, FMCSA conducted a preliminary 

comparison of crash rates for new entrants who had received safety 

audits during the first part of 2003 with new entrants who had not 

received safety audits and found little difference in the crash rates of the 

two groups. In addition, FMCSA is planning to conduct an evaluation 

study beginning in 2008 to examine new entrants’ safety performance. 

Although the program has been in place for over 2 years, FMCSA has not 

evaluated and has not developed plans to evaluate the New Entrant 

program, specifically whether the information package or safety audits 

effectively communicate information to new entrants, making it difficult 

to determine the effectiveness of that program in improving new motor 

carriers’ knowledge of safety requirements and ultimately improving 

safety.

• For the planned Non-Entrant program, FMCSA is planning to hire a 

contractor to identify the target population of non-entrants, measure if 

the outreach approaches it implements are reaching the target audience 

through focus group studies, and measure changes in knowledge and 

attitudes and changes in behavior through surveys. 
Page 7 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

• For the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Belt program, FMCSA is 

installing software to monitor Web site hits, planning focus groups with 

motor carrier operators on how safety belt marketing material affected 

their awareness of the importance of using safety belts, and planning to 

annually measure safety-belt usage by commercial vehicle drivers. 

• For the Motor Coach Outreach program, FMCSA uses a web survey to 

track exposure to information provided. FMCSA also expects to 

evaluate the program under a contract it plans to award, which will 

support surveys and other evaluations of its education and outreach 

programs. 

• For the Household Goods Outreach program, FMCSA has contracted 

with the General Services Administration to measure the effectiveness 

of its booklet on moving tips in changing consumer knowledge by 

surveying the target audience. It also expects to evaluate the program 

under the planned survey contract.11

It is difficult to determine the overall effectiveness of FMCSA’s education 

and outreach efforts at this time; however, on the basis of behavior theory 

and our discussions with industry and public safety groups, the design of 

FMCSA’s programs appears to be reasonable for contributing to 

commercial motor vehicle safety. Little information on effectiveness is 

available, since FMCSA has not completed many evaluations of its 

programs, and so it cannot be sure of the extent to which target audiences 

have received the information and intend on changing their behavior. 

However, two of FMCSA’s education and outreach programs and marketing 

materials we reviewed appear to follow theories and research regarding 

media campaigns that are intended to influence decision making about 

safety. The Household Goods Outreach and Motor Coach Outreach 

programs—targeted toward consumers—focus on changing consumer 

attitudes by providing information about potential consequences of their 

actions. For example, the Motor Coach Outreach program conveys 

information on the safety history of motor coach companies. As a result, 

after considering this information consumers may change their behavior 

and select a motor coach company with a good safety record. In contrast, 

research and behavior theory described in several studies we reviewed 

suggest that industry—the target audiences of the Safety Belt, New 

11SAFETEA-LU requires GAO to review the impact state consumer protection laws have on 

household goods carriers.
Page 8 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

Entrant, and Non-Entrant programs—may be more likely to change 

behaviors when exposed to both education and enforcement. FMCSA’s 

program documentation indicates enforcement is part of the agency’s 

efforts to increase safety-belt usage and will be part of the agency’s efforts 

to decrease the number of non-entrants. In part because there are few 

sanctions for carriers who fail certain portions of the safety audit, FMCSA 

is now increasing the enforcement associated with its safety audits by 

making it more difficult to pass the audit and requiring carriers to correct 

deficiencies. Currently, a carrier can pass its safety audit even if it fails two 

of the six sections of the audit. We found, for example, that over the past 2 

years, about 40 percent of the carriers failed the “driver” section of their 

safety audits, despite passing the audit overall.12 Finally, motor carrier 

association officials whom we spoke with stated that, in their view, FMCSA 

is doing several positive things in its education and outreach activities. In 

addition, officials of one public safety group suggested that FMCSA 

followed reasonable approaches in starting its education and outreach 

efforts, so implementation in theory should be effective; however, the 

officials would like to see more evaluations on program effectiveness in the 

future to help FMCSA refine its programs. Another safety group we spoke 

with emphasized FMCSA’s need for stronger enforcement in conjunction 

with education and outreach programs.

Our study found that for most of the FMCSA’s education and outreach 

programs we reviewed, it is unclear how the activities link to program and 

agency goals. In addition, although FMCSA plans to conduct a study 

beginning in 2008 of its New Entrant program, the agency has not evaluated 

the effectiveness of the education and outreach of this program. To more 

clearly describe and better evaluate FMCSA education and outreach 

programs, we are recommending that the Secretary of Transportation 

direct the Administrator of FMCSA to take two actions: (1) ensure that the 

agency describes and documents how education and outreach program 

activities link to and support broader program and agency goals in a 

planning, program, or budget document that is available to the public and 

(2) evaluate the effectiveness of the education and outreach component of 

the New Entrant program, assessing the extent to which the Education and 

Technical Assistance Package and safety audits are helping new carriers 

learn and understand FMCSA requirements. We provided a draft of this 

12This driver section includes critical questions, such as whether the carriers reviewed 

drivers’ qualifications before hiring them and whether the carriers’ drivers have been 

included in a drug and alcohol testing program. 
Page 9 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

report to DOT for its review and comment. In responding to a draft of this 

report, DOT and FMCSA officials, through the DOT liaison, provided oral 

comments. Agency officials disagreed with GAO’s characterization that 

FMCSA has not linked its education and outreach programs with its overall 

goals. We acknowledge the FMCSA comments in our report. Because we 

did not find this link evident for most of the education and outreach 

programs, we retained our recommendation with some clarification. The 

officials also provided technical comments, which we incorporated as 

appropriate. 

Background FMCSA, established as a separate administration under DOT by the Motor 

Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999 is responsible for improving the 

safety of commercial vehicle operations on the nation’s highways. FMCSA 

is engaged in several programs and activities to carry out its mission, 

including developing and enforcing Federal Motor Carrier Safety 

Regulations, administering Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program grants 

to states, regulating interstate household goods movers, and performing 

education and outreach. FMCSA operates through its headquarters in 

Washington, D.C.; four regional service centers; and division offices located 

in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

FMCSA undertakes education or outreach while carrying out many of its 

functions—for example, in posting regulations pertaining to commercial 

drivers’ licensing or transporting hazardous materials on its Web site, or in 

providing on-line access to motor carrier crash statistics. FMCSA is also 

allocated funding for specific education and outreach programs. In fiscal 

year 2005, FMCSA used education and outreach funding for activities 

supporting its Safety Belt program targeted to commercial vehicle drivers, 

outreach to the public on hiring motor coach services, and outreach to 

consumers using household goods movers. Congress also allocated fiscal 

year 2005 funding for FMCSA’s program directed at recently registered new 

entrant motor carriers and funding to establish an initiative directed to 

non-entrants—which are carriers in interstate operations that have not 

registered with DOT.

Under the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA), 

federal programs should be designed with measurable goals that support 

the agency’s overall strategic goals. Congress enacted GPRA to shift 

agencies’ focus from simply monitoring activities undertaken to measuring 

the results of these activities. Under GPRA, agencies develop multiyear 

strategic plans, which are the starting point for their performance 
Page 10 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

measurement. Each strategic plan is to include a mission statement, a set of 

outcome-related strategic goals, and a description of how the agency 

intends to achieve these goals. To measure progress toward the strategic 

goals, we have previously reported that the agency should also have a plan 

for collecting data to measure and evaluate program performance.13

Without measurable goals and evaluation, it is difficult to determine 

whether the program is accomplishing its intended purpose and whether 

the resources dedicated to the program efforts should be increased, used in 

other ways, or applied elsewhere. 

Research conducted on the effectiveness of media campaigns14 indicates 

that the development of an education and outreach program should include 

identifying how the program is expected to change the target audience’s 

attitudes and behaviors. There are several theories and models on affecting 

behavior, and two in particular are the most relevant to the education and 

outreach programs under this review. This is because the theories are 

consistent with the structure and goals of the FMCSA programs we 

reviewed. One behavioral model that researchers have developed—the 

reasoned action theory—assumes that people will take a desired action if 

they believe the action is beneficial, and they have the means to undertake 

it. Another model that experts have developed—the general deterrence 

theory—indicates that in some circumstances people will take a desired 

action when they recognize that they may be punished for failing to act. 

The relative roles of education and enforcement depend upon the 

program’s target audience, the desired change to be achieved, and other 

factors. 

Since media campaigns should identify how the program is expected to 

change target audiences’ attitudes and behaviors, program managers can 

use a tool or framework to show how outreach activities are intended to 

influence attitudes and behaviors, and thus achieve broad program goals. 

Academic literature on program development and evaluation provides a 

number of models. One tool we have previously used to review education

13GAO, Executive Guide: Effectively Implementing the Government Performance and 

Results Act, GAO/GGD-96-118 (Washington, D.C.: June 1996).

14See, for example: Monash University Accident Research Centre, “A Review of Mass Media 

Campaigns in Road Safety,” May 2004. This report incorporated a number of behavioral 

theories and applied the theories to 11 studies on media-based safety programs.
Page 11 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

and outreach programs15 is called a logic model. A logic model links 

program inputs and outputs to program outcomes (see fig. 3). Agencies 

have used such a model to plan, evaluate, and adjust program activities. A 

logic model can facilitate planning and evaluation by (1) demonstrating 

accountability through focusing on measurable outcomes; (2) linking 

activities to results to prevent mismatches between program activities and 

outcomes; and (3) integrating planning, implementation, evaluation, and 

reporting. In addition, a program logic model can help describe a program’s 

components and desired results and explain the strategy—or logic—by 

which the program is expected to achieve its goals. The logic model can 

help clarify the links between program components, focusing on outcomes 

that are measured and under some degree of control. In some cases, it may 

be difficult to show a direct link—a specific cause and effect—between 

program activities and outcomes due to the influence of external factors. 

For example, the Safety Belt program, although targeted toward 

commercial motor vehicles operators, may have outcomes influenced by 

the NHTSA’s “Click It or Ticket” program targeted to passenger car drivers. 

Commercial motor vehicle operators could be affected by this program, or 

other safety-belt messages, and decide to wear safety belts when driving 

commercially. Thus, the Safety Belt program’s initiatives may not have been 

the primary factor in determining a particular driver’s safety-belt use. 

Finally, once program activities are established and linked to program 

goals, organizations can use program evaluation to determine whether or 

not a program is meeting its goals. Program evaluations are conducted 

periodically to provide an overall assessment of how well a program is 

achieving its expected results. We have reported on the value of program 

evaluations to assess the impact of a particular program.16 This work 

showed that results of evaluations can support decisions on resource 

allocation and ways to improve program effectiveness. 

15GAO, Program Evaluation: Strategies for Assessing How Information Dissemination 

Contributes to Agency Goals, GAO-02-923 (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 30, 2002).

16GAO, Program Evaluation: Studies Helped Agencies Measure or Explain Program 

Performance, GAO/GGD-00-204 (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 29, 2000). Also see the preceding 

footnote.
Page 12 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

FMCSA Has 

Established Several 

Education and 

Outreach Efforts but 

Needs Specific Links to 

Goals

FMCSA has established several education and outreach programs, with 

different purposes targeted to different audiences. Total funding for these 

programs in fiscal year 2005 was $36.3 million, with the largest 

share—$33.1 million—allotted to the New Entrant program. FMCSA’s 

education and outreach efforts are intended to address recognized 

problems by communicating information to motor carriers, commercial 

drivers, and the public to encourage safer practices and better decision 

making. FMCSA activities under these programs range from distributing 

brochures and posting information on Web sites, to site visits to newly 

registered motor carriers under its New Entrant program. Although FMCSA 

officials consider these programs to be linked to agency goals at a high 

level, this linkage to broader agency goals is not explicit in the agency’s 

planning and budgeting documents. FMCSA officials state that they have 

used a logic model in their performance budgets to illustrate the link 

between education and outreach and agency goals at a high level. Although 

the performance budget implies a link between the education and outreach 

program and agency goals, it does not describe how the activities are 

intended to support these goals. As a result, it is difficult for stakeholders 

to see how education and outreach activities that seek changes in attitudes 

and behavior will ultimately contribute to agency goals. Also, without a 

clear link, program managers can not easily determine if program activities 

are appropriately targeted or if they need to refine their programs to meet 

agency goals. In contrast, we found, however, that FMCSA uses a logic 

model in the strategic plan for its Research and Technology group to 

demonstrate how its programs and activities support agency goals. As 

FMCSA continues its efforts to develop the links between its education and 

outreach activities and broader goals, it might consider using such a logic 

model to make those relationships clear.

Education and Outreach 

Programs Address a Range 

of Safety and Consumer 

Protection Concerns and 

Are Targeted to Industry 

and the Public

We reviewed five education and outreach programs that FMCSA has 

initiated in response to either congressional direction or concerns about 

motor carrier operations. FMCSA’s education and outreach programs target 

a variety of audiences, including the motor carrier industry, commercial 

vehicle drivers, and the public; and they involve a variety of approaches, 

such as direct contact with carriers, media campaigns, distributing printed 

materials, and establishing Web sites. FMCSA also works with industry and 

law enforcement associations, other agencies, and safety-oriented 

organizations in carrying out some of these education and outreach efforts. 

Four of these programs are about motor carrier, driver, or passenger safety, 

while one has a consumer information focus. Table 1 provides a brief 
Page 13 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

overview of the target audience, general purpose of the program, and 

program activities. 

Table 1: Overview of FMCSA Education and Outreach Programs

Source: GAO analysis of FMCSA information.

The five programs in this review are summarized below, and discussed in 

greater detail in appendix II.

New Entrant Program FMCSA intends the New Entrant program to inform newly registered motor 

carriers (new entrants) about motor carrier safety standards and 

regulations to help them gain compliance with FMCSA requirements and 

improve truck safety and thus reduce crash rates.17 Studies have shown 

that new carriers have higher safety violation and crash rates than more 

experienced carriers. FMCSA uses its Education and Technical Assistance 

Package to communicate safety requirements and other information to new 

entrants when they register with DOT. This information package is also

Program Target audience Program purpose Activities

New Entrant New motor carriers that have 

registered with FMCSA

Promoting compliance with 

FMCSA safety requirements, 

during new carriers’ first 18 

months of operation

• Web site on motor carrier regulations

• Education and Technical Assistance Package

• Personal contact with new carriers through 

safety audits by state or federal officials, or 

contractors

Non-Entrant 

(Planned)

Motor carriers that are 

operating interstate but have 

not registered with FMCSA

Increasing registrations by carriers 

that should register with FMCSA

• Planned outreach through truck sales and 

leasing firms

Commercial Motor 

Vehicle Safety Belt 

Use

Commercial vehicle drivers Increasing safety-belt use by 

commercial vehicle drivers

• Brochures, posters, bumper stickers 

distributed through trade shows and law 

enforcement campaigns

• Safety belt information on Web site

Motor Coach 

Outreach

Organizations such as 

schools and individuals that 

hire motor coach services

Enabling the public to make more 

informed choices when selecting a 

motor coach company

• Web site information on selecting a motor 

coach company and company safety 

information 

Household Goods 

Outreach

Individuals that are planning 

to move across state lines

Enabling the public to be better 

informed about selecting an 

interstate moving company

• Brochures distributed through moving 

companies and other means

• Web site information on selecting and 

contracting with a moving company

17According to FMCSA, as of 2004, there were over 677,000 active interstate truck and bus 

companies and about 6 percent of these were new carriers.
Page 14 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

available at FMCSA’s Web site, along with carrier registration forms.18 The 

primary activity of the New Entrant program is safety audits conducted 

through site visits to the new carriers. Safety audits are conducted by 

FMCSA, state law enforcement, or contractor personnel, who review the 

carrier’s compliance with FMCSA requirements, including driver 

qualifications, driver records of duty status, vehicle maintenance records, 

and participation in a controlled substance and alcohol use testing 

program. As of April 2005, FMCSA had conducted 52,000 safety audits since 

the New Entrant program began in 2003. 

Non-Entrant Program FMCSA is developing a Non-Entrant program intended to inform start-up 

motor carriers who have not registered with the agency—called 

non-entrants—of the requirement to register with FMCSA. FMCSA officials 

are concerned that carriers that have not registered with FMCSA may 

represent an increased safety risk. FMCSA expects to target motor carriers 

who have not registered as interstate carriers with FMCSA, by working 

through truck sales and leasing firms to inform start-up motor carriers 

about registration requirements and, ultimately, to ensure that the carriers 

register as new entrants. FMCSA officials expect to award a contract to 

develop the Non-Entrant program before the end of 2005.

Commercial Motor Vehicle 

Safety Belt Program

The Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Belt program is intended to increase 

safety-belt use by commercial truck drivers. FMCSA began this effort after 

a study showed that only 48 percent of commercial truck drivers used 

safety belts, compared with nearly 80 percent safety-belt use by passenger 

car drivers. Working through the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Belt 

Partnership—an organization of government, industry, law enforcement, 

and safety associations—FMCSA facilitates and coordinates the 

development and distribution of outreach materials, including posters, 

bumper stickers, and brochures promoting safety-belt use. (See fig. 1 for an 

example of a brochure describing the safety-belt partnership.) Working 

through the Partnership allows FMCSA to leverage its resources and tap 

into organizations that have their own communication links to the trucking 

industry. FMCSA staff distribute materials through trucking industry shows 

and events, and state law enforcement personnel distribute materials 

during safety enforcement campaigns. FMCSA has prepared over 200,000 

brochures and 50,000 bumper stickers for the 2005 “Be Ready, Be Buckled” 

18According to an FMCSA official, FCMCSA is updating the Education and Technical 

Assistance package.
Page 15 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

campaign. FMCSA also provides safety belt information through its Web 

site.

Figure 1: Cover of Safety Belt Partnership Brochure

Source: FMCSA.
Page 16 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

Motor Coach Outreach Program The Motor Coach Outreach program provides consumers with information 

to help them select and hire motor coach services. The program began 

following an increase in motor coach accident fatalities. Currently, 

FMCSA’s primary effort is maintaining a Web site that allows individuals to 

access advice on selecting a motor coach company and safety information 

on specific motor coach companies. For the “Moving Kids Safely” 

campaign in 2002 that was part of the Motor Coach Outreach program, 

FMCSA created 49,000 brochures; 1,200 posters; and 1,200 “toolkits” to 

provide advice to school districts on hiring school bus services. FMCSA 

also reaches out to the industry to inform motor coach companies of 

regulations and provide safety advice through printed materials and the 

agency’s motor coach specialists. 

Household Goods Outreach 

Program

The Household Goods Outreach program is intended to help consumers 

make more informed choices in selecting an interstate moving company to 

avoid unscrupulous movers. This program was begun in response to 

congressional concern over increasing consumer complaints about 

fraudulent moving companies. FMCSA distributes printed material through 

moving companies and other means, such as its Web site and the General 

Services Administration (GSA) consumer information catalog, to inform 

consumers of their rights when dealing with moving companies. The 

material that FMCSA has developed includes a new outreach theme: 

“Protect Your Memories, Your Money, Your Move” and it includes 

brochures and presentations that can be delivered by FMCSA staff. For 

example, as of October 2005, FMCSA officials reported that they had 

printed a total of 50,000 copies of the two brochures the agency distributes. 

FMCSA also maintains a hotline to receive complaints from individuals 

about problems with movers and enters them into a database. Although 

FMCSA does not get involved in resolving complaints, the agency uses the 

database to target firms for investigation. Also, we previously reported that 

FMCSA should make the complaint information available to consumers.19

According to FMCSA officials the agency has not yet done this because of 

privacy and other legal issues.

19GAO-01-318.
Page 17 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

Except for the New Entrant 

Program, Education and 

Outreach Funding 

Represents a Small Portion 

of FMCSA’s Budget

The five education and outreach programs represent a small portion of 

FMCSA’s total funding. Fiscal year 2005 funding for the five programs 

totaled $36.3 million, out of approximately $443.3 million to fund FMCSA 

operations and grant programs. The New Entrant program accounted for 

$33.1 million of the funding for the five programs, while funding for the 

other four programs combined was $3.2 million—less than 1 percent of the 

agency’s total fiscal year 2005 funding. 

The first chart in figure 2 below depicts the New Entrant program, and the 

combined funding for the other four programs, as their relative share of 

total FMCSA funding in fiscal year 2005. The second chart depicts the 

relative size of the four smaller education and outreach programs. 

Figure 2: FMCSA Fiscal Year 2005 Education and Outreach Funding

Note: Data resulted from U.S. House of Representatives Report 108-792, Making Appropriations for 

Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs for the Fiscal Year Ending September 

30, 2005, and for Other Purposes (Nov. 20, 2004): and discussions with FMCSA officials.

0.7%

Other four programs

($3.2M)

Total New Entrant

($33.1M)

Remaining FMCSA

($407M)

7.5%

91.8%

Motor coach

($150,000)

Safety Belt

($500,000)

Non-Entrant

($1.05M)

Household Goods

($1.5M) 

5%

16%

33%

46%

Sources: U.S. House of Representatives and FMCSA.

Education and Outreach Fundinga FMCSA funding (excluding New Entrant program)
Page 18 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

a

Congressional language accompanying the fiscal year 2005 DOT appropriations requested FMCSA 

to apply $50,000 to the “Safety is Good Business” program. FMCSA officials informed us that this 

amount would be added to the $1.0 million appropriated for the Non-Entrant program.

The funding available for education and outreach supports a diverse range 

of activities, from the costs of state personnel conducting safety audits, to 

the costs of printing and distributing brochures and other materials, and 

the costs of contracts being awarded to develop and evaluate education 

and outreach activities. The principal activities that FMCSA is undertaking 

through the five programs are shown in table 2.

Table 2: How Fiscal Year 2005 Outreach and Education Funding Is Being Used

Source: FMCSA information.

a

Because these examples illustrate the principal use of components of these programs, in some cases 

they do not add to the total amounts spent in the programs.

b

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) provides additional financial support for printing and 

distributing brochures under this initiative. 

Program FY 2005 Funding Principal use of fundinga

New Entrant $33,100,000 $30,100,000 in grants to states to conduct safety audits.

$3,000,000 for FMCSA to contract for safety audits.

Commercial Motor Carrier SafetyBelt Use$500,000 $440,000 interagency transfer to NHTSA for two studies 

addressing safety belt use by commercial drivers.

$24,400 for brochures, posters, bumper stickers and other 

materials prepared for “Be Ready, Be Buckled” campaign.b

Motor Coach 

Outreach

$150,000 Printing and distributing brochures, Web site maintenance, and 

surveys of Web-site users.

Household Goods

Outreach

$1,488,000 $900,000 for education, outreach and evaluation support 

contracts.

$570,000 for complaint database development and 

maintenance.

Non-Entrant $1,050,000 $1,000,000 appropriated for a Non-Entrant program plus 

$50,000 targeted for “Safety is Good Business,” will be used to 

contract for development of a Non-Entrant program.
Page 19 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

FMCSA Has Not Clearly 

Articulated How Its 

Education and Outreach 

Initiatives Will Support 

Broader Goals 

Congress has expressed concern about how FMCSA’s education and 

outreach activities are meeting broader goals, such as individual program 

goals, or DOT’s strategic goals. The conference report accompanying the 

DOT appropriations bill for fiscal year 2005, for example, asked that 

FMCSA report by April 2005 to the House and Senate Committees on 

Appropriations on strategies linking outreach and education program 

initiatives to each goal.20 FMCSA sent its report on October 11, 2005. The 

report indicates that FMCSA believes education and outreach programs 

support the overall DOT safety strategic objective of “enhancing public 

health and safety by elimination of transportation deaths and injuries.” 

FMCSA also indicates that every education activity undertaken “is vital to 

FMCSA’s goal of reducing fatalities, injuries, and crashes, and attaining a 

large truck crash rate of no more than 1.65 fatalities per 100 million miles of 

truck travel by the end of 2008.” 

Although the report was intended to address congressional concerns about 

linking education and outreach to program goals, it is unclear specifically 

how this will be accomplished, since the report does not describe how 

these programs are intended to influence knowledge, attitudes, and 

behaviors and thus support FMCSA’s broader goals. Although the report 

describes in detail the activities FMCSA is undertaking for each of these 

programs, it does not describe how these activities are intended to change 

attitudes and behaviors that will ultimately meet FMCSA’s goals. 

In addition, although FMCSA’s fiscal year 2006 performance budget has 

some discussion of how activities support FMCSA and DOT safety and 

productivity goals, except for the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Belt 

program, none of the budget or program documentation we reviewed for 

FMCSA’s education and outreach programs provides detailed descriptions 

about how activities link to goals. A greater level of detail in the description 

of how education and outreach program activities link to goals would help 

the public and other interested parties to see how program activities that 

seek changes in attitudes and behavior will ultimately contribute to agency 

goals. Furthermore, without this link, program managers cannot easily 

determine if program activities are appropriately targeted or if they need to 

refine their programs to meet agency goals.

20H. Rept. 108-792, 1414, which refers also to H. Rept. 108-671.
Page 20 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

FMCSA officials stated that information about education and outreach 

programs is reported in DOT’s strategic plan and in FMCSA’s performance 

budget documents.21 However, DOT’s strategic plan does not specifically 

address FMCSA’s education and outreach programs and refers readers to 

the performance budgets for more detailed, program-specific information. 

FMCSA’s performance budget documents identify strategic objectives, such 

as saving lives and reducing injuries by preventing bus and truck crashes, 

that link and contribute to objectives in DOT’s strategic plan, such as 

reducing transportation-related fatalities. It also identifies underlying 

performance goals and indicators for each objective. For example, 

FMCSA’s strategic objective for safety is illustrated in table 3. 

Table 3: Hierarchy of Objective, Goal, and Indicators for FMCSA’s Commercial Motor 

Vehicle Safety Objective 

Source: Performance Budget Estimates section of FMCSA’s Fiscal Year 2006 Budget Submission to Congress.

The performance budget documents address education and outreach 

primarily under this strategic objective for safety, by stating that “educating 

carriers about the benefits of operating safely, and in compliance with 

safety regulations, is advantageous to both the carrier and enforcement 

community.” The budget also states that the education programs are 

designed to change “the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of commercial 

motor carriers, commercial motor vehicle drivers, and passenger vehicle 

drivers, driving in the vicinity of large trucks.” 

21Performance budgets are integrated budgets that tie budget items such as grants and 

operational funding to outcomes that will be achieved by the funding used. The budget 

requests justify and describe the intended program outputs and outcomes rather than inputs 

and processes. 

Strategic objective Save lives and reduce injuries by preventing truck and bus 

crashes.

Performance goal Reduce the rate of large truck-related fatalities to no more than 

1.65 fatalities per 100 million truck vehicle miles traveled by 

the end of 2008. 

Leading indicators Fatalities in large truck crashes.

Intercity bus fatalities.

Injuries in large truck crashes.

Rate of large truck-related injuries.
Page 21 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

However, the performance budget does not provide specific information 

for each program on how these expected attitude and behavior changes are 

linked to broader goals. Of the five programs included in our review, the 

description of the safety belt initiative provides the clearest information 

articulating how the program is intended to affect the knowledge, attitudes, 

and behaviors of its targeted audience, and consequently to improve safety. 

FMCSA describes how education will highlight the risks of not wearing a 

safety belt, which in turn is intended to improve drivers’ attitudes toward 

wearing safety belts, and subsequently meet the program goal of increasing 

safety-belt usage 10 percent by 2009 and further, meet the strategic 

objective of reducing fatalities.22 The performance budget also indicates 

that education will be combined with traffic enforcement of safety-belt 

requirements to achieve this outcome. In contrast, the performance budget 

discusses the New Entrant program in terms of staffing, funding, and the 

number of safety audits to be done in fiscal year 2006, without defining a 

goal for what the New Entrant program will accomplish and how that 

accomplishment would contribute to the strategic objective of reducing 

fatalities. 

In addition, the links between the Motor Coach and Household Goods 

program activities and broader strategic goals are difficult to discern. 

Specifically, the performance budget document explains that the Motor 

Coach program seeks to increase consumers’ knowledge about the safety 

records of carriers, with a potential side benefit of encouraging motor 

carriers to maintain good safety records. FMCSA does not, however, 

describe how affecting consumers’ choice of a particular motor coach 

company would support the overall strategic objective of reducing 

transportation-related fatalities. FMCSA’s performance budget relates its 

Household Goods program to DOT’s mobility and FMCSA’s productivity 

objectives. The mobility objective is “to advance accessible, efficient, and

22In October 2005, FMCSA officials informed us that the goal was a 10-percent increase in 

safety-belt use by 2009. This represents a change from the goal of a 15-percent increase 

stated in the fiscal year 2006 performance budget.
Page 22 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

intermodal transportation for the movement of people and goods.”23 The 

productivity strategic objective is “to promote efficient and economical 

motor carrier operations to sustain mobility and economic growth.” The 

performance budget document asserts links between these objectives and 

the education and outreach program, but it does not explain how specific 

activities—such as establishing its Web site on selecting moving companies 

and creating brochures on consumer rights and responsibilities—support 

either of these objectives.24 

On the basis of our discussions with FMCSA officials, it appears the agency 

is attempting to more clearly describe how education and outreach 

activities link to the agency’s goals. FMCSA acknowledged that there may 

have been some disconnection between the strategic planning and 

budgeting processes in the past, but managers have recently received 

training on defining a program’s desired outcome and then linking 

inputs—such as funding—and outputs. Officials told us that as a result the 

agency’s proposed fiscal year 2007 performance budget will better link 

programs and goals to budget requests. FMCSA’s eventual goal is to link 

program outputs to outcomes, as well as identifying measurable and 

verifiable goals to the extent possible. 

A Logic Model Provides a 

Framework for Linking 

Program Activities to 

Desired Results and Goals

Although the relationships among program activities, changes in 

knowledge and behaviors, and broader goals can sometimes seem intuitive, 

laying a program out through a logic model can be useful for program 

managers and stakeholders to demonstrate and understand these 

relationships. FMCSA officials state that they use a logic model in its 

performance budget to link education and outreach to agency objectives. 

However, the performance budget implies a link between the education 

and outreach program budget and agency goals without describing how 

FMCSA intends the program to change behaviors, such as following federal 

safety regulations, to support agency goals, as would be shown in a logic 

23The ICC Termination Act of 1995 transferred federal responsibilities for protecting 

consumers who use commercial moving companies for interstate moves to the DOT; and the 

Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act established FMCSA. Also, FMCSA was granted 

continuing oversight responsibility over household goods movers. However, the act did not 

provide FMCSA with the authority to intercede on behalf of individuals seeking 

reimbursement of moving company charges or recovery of their goods.

24The Non-Entrant program has not yet been developed and is therefore not included in the 

2006 performance budget.
Page 23 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

model. FMCSA has used a logic model in another program area that 

provides a description of how a program is intended to support agency 

goals. Specifically, FMCSA’s Research and Technology group used a logic 

model along with other planning tools to demonstrate how its activities 

support FMCSA’s goals in its 5-Year Strategic Plan. The Research and 

Technology logic model includes inputs such as staff, outputs such as 

research studies, outcomes such as improved understanding of root causes 

of crashes, and impacts such as fewer commercial motor vehicle crashes.25

FMCSA described the Research and Technology Logic Model as a 

“mechanism to help define metrics for performance, quality, and relevance 

of the program.”26

As FMCSA endeavors to describe how its education and outreach program 

activities affect the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of its target 

audiences, and link these results to broader goals, it may wish to consider a 

tool such as a logic model—as the agency used in its Research and 

Technology strategic plan—to clearly outline those links. In previous work 

on educational and outreach,27 we used a logic model to describe the 

program components—inputs and outputs—and how these support the 

desired results, thus explaining the strategy—or logic—by which programs 

are expected to achieve their goals. Figure 3 graphically depicts this model 

and its components. 

25U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Research 

and Technology: 5-Year Strategic Plan, Fiscal Years 2005-2009, (undated).

26The Research and Technology report does refer to one education and outreach activity 

done by that group—improving driver training. However, this activity is not part of the 

programs we are reviewing. 

27GAO, Program Evaluation: Strategies for Assessing How Information Dissemination 

Contributes to Agency Goals, GAO-02-923 (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 30, 2002).
Page 24 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

Figure 3: Program Logic Model 

The logic model illustrates how program activities such as distributing 

informational pamphlets contribute to the results of a program, such as 

increasing safety-belt usage, and to an ultimate goal, such as reducing 

fatalities. In addition, program managers should consider the effect of 

external factors when defining outcomes and recognize that the correlation 

between activities and desired outcomes may not be as direct as one would 

like. Without a logic model or similar tool to clearly describe the links 

between education and outreach programs and broader goals, FMCSA may 

have difficulty designing and evaluating effective programs.

Inputs

What is

invested?

Outputs

Participants

● Who is

reached?

Activities

● What is

done?

Measured results

What are the short 

term results?

What are the 

medium term 

results?

What are the 

long term 

results?

Staff

Money

Materials

Equipment

Participants

Customers

Workshops

Meetings

Media work 

Training

Awareness

Knowledge

Attitudes

Motivations

Behavior

Practices

Policies

Conditions

Economic

Civic

External factors

Other environmental influences on program operations or results

Source: Adapted from Ellen Taylor-Powell, "The Logic Model: A Program Performance Framework," University of Wisconsin 

Cooperative Extension, Madison, Wisconsin.
Page 25 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

Evaluations of Specific 

Education and 

Outreach Programs 

Impacts Are Still in 

Preliminary Stages, but 

the Lack of a Plan to 

Evaluate How New 

Entrant Safety Audits 

Improve Knowledge 

and Attitudes Raises 

Concern

FMCSA has begun some evaluations of its education and outreach 

activities, including the New Entrant program, and plans to use contractors 

to evaluate some programs. Surveys and studies are the primary means by 

which FMCSA or its contractor will evaluate the programs. However, some 

gaps in evaluation plans remain, especially for the largest of the programs 

we reviewed. Specifically, FMCSA has not evaluated whether the 

Education and Technical Assistance Package provided to new entrants and 

the safety audits conducted under the New Entrant program effectively 

communicated information to new entrants, making it difficult to 

determine the impact of that program. A list of FMCSA’s evaluations and 

planned evaluations are provided in figure 4.
Page 26 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

Figure 4: FMCSA’s Evaluations and Planned Evaluations by Program

For each program, FMCSA’s evaluation efforts are described as follows.

New Entrant Program FMCSA evaluates the performance of the New Entrant program primarily 

by tracking the number of safety audits conducted of new motor carriers. 

The agency has a goal of conducting a certain number of safety audits per 

year, safety audits of 80 percent of new entrants within the first 6 months 

they are in business, and 100 percent of all new entrants within their first 18 

months of operation. FMCSA sets employee performance goals for division 

office managers for conducting a particular number of safety audits of new 

entrants. According to FMCSA officials, agency personnel conducted over 

Source: GAO analysis of FMCSA (data), FMCSA publications (images).

New Entrant

● Completed preliminary comparison of crash rates for new 

entrants who had received safety audits with those who had 

not received the safety audits

● Planning New Entrant Evaluation Study for 2008 to examine 

new entrant's safety performance

Non Entrant

Planning to hire a contractor to 

● identify the target population of non-entrants

● measure if outreach approaches are reaching target audience 

through focus groups

● measure changes in knowledge and attitudes through surveys

● measure changes in behavior through surveys

Safety Belt

● Tested marketing materials for appropriate message

● Installing software to monitor Web site hits

● Planning focus groups and surveys with carriers on how safety 

belt marketing material affected their awareness of importance 

of using safety belts

● Planning to annually measure safety-belt usage by commercial 

vehicle drivers

Motor Coach

● Using a Web survey to measure experience and satisfaction with 

Web site and to track exposure to information provided there

Household Goods

● Working with GSA to survey target audience to measure 

effectiveness of moving tips booklet that influence consumer 

choice
Page 27 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

9,400 safety audits in fiscal year 2005, exceeding their goal of 8,000 FMCSA 

completed safety audits. In addition, by April 2005, 52,000 safety audits had 

been conducted since the program began, and the number conducted each 

quarter has been generally increasing. However, FMCSA officials 

acknowledge that there is a safety audit backlog in some states, and the 

goals for auditing new entrants in the first 6 months, and the first 18 

months, are not being met. The number of safety audits reflects the number 

of new registrants that were personally informed about the carrier 

requirements. Using registration data on the number of new entrants, the 

agency can estimate the number of new entrants needing a safety audit and 

agency progress toward the program goal. There are about 40,000 new 

entrants registered per year, but officials told us that about 40 percent drop 

out or discontinue business within the first year of operations. 

By tracking the number of safety audits conducted, FMCSA seeks to 

determine the extent to which it has provided information to its targeted 

audience of new drivers. FMCSA has no process to measure whether new 

entrants’ awareness of safe trucking practices was raised, which ideally 

would be a consequence of an effective education and outreach effort. 

Specifically, although FMCSA plans to evaluate the New Entrant program 

in 2008, it has no current plan to determine how FMCSA’s safety 

requirement information, such as its Education and Technical Assistance 

Package and its safety audits, affect new entrants’ (1) awareness of FMCSA 

requirements, such as drug and alcohol testing requirements or (2) their 

motivation to change behaviors that might lead to safer operations. The 

New Entrant program manager indicated that since the program is new and 

still evolving, the outreach campaign does not have much historical data to 

evaluate. 

Although the program has not been in existence very long, FMCSA officials 

stated that the agency has conducted one study of the New Entrant 

program and has plans to conduct another. One preliminary analysis by 

FMCSA compared the crash rates of new motor carriers registering with 

FMCSA during 2002 to the crash rates of over 1,000 new motor carriers that 

registered with FMCSA and had a safety audit during the first 6 months of 

2003. This analysis showed that there was little difference between the 

crash rates of these two groups. FMCSA officials said that they are 

planning a study to be conducted after planned changes to the safety audit, 

discussed later in this report, have been in place for a period of time. 

Officials told us that the study planned to begin in 2008 will examine 

carriers’ safety records over time, although they have not yet developed an 

evaluation plan.
Page 28 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

We have previously reported on the difficulties of assessing education and 

outreach programs such as the New Entrant program. We have also 

reported, however, that federal agencies are expected to demonstrate how 

their activities contribute to achieving agency or governmentwide goals. 

Additionally, the guidance that FMCSA uses when developing evaluation 

efforts for education and outreach programs—a booklet entitled The Art of 

Appropriate Evaluation28 —published by NHTSA—emphasizes that 

evaluations should include measurements of changes in awareness, 

knowledge, and behavior. If FMCSA’s planned evaluation of the New 

Entrant program does not consider whether the program is actually 

succeeding in effectively conveying the educational material on safe 

trucking practices, FMCSA will be unable to clearly determine the 

program’s impact. Or, if safety audits are having little impact, as suggested 

by FMCSA’s preliminary analysis, the agency will not be able to determine 

whether it is due to (1) the educational material provided, (2) how the 

information is conveyed during the safety audits, (3) the lack of follow-up 

on the safety audit results, or (4) other factors. Additionally, it will be 

difficult to demonstrate to Congress that this program is having its desired 

effect. 

Non-Entrant Program This program has not yet begun. FMCSA officials plan to award a contract 

by the end of 2005 to develop, implement, and evaluate the Non-Entrant 

program. The contractor is to test the effectiveness of the outreach 

materials while they are being developed to determine if they will reach the 

intended audience and effectively changed knowledge and attitudes. 

Development of the materials will include surveying the targeted audience 

and conducting outreach through truck leasing and sales firms. FMCSA’s 

program plan indicated that the contractor will be expected to assess 

changes in knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of its target audience.

Commercial Motor Vehicle 

Safety Belt Program

FMCSA officials stated that they plan to evaluate this initiative in several 

ways once they have finalized its evaluation arrangements. According to 

FMCSA officials, during program design, FMCSA tested its marketing 

materials with target audiences, including truck drivers, and found that the 

marketing material was appropriately targeted. Also, FMCSA is installing 

software to track the number of Web-site hits on certain of its Web pages 

that contain important educational elements of the Safety Belt campaign. 

This system will enable FMCSA to determine how many times its 

28National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, The Art of Appropriate Evaluation: A 

Guide for Highway Safety Program Managers, May 1999.
Page 29 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

information has been viewed, but it will not enable FMCSA officials to 

know whether that information was effectively conveyed to its target 

audience or changed their attitudes about wearing safety belts. 

Nonetheless, FMCSA officials believe that this software will enable 

program managers to monitor and determine which Web-site pages are 

viewed, and therefore are more effective, based on the number of hits and 

the length of time at each site. Furthermore, FMCSA is considering focus 

groups and surveys with carriers on how safety belt marketing material 

affected their awareness of the importance of using safety belts.

In addition, FMCSA has an agreement with NHTSA for two efforts that 

could measure progress toward the expected outcome of this initiative—a 

10-percent increase in use of safety belts from 2006 through 2009. The first 

effort is a study, expected to be completed in December 2005, which 

updates a 2003 commercial motor vehicle study that reported that 48 

percent of commercial drivers wear safety belts. The new study will update 

information on the percentage of commercial drivers that wear safety belts 

by replicating the methodology used in the 2003 study, according to FMCSA 

officials. The second effort will investigate the feasibility of annually 

collecting data on safety-belt use by commercial drivers through the 

National Occupant Protection Usage Study (NOPUS) sponsored by 

NHTSA. Although these efforts will measure safety-belt use, they will not 

evaluate whether the education and outreach program in particular 

contributed to changes in the number of individuals wearing safety belts. 

Motor Coach Outreach Program FMCSA has a Web-based, pop-up survey for its Web site which, although 

focusing on consumer satisfaction in general, gives FMCSA some ideas 

about Web-site usage and exposure to the information contained on the 

site. The survey randomly selects visitors to the Motor Coach Web site and 

asks them to answer a series of questions concerning the accuracy, quality, 

convenience, and ability of finding needed information. The survey also 

asks visitors about their overall satisfaction with the Web site. Although 

these questions may be generally helpful to rate the Web site experience, 

more specific questions on the Motor Coach program information have not 

been incorporated. The pop-up survey has flexibility for use in other 

FMCSA program Web pages, and FMCSA has plans to use Web-based usage 

tracking as an additional tool in the future. However, with only a small 

budget—$150,000 in fiscal year 2005—for the Motor Coach program, it is 

reasonable to expect that FMCSA would balance the need for this type of 

evaluation information with its other education and outreach program 

priorities. 
Page 30 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

As of October 2005, FMCSA officials also had plans to award a contract for 

contractor support to conduct surveys, focus groups, and interviews to 

evaluate its education and outreach programs, including obtaining Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) clearance for these activities.29 FMCSA 

officials told us that the motor coach program would be evaluated under 

this contract. 

Household Goods Outreach 

Program

FMCSA has identified at least two approaches to evaluate the effectiveness 

of the outreach efforts for the household goods outreach program. One 

effort is to survey recipients who have received the Ready to Move - Tips 

for a Successful Interstate Move booklet from GSA. As of May 2005, 703 

surveys had been distributed to determine whether the recipients believed 

that the booklet would change their intentions about which household 

goods carrier they might select. The survey asks questions regarding the 

effectiveness of the booklet and its information content. Also, FMCSA 

officials stated that the Household Goods program would be evaluated 

under the survey support contract discussed in the preceding section on 

the Motor Coach program.

An FMCSA official whom we spoke with indicated that the elderly may be 

particularly targeted by unscrupulous movers. Recent data released by the 

Census Bureau indicate that only about 40 percent of people age 55 years 

or older have computers with Internet access in their homes.30 Although 

FMCSA has an available hard-copy brochure, the Web-based outreach 

efforts may not be fully reaching this population. FMCSA’s planned 

evaluations of the Household Goods program do not address the 

effectiveness of FMCSA’s Web-based outreach in reaching this population. 

29Under regulations that implement the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, federal agencies 

seeking to collect information from ten or more persons are required to first obtain approval 

from OMB.

30Data as of 2003, from the U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 

2004-2005, p. 732.
Page 31 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

The Effectiveness of 

Education and 

Outreach Programs Is 

Unclear, but Programs 

Seem to be Reasonably 

Designed According to 

Theories of Behavior 

Change and Industry 

Groups

Most of FMCSA’s evaluations of its education and outreach programs have 

yet to be completed, and therefore little is currently known about the 

effectiveness of the programs. FMCSA expects the contracts for the 

evaluation programs to be finalized within months and will receive 

information from the evaluations once the data are collected and analyzed. 

Until that time, what is known about program effectiveness is largely based 

on anecdotal information from stakeholders such as industry associations, 

as well as a comparison of the education and outreach programs to the 

design of other successful programs that have been implemented. 

However, FMCSA’s education and outreach programs and marketing 

materials appear to follow theories and research on behavior change. 

Finally, a public-safety group suggests FMCSA followed reasonable 

approaches in starting its education and outreach efforts, however, it 

would like to see more quantitative evaluation in the future to help FMCSA 

refine its programs. 

Behavior Theory Indicates 

Education and Outreach 

Can Be Effective in 

Increasing Awareness and 

Changing Behavior for 

Programs that Do Not Have 

Regulations Governing the 

Behavior of Their Target 

Audiences 

Studies by us, other agencies, and academics show that education and 

outreach programs, such as those undertaken by FMCSA, can be effective 

in creating awareness of a problem or issue and influencing some change in 

behavior. One theory—the theory of reasoned action—explains the 

relationship between attitudes, beliefs, intentions, and behavior. In short, 

people are more likely to change their behavior if they believe the change is 

valued—or that not changing their behavior has negative 

consequences—and if they have the necessary opportunity to change the 

behavior. For example, one antismoking advertising campaign emphasized 

the negative effects of smoking on a smoker’s health. Smokers became 

aware of the negative consequences, and 26 percent of respondents 

indicated that they were more likely to quit smoking based on the 

awareness of the negative consequences of smoking. Another study on the 

effects of sun exposure showed that countering the mistaken belief that 

sun tanning had a positive effect reduced the percentage of individuals who 

habitually lie in the sun. These studies demonstrate that emphasizing the 

consequences of a negative behavior to individuals can result in changes to 

attitudes and behavior, without applying any specific sanctions.

Based on the theory of reasoned action, education and outreach can have a 

positive impact through FMCSA’s two programs that have a goal of 

influencing consumers to make appropriate choices of motor carriers. 

FMCSA’s Motor Coach and Household Goods Outreach programs are 

targeted toward consumers and do not have regulations governing the 
Page 32 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

consumers’ behavior, thus, according to the theory of reasoned action, 

gaining knowledge about the positive consequences of choosing a safe 

carrier will affect the individuals’ attitude toward this behavior. The change 

in attitude will directly affect intention and the subsequent behavior. Thus, 

education and outreach campaigns can provide an individual under these 

circumstances with the information that is needed to make a more 

educated choice. For example, the Motor Coach program follows this 

approach by targeting consumers and conveying the negative 

consequences of choosing an unsafe carrier. In the case of the Household 

Goods program, the campaign conveys the positive consequences of 

choosing a reputable carrier in the Households Goods program, although 

the elderly, a group potentially susceptible to unscrupulous carriers, may 

require a different delivery method other than FMCSA’s Web site to receive 

this message.

A Link to Enforcement Can 

Strengthen Education and 

Outreach Programs’ Ability 

to Change Behavior 

Independent studies as well as our prior work31 indicate that the level of 

enforcement in safety related programs is positively correlated with 

safety-belt use, especially when coupled with public-awareness efforts. 

According to the general deterrence theory, individuals must be exposed to 

law enforcement or receive information about legal ramifications of their 

actions before they can be deterred. The perception or expectation of 

certain sanctions results in attempts to avoid committing the offense. 

Studies show this theory is an effective model for strengthening the change 

in behavior resulting from safety programs. Thus, this link to enforcement 

would apply to FMCSA’s three education and outreach programs—Safety 

Belt, Non-Entrant and New Entrant—that have existing regulations that 

address their target audience’s behavior. 

One study, conducted by the National Safety Council, on the state of South 

Carolina’s safety-belt program, showed that while media campaigns 

immediately increased awareness of the importance of safety belts, the 

largest increase in safety belt-use occurred after officers enforced the 

requirement to wear safety belts. Additionally, a 2002 study by NHTSA 

included data from the state of Washington, which showed that the 

baseline percentage of individuals wearing safety belts (81 percent) 

increased slightly with advertising over a 4-week period to 82 percent. 

Ultimately with the addition of enforcement efforts, the percentage of 

31GAO, Truck Safety: Share the Road Safely Program Needs Better Evaluation of Its 

Initiatives, GAO-03-680 (Washington, D.C.: May 30, 2003). 
Page 33 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

those who wear safety belts increased to 90 percent within 2 months. The 

same study showed similar results in Texas, where the effects of 

advertising alone raised the safety belt percentage slightly, but the 

combination of advertising with enforcement caused the number to 

increase another 6 percent, from the 80-percent baseline. These studies 

suggest that although publicity may increase the awareness of the need to 

wear safety belts, some people are unlikely to act on that awareness unless 

the enforcement component of the campaign was closely integrated with 

the publicity campaign. The results of these studies suggest that education 

and outreach alone can increase awareness and encourage the intended 

behaviors for FMCSA’s education and outreach programs, but that 

enforcement can strengthen the result of these efforts.

FMCSA Is Increasing 

Enforcement in the New 

Entrant Program and 

Acknowledges the 

Importance of Enforcement 

to the Non-Entrant and 

Safety Belt Programs 

Three of FMCSA’s programs we examined, the New Entrant, Non-Entrant 

and Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Belt programs have regulations, such 

as a requirement for motor carrier drivers to wear safety belts, affecting the 

target audiences’ (motor carrier industry) behavior. This provides the 

opportunity to use both enforcement and education in programs with the 

goal of improving the safety behavior of the motor carrier industry. The 

following sections describe how FMCSA has indicated it is using or will be 

using enforcement along with education and outreach in these programs.

New Entrant Program Enforcement has been only a minor component of the New Entrant 

program, but FMCSA is currently strengthening the criteria for passing 

New Entrant safety audits because of concerns of its effectiveness, based 

on analysis and anecdotal information indicating that new entrants that 

have been notified of the safety audit requirements may not be operating 

more safely. In addition, even if a new entrant passes the safety audit, some 

carriers are not yet following important safety requirements, such as 

having a drug and alcohol testing program, at the time the safety audit was 

conducted. This change should establish a better link to enforcement, in 

keeping with behavioral research, in that it will be more difficult for new 

entrants to retain their operating status unless they are following the safety 

requirements at the time of the audit. 

The safety audit has been considered an educational unit, with a strong 

emphasis on training new entrants about the requirements to operate in 

interstate commerce. For example, the federal register notice that 

established the new entrant safety assurance process indicated that the 

new entrant process is intended to “improve the safety performance of new 
Page 34 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

entrants by providing educational and technical assistance” and required 

“minimum requirements to new entrant motor carriers to ensure that they 

are knowledgeable about applicable federal motor carrier safety 

standards.” There are few sanctions for carriers who fail critical areas of 

the safety audit, although a new entrant might be subject to a more 

stringent and detailed review—a compliance review—under certain 

circumstances.32 However, the compliance review process occurs less 

often with new motor carriers than experienced carriers. 

Although FMCSA’s requirements indicate that the objectives of the safety 

audit are to educate the carrier and determine areas where the carrier’s 

compliance might be deficient, in practical application almost all new 

entrants have passed the safety audit, and little is done to follow-up to 

ensure that new motor carriers correct deficiencies identified in the safety 

audits. A new entrant can fail two of six sections and still pass the audit. 

Safety audit sections include areas such as driver qualifications, business 

operations, and maintenance records. Over a 2-year period ending in April 

2005, there were 51,681 carriers that passed the safety audit, and only 372 

failed, producing a 99.3 percent passing rate for new entrant motor 

carriers. Those who fail the audit must take corrective action within 45 

days if they are a passenger or hazardous material carrier, or 60 days for all 

other carriers, or they will lose operating status. Furthermore, for those 

carriers who passed the audit despite failing multiple sections of it, FMCSA 

currently has no mechanism to ensure the failed sections of the audit have 

been corrected before the carrier achieves permanent status. Although 

FMCSA sends letters to new entrants about the sections in which they are 

not in compliance with motor carrier regulations; beyond the letter and 

agency follow-up to obtain proof of insurance, the agency or its 

representatives do not determine if the new entrants have in fact corrected 

deficiencies identified during the safety audits. 

Our analysis of critical factors within the safety audit questions revealed 

that over the same 2-year period, about 40 percent of the carriers failed the 

“driver” section of the audit, despite passing the audit overall. This section 

includes critical questions, such as whether a carrier’s driver qualifications 

have been reviewed and whether the carrier's drivers are covered by a drug 

32A compliance review is a more stringent and detailed review than a safety audit, and it is 

triggered if a new entrant is (1) involved in a fatal or serious accident, (2) subject to a 

nonfrivolous complaint, (3) involved in a hazardous materials accident, or (4) on a FMCSA 

database that flags carriers with poor safety records for compliance reviews. 
Page 35 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

and alcohol testing program. Specifically, we found that about 60 percent of 

the new entrant carriers that passed the safety audit had failed the 

requirement to check qualifications of drivers prior to hiring them. 

Checking qualifications means that before hiring a driver a motor carrier 

company obtains and reviews information on an applicant’s driving history, 

including accident and ticket information. In addition, we found that for the 

most part, between 27 and 29 percent of carriers who passed the safety 

audit had not maintained maintenance files for requested vehicles. The lack 

of improvement over the 2-year period illustrates the importance of 

determining if the Education and Technical Assistance Package, which the 

carriers received prior to the audit, should be changed to improve these 

results. 

FMCSA officials agreed that the safety audit may not be improving safety 

behavior of new entrants, and the agency is already tightening these 

requirements. Currently, there is no one question or section of the audit 

that can cause a new entrant to fail. FMCSA officials informed us that the 

new federal register notice laying out stricter pass requirements—expected 

to be issued shortly—identify eight critical questions that individually 

could lead to failing the safety audit, thus providing more incentive for 

carriers to comply with new entrant requirements. For example, carriers 

would automatically fail if they do not employ a drug and alcohol program, 

have insurance, or have the proper maintenance requirements. Carriers 

who fail the safety audit and do not correct the deficiencies could lose their 

operating status and would be required to correct deficiencies before their 

operating status is reinstated.

Safety Belt Program Similarly to the New Entrant program, there has been limited enforcement 

associated with the Safety Belt program to date. The finding that 48 percent 

of commercial drivers wear safety belts, compared with 80 percent of 

passenger vehicle drivers, suggests that commercial motor vehicle 

operators have thus far been less receptive to messages in the market place 

regarding the importance of wearing safety belts while on duty.33 In light of 

the studies we reviewed, an enforcement element might help strengthen 

education and outreach programs’ attempts to increase awareness of the 

risk to drivers of not wearing safety belts and encourage commercial 

drivers to wear them. It is reasonable to assume that commercial motor 

vehicle operators, similar to private operators, would be educated and 

informed from the materials presented in the campaign but that some 

33As mentioned earlier, FMCSA currently has a planned study to update the data.
Page 36 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

would not act on the information unless there was some risk of sanction. 

The approved plan for FMCSA’s safety belt initiatives includes a third phase 

of implementation that calls for increased enforcement. Although the plan 

does not specify how FMCSA will enforce federal regulations regarding 

wearing safety belts and how FMCSA will work with state agencies to carry 

out enforcement—as this program develops, strengthening the 

enforcement link may increase the effectiveness of the safety belt 

education and outreach efforts. FMCSA officials indicated that this 

enforcement effort had begun and included fiscal year 2005 grants to state 

agencies that can be used for safety belt education and enforcement.

Non-Entrant Program FMCSA’s program plan for the Non-Entrant program indicates it will have 

some enforcement component as it is developed; however, specific 

information on enforcement has not yet been developed. Literature on 

safety programs and experience with similar programs indicates the 

Non-Entrant program might benefit from enforcement after non-entrants 

are exposed to the message about the importance of registering for a DOT 

license when they buy or rent a vehicle for operation. 

Industry Associations Offer 

A Mostly Positive View of 

FMCSA’s Education and 

Outreach Efforts, but Public 

Advocacy Groups 

Expressed Some Concerns

Overall, the industry associations’ view is that FMCSA is doing several 

positive things in its education and outreach activities. Officials of the 

seven industry associations whom we spoke with had regular contact with 

FMCSA officials and were familiar with the education and outreach 

programs under this review. Many association officials cited direct contact 

with FMCSA on industry issues on a regular basis and said that their 

partnerships with FMCSA on education and outreach activities were 

productive. Specifically, an official of one moving industry association told 

us that it shared data with FMCSA regarding complaints against carriers 

and often refers complainants to FMCSA for further information. Officials 

representing a consortium of primarily state agencies involved in motor 

carrier safety, to which FMCSA belongs, told us that the support FMCSA 

was able to provide was important to the implementation of the Safety Belt 

program. Lastly, some association officials said that FMCSA was doing a 

good job with the resources it has, but others said FMCSA could do more 

with its education and outreach efforts if the agency had more resources. 

However, one of the two public safety groups we contacted believed that 

although the education and outreach programs were based on good ideas, 

FMCSA needs to do more quantitative evaluations of these programs. Both 

public safety groups also felt that FMCSA should have stronger 

enforcement. For example, one group indicated that research has shown 
Page 37 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

enforcement to increase the effectiveness of education programs and thus, 

FMCSA should focus more on compliance and enforcement. Finally, 

although industry associations emphasized the positive professional 

relationships they have with FMCSA officials, a public safety group 

indicated that it is wary about FMCSA’s tendency to manage programs in 

alliance with industry partners, since the group believes it might affect the 

agency’s objectivity. 

Conclusions Uncertainty about how FMCSA’s education and outreach activities link to 

broader program and agency goals and about FMCSA’s New Entrant 

program have emerged from our study. FMCSA officials have stated that 

the agency’s education and outreach programs support department 

objectives and that they have used a logic model to show this in the 

agency’s performance budgets. However, in our review of agency 

documents, we found that except for the Safety Belt program, FMCSA has 

not established clear links between the education and outreach programs 

and agency and departmental goals. For example, the conference report 

accompanying the DOT appropriations bill for fiscal year 2005 requested 

FMCSA report to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations “a 

goal, message, and coherent and explicit program strategy that clearly and 

directly link FMCSA’s outreach and education program initiatives to each 

program’s goals” because of its concerns over how FMCSA’s education and 

outreach activities support agency goals. In the October 2005 response, 

FMCSA stated that its education and outreach programs support DOT 

strategic objectives. The report, however, did not clearly set out the links 

between changing attitudes and behaviors that would describe how these 

programs contribute to objectives. Such a step would be welcome, for 

without an explanation of that link, FMCSA cannot transparently 

demonstrate to stakeholders, including congressional oversight authorities 

that the programs do, in fact, contribute to these broader goals. 

Furthermore, without a clear statement of how these programs are 

intended to support these goals, it is difficult to design evaluations to 

determine if these programs are performing as intended or if changes are 

needed in program design. FMCSA has used a type of a logic model for its 

Research and Technology program, making it clear to all interested parties 

how its research activities help the agency achieve its goals. While FMCSA 

officials say they have used a logic model for its education and outreach 

program, this is not evident in agency budget and program documents. The 

use of a logic model, similar to the one used by the agency’s Research and 

Technology group, in planning, budgeting or program for education and 

outreach programs may be beneficial. 
Page 38 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

Second, the absence of a plan to evaluate how well the information 

provided to motor carriers as part of the New Entrant program was 

understood and if the information raised awareness and helped promote 

safer behavior also emerges as a concern. An FMCSA official stated that 

the New Entrant program is still new and has limited data to evaluate. 

Further, changes to the program are planned to raise the threshold for 

passing a safety audit. Thus, FMCSA is planning on starting an evaluation of 

the New Entrant program in 2008. However, without an evaluation of the 

effect of education on new entrants’ knowledge about safety requirement, 

FMCSA is losing an opportunity to obtain information about the 

effectiveness of the educational information conveyed through the 

program. In addition, FMCSA cannot know whether its safety audits, which 

composed almost 7.5 percent of FMCSA’s 2005 funding, are having the 

desired effect; whether the Education and Technical Assistance Package 

and the information conveyed during the safety audits might require some 

changes to improve their effectiveness; and whether the safety audits 

themselves might be achieving their purpose of improving motor carrier 

safety. FMCSA has two opportunities upcoming to obtain information on 

the effectiveness of the educational materials and safety audits. First, it 

could use its planned contract for evaluation of education and outreach 

activities to develop and conduct such an evaluation. Second, FMCSA 

could include this evaluation in its plans to evaluate the New Entrant 

program beginning in 2008. 

Recommendations for 

Executive Action

To better demonstrate how FMCSA education and outreach programs 

contribute to achieving agency goals, we recommend that the Secretary of 

Transportation direct the Administrator of FMCSA to take the following 

two actions: 

• Ensure that the agency describes and documents how education and 

outreach program activities link to and support broader program and 

agency goals in a planning, program, or budget document that is 

available to the public, and

• Evaluate the effectiveness of the education and outreach of the New 

Entrant program, assessing the extent to which the Education and 

Technical Assistance Package and safety audits are helping new carriers 

learn and understand FMCSA requirements. 
Page 39 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

Agency Comments We provided a draft of this report to the Department of Transportation for 

its review and comment. FMCSA officials, through the DOT liaison, 

provided oral comments on a draft of this report. The officials did not agree 

with GAO’s finding that FMCSA has not linked its education efforts with its 

overall goals. FMCSA officials state they have linked their education and 

outreach programs to agency goals at a high level in the agency’s 

performance budgets. In addition, the officials state that they used a logic 

model to make this link. We included FMCSA’s view that it has linked its 

education and outreach programs to agency goals in our report. However, 

we did not find this link evident for most of the education and outreach 

programs. For example, Congress requested FMCSA to report on the link 

between its education and outreach program initiatives to each program’s 

goal. FMCSA’s report to Congress described the program activities; 

however, it did not describe the link between the activities and FMCSA’s 

goals. In addition, although FMCSA officials stated that they have used a 

logic model in their performance budget to link education and outreach 

programs to agency goals, the discussion implied a link, but does not 

describe how FMCSA’s education and outreach activities are intended to 

change target audience’s attitudes and behaviors that would contribute to 

meeting agency goals. However, in FMCSA’s fiscal year 2006 performance 

budget, we did find and report on a relatively clear discussion of how the 

Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Belt program supported safety objectives 

such as reduced fatalities. 

In addition, DOT and FMCSA officials were concerned that our 

recommendation on documenting the link between education programs 

and agency goals was too prescriptive. We recommended that FMCSA 

expedite the process of describing and documenting how its education and 

outreach programs link to and support overall agency goals in strategic 

planning and budget documents. DOT officials said that including this 

specific information on relatively small dollar projects—such as the Motor 

Coach program—was not appropriate in the DOT strategic plan. In 

addition, DOT officials told us that it is not appropriate to include this level 

of performance information in budget requests. Since the strategic plan and 

the performance budget are not the only opportunities to detail program 

linkage to broad agency goals, we clarified our recommendation to provide 

FMCSA with more flexibility in identifying an appropriate planning, 

program, or budgeting document in which to describe and document the 

link between program activities and goals, so that external stakeholders, 

including congressional oversight authorities, can understand how these 

programs are supporting agency goals. 
Page 40 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

Second, agency officials suggested that it is too early to evaluate the New 

Entrant program, as we recommended; and they have not developed 

evaluation plans because they do not plan on beginning an evaluation until 

2008. However, after over 2 years of implementation and 52,000 safety 

audits, FMCSA is losing an opportunity to conduct an evaluation of the 

educational component of the New Entrant program, including the 

Educational and Technical Assistance Package for new entrants and the 

information conveyed during safety audits to determine if new motor 

carriers increase their knowledge of motor carrier requirements and 

change their behavior to better comply with these requirements. The lack 

of such an evaluation is a missed opportunity for FMCSA to demonstrate 

the effectiveness of its educational information and safety audits, which 

represented almost 7.5 percent of its funding in fiscal year 2005. In 

addition, we continue to believe this is an important component of any 

evaluation FMCSA develops to determine the effectiveness of the New 

Entrant program. Therefore, we retained our recommendation to evaluate 

the New Entrant program and conclude that there are two opportunities for 

doing so—either through contracts for evaluations of education and 

outreach programs or through the evaluation FMCSA is planning to start in 

2008. 

Finally, agency officials provided technical comments, which we 

incorporated as appropriate. 

We are sending copies of this report to the Honorable Norman Mineta, 

Secretary of Transportation. We will also make copies available to others 

upon request. In addition, the report will be available at no charge on the 

GAO Web site at http://www.gao.gov. 
Page 41 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

If you or your staff have any questions about this report, please contact me 

at siggerudk@gao.gov or (202) 512-2834. Contact points for our Offices of 

Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last page 

of this report. Major contributors to this report are listed in appendix III.

Katherine Siggerud

Director, Physical Infrastructure 
Page 42 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

Appendix I

Scope and Methodology AAppenednxidexiIs

To address our first objective and describe the scope and nature of the 

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) education and 

outreach programs, we reviewed program documentation and interviewed 

FMCSA officials at agency headquarters, its Eastern Service Center in 

Maryland, and its New Jersey division office. We selected this division 

office and service center because they were significantly involved in all 

four of the currently active education and outreach programs we reviewed, 

which are the New Entrant, Commercial Safety Belt, Motor Coach 

Outreach, and Household Goods Outreach programs. We obtained and 

reviewed information on FMCSA’s plans to initiate an additional program 

targeted at non-entrant carriers. 

Further, to determine how these programs relate to FMCSA’s goals, we 

reviewed its strategic planning and performance budgeting documents and 

how these education and outreach programs were portrayed in the current 

fiscal year 2006 documents. We also discussed the performance budgeting 

process with an FMCSA senior budget analyst to identify the agency’s plans 

for the fiscal year 2007 and 2008 performance budgets. We also obtained 

and reviewed the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) strategic plan, 

which FMCSA refers to in its performance budget. In addition, we obtained 

the strategic plan for FMCSA’s Research and Technology group. We 

reviewed this plan to identify what one group within FMCSA uses for its 

strategic and program planning. To identify other tools used for describing 

how program activities relate to agency goals, we reviewed our previous 

work and identified a program logic model, originally developed by the 

University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension, as a model that FMCSA 

could use to clearly describe its education and outreach programs. 

To address our second objective—identifying the extent to which FMCSA 

has evaluated its education and outreach programs, we discussed the 

status of these evaluation efforts with FMCSA officials and reviewed 

proposals and statements of work for current and planned contracts to 

carry out program evaluations. We also assessed the usefulness of FMCSA’s 

ongoing or planned program evaluations to determine if the ealuations 

would address how program activities affected target audiences’ attitudes, 

knowledge, and behavior. We did not thoroughly assess the evaluation 

design.

We took several approaches to assess what is currently known about the 

effectiveness of programs like FMCSA’s education and outreach programs. 

Finally, to identify what is known about the effectiveness of the programs, 

we conducted a literature review of media based campaigns and reviewed 
Appendix I

Scope and Methodology

Page 43 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

the structure and evaluation of these campaigns as well as behavioral 

theories used in designing the campaigns. We selected two behavioral 

theories that were directly applicable to the programs under this review—

the theory of reasoned action and the general deterrence theory. We then 

directly compared the characteristics of the two theories with the 

characteristics of FMCSA’s programs. Additionally, through our literature 

search, we also identified additional research that discusses the 

importance of the relationship between education and enforcement in 

changing behavior. We used this research to help assess the potential for 

using enforcement to augment FMCSA’s education and outreach efforts. We 

obtained aggregated data from safety audit results from FMCSA’s Motor 

Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS) to examine results for 

individual elements within a safety audit. We used these data to identify the 

failure rates for key elements of the safety audit. We conducted a reliability 

assessment of MCMIS data by (1) reviewing documentation related to 

system development, (2) interviewing knowledgeable agency officials, and 

(3) reviewing FMCSA’s internal controls, and we determined the data was 

sufficiently reliable for our use. Finally, we interviewed officials from 

several motor carrier, law enforcement, and safety organizations, including 

the American Trucking Associations; the National Private Truck Council; 

the American Bus Association; the United Motorcoach Association; the 

American Moving and Storage Association; the Commercial Vehicle Safety 

Alliance; Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety; and Public Citizen for 

their perspective of the effectiveness of FMCSA’s education and outreach 

efforts. 

In accordance with congressional direction, we did not extend our review 

to include “Share the Road Safely” which is targeted to passenger car 

drivers. In fiscal year 2004, Congress transferred funding for the program 

from FMCSA the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). 

Funding for this program is being returned to FMCSA in fiscal year 2006. In 

fiscal years 2004 and 2005, Congress provided FMCSA with funding for 

another outreach effort entitled “Safety Is Good Business.” The SAFETEALU requires GAO to review this program by June of 2006. 

Our work was conducted in accordance with generally accepted 

government auditing standards, from December 2004 through October 

2005.
Page 44 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

Appendix II

FMCSA Education and Outreach Programs ApendxiI

The following provides a more detailed discussion of the five education and 

outreach programs we reviewed. 

New Entrant Program The New Entrant program is intended to ensure that new motor carriers 

are knowledgeable about federal motor carrier safety standards and 

applicable hazardous material regulations. The program is focused on the 

safety audits conducted through site visits to the new carriers’ offices by 

personnel from the state law enforcement agency, the FMCSA division 

office, or a FMCSA contractor. 

In 1998, a FMCSA commissioned study1 found that new entrants to the 

motor carrier industry have a substantially higher level of safety regulation 

violations than more experienced carriers. Other, earlier research had also 

indicated that new entrant carriers had crash rates higher than more 

experienced carriers.2

 The Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act, which 

established FMCSA, also directed the Secretary of Transportation to 

establish regulations specifying minimum requirements for applicant motor 

carriers seeking federal interstate operating authority and to require that 

new entrants undergo a safety audit within the first 18 months of 

operations. Effective January 1, 2003, FMCSA established its New Entrant 

program to improve the safety of new entrant motor carriers by providing 

them with educational and technical assistance as they begin their 

businesses. Under FMCSA’s New Entrant program, any new motor carrier 

that registers with DOT is designated a “new entrant” and will be subject to 

a new entrant safety audit and increased roadside performance monitoring 

for an 18-month period. 

The safety audit’s purpose is to provide educational and technical 

assistance to the new entrant by reviewing the carrier’s compliance with 

FMCSA requirements, including driver qualifications, driver records of duty 

status, vehicle maintenance records, accident registers, and controlled 

substances and alcohol use and testing requirements. Education and 

technical assistance information is also available to new entrants through 

FMCSA’s Web site. A carrier that passes the safety audit is informed of any 

1

John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, New Entrant Safety Research Final 

Report, April 1998.

2

Thomas M. Corsi and Philip Fanara, Jr., “Deregulation, New Entrants, and the Safety 

Learning Curve,” Journal of the Transportation Research Forum, Vol. XXIX, No. 1, 1988.
Appendix II

FMCSA Education and Outreach Programs

Page 45 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

deficiencies and what it must do to be in compliance. A carrier that fails the 

safety audit has 60 days3

 to take necessary corrective action, and ultimately 

if the deficiencies are not corrected, its registration can be revoked. At the 

end of the 18-month period, if the carrier has passed its safety audit, does 

not have an unsatisfactory safety rating, and is not subject to an “out of 

service” order or any notice to remedy safety management controls, the 

“new entrant” designation will be removed from its registration, and it will 

be monitored like any other carrier.

In most states, new entrant safety audits have been done by both state law 

enforcement agency and FMCSA division office personnel. Contractors 

conduct safety audits in four states (Florida, Maine, Oregon, and Wyoming) 

that are presently doing few or none of their own. When the New Entrant 

program began, FMCSA staff performed most of the safety audits, but 

states now carry out the majority of these audits, as indicated by figure 5.

3

Forty-five days, in the case of passenger or hazardous material carriers.
Appendix II

FMCSA Education and Outreach Programs

Page 46 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

Figure 5: Number of New Entrant Safety Audits Completed by FMCSA and State 

Agencies (first 7 months of fiscal year 2005)

Non-Entrant Program FMCSA’s Non-Entrant program will target motor carriers that operate 

interstate but have not registered with DOT. The purpose of the program 

will be to raise awareness of registration requirements, and to increase the 

number of registrations among these non-entrant motor carriers. This 

program has not yet begun, but FMCSA officials told us it will include 

information disseminated through truck sales and leasing firms to nonentrants. 

The number of non-entrants is unknown, but a FMCSA official estimates it 

may be in the tens of thousands. FMCSA officials whom we spoke with 

believe that non-entrants may represent an even higher level of risk than 

new entrants, because they do not get exposure to FMCSA safety 

information through registration. The officials believe that, in general, 

motor carriers that do not register with DOT are unaware of the 

requirement to do so, rather than intentionally avoiding registering. FMCSA 

will be awarding a contract for the development of the Non-Entrant 

Source: GAO analysis of FMCSA data.

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

Number of safety audits

Month

State officials (including contractors)

FMCSA officials

Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr.
Appendix II

FMCSA Education and Outreach Programs

Page 47 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

program; the contract is expected to include a requirement to identify the 

target population of non-entrants, develop informational material, with 

follow-up monitoring of non-entrants that are identified.

Commercial Safety Belt 

Program

FMCSA’s Commercial Safety Belt Program is intended to improve upon the 

low rate of safety-belt use by commercial truck drivers. In 2003, a study 

commissioned by FMCSA reported that only 48 percent of commercial 

truck drivers wear safety belts, compared with 80 percent of passenger car 

drivers wearing safety belts. In December 2003, FMCSA established the 

Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Belt Partnership with 16 other 

organizations, including trucking industry and law enforcement 

associations, commercial drivers associations, and safety organizations, 

with the goal of increasing commercial safety-belt use by commercial 

motor vehicle drivers. With its safety belt partners, FMCSA produces 

materials including posters, bumper stickers, and brochures for 

distribution at trucking industry shows and events, and through law 

enforcement campaigns. In 2004, as part of the Partnership, FMCSA helped 

distribute informational brochures developed by the Commercial Vehicle 

Safety Alliance (CVSA).4

 In 2005, FMCSA introduced and distributed new 

materials with the theme “Be Ready. Be Buckled.” for distribution at 

national and regional trucking industry shows and events, and through the 

CVSA-sponsored Road Check 2005. This was a 3-day truck and motor 

coach inspection effort in June 2005 that involved over 9,900 inspectors, 

conducting more than 60,000 vehicle inspections in the United States, 

Canada, and Mexico. Through the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Belt 

Partnership, FMCSA also communicates its message through information 

displayed at truck stops and satellite radio programming oriented to truck 

drivers. 

Motor Coach Outreach 

Program

FMCSA’s objective for the motor coach industry is to reduce injuries and 

save lives through increased compliance with safety regulations and 

promotion of safe operations by motor coach owners and operators. 

FMCSA’s approach is two-fold—(1) reaching out to the industry to inform 

motor coach companies of regulations and provide safety advice and (2) 

providing consumers with information to help them in selecting and hiring 

4

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance is an association of North American law 

enforcement agencies that enforce commercial vehicle safety. Membership includes 

representatives of all 50 states, all Canadian provinces, and Mexico. 
Appendix II

FMCSA Education and Outreach Programs

Page 48 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

motor coach services. FMCSA’s motor coach outreach activities include 

communication with the carriers through printed material and 

participation in trade shows, and Web-based information for the public. For 

the purposes of our review, we focused on FMCSA’s outreach to members 

of the public that hire motor coach services. 

Motor coaches have been one of the safest forms of commercial 

transportation, but an increase in motor coach occupant fatalities since 

2001 led FMCSA to increase its focus on motor coach companies. In 2002, 

FMCSA developed “Moving Kids Safely” a toolkit of reference materials 

targeted to school districts and others who contract for bus services. In 

2004, FMCSA introduced a motor coach safety Web site within the FMCSA 

Web site, which provides guidance to consumers on selecting a motor 

coach company and allows consumers to access safety data on specific 

interstate motor coach companies.

FMCSA’s most direct outreach to motor coach companies is through the 

agency’s Technical Assistance Group (TAG), consisting of about 12 FMCSA 

staff with motor coach expertise, primarily in FMCSA’s field offices. TAG 

personnel staff information booths and give presentations at industry 

conventions and events, and serve as agency contact points for carriers. 

Also, a FMCSA contractor developed a series of brochures aimed at motor 

coach companies that describe guidelines and regulations for motor coach 

companies (for instance licensing and insurance, hours of service, 

inspection and maintenance, and specific requirements for operators of 

school buses). In 2004 and 2005, FMCSA also conducted mass mailings to 

motor coach companies, advising them of their reporting requirements 

under the Americans with Disabilities Act. 

Household Goods Outreach 

Program

Most households need to hire moving services infrequently, and therefore 

consumers may be unaware of what their rights and protections are in 

hiring a commercial mover. The overriding objective of FMCSA’s 

Household Goods program is to help consumers make better informed 

choices in selecting and negotiating with a moving company, primarily 

through printed material distributed through moving companies and other 

sources, as well as providing information through its Web site. FMCSA also 

maintains a complaint hotline to receive complaints about movers from 

individuals. 

The ICC Termination Act of 1995 transferred federal responsibilities for 

protecting consumers who use commercial moving companies for 
Appendix II

FMCSA Education and Outreach Programs

Page 49 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

interstate moves to DOT; and the Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act 

granted FMCSA continuing oversight responsibility over household goods 

movers. However, the act did not provide FMCSA with the authority to 

intercede on behalf of individuals seeking reimbursement of moving 

company charges or recovery of their goods. FMCSA officials whom we 

spoke with acknowledge that when the agency was established in January 

2000, its mandate was commercial vehicle accidents and fatalities and, as a 

result, the household goods industry received little attention. Also, in 2001, 

we reported that complaints about movers were on the rise and that DOT’s 

lack of action had created a vacuum that allowed unscrupulous carriers to 

take advantage of consumers.5

 At that time, our report noted that FMCSA 

had just begun planning to increase both consumer education and 

enforcement effort of household goods carriers.

FMCSA distributes three consumer-oriented publications. Interstate 

movers are required by law to provide a copy of one FMCSA publication— 

“Your Rights and Responsibilities When You Move” to prospective 

customers. A second brochure, “Ready to Move? Tips for a Successful 

Interstate Move” is available through the General Services Administration’s 

Pueblo, Colorado Information Center. A third brochure “Protect your 

Memories...Protect Yourself from Moving Fraud” and the “Your Rights and 

Responsibilities” publications are available on FMCSA’s Web site.

In March 2005, FMCSA awarded a contract for the development of a 

household goods education and outreach program. FMCSA and the 

contractor have developed a new outreach theme: “Protect Your Memories, 

Your Money, Your Move”; and the contractor will be developing brochures, 

presentations that can be delivered by FMCSA staff, and other materials. In 

June 2005, FMCSA launched its redesigned household goods Web page, 

designed around the “Protect Your Memories...” theme, which incorporates 

new content, including a checklist for moving and information on 

protecting against moving fraud. In November 2005, FMCSA officials 

informed us that they were in discussions with the U.S. Postal Service to 

have the Postal Service Web site provide a link to FMCSA’s Web site when 

registering a change of address with the Postal Service.

FMCSA officials told us they do not arbitrate complaints that the agency 

receives, but they maintain a national consumer complaint database that is 

5

GAO, Consumer Protection: Federal Actions Are Needed to Improve Oversight of the 

Household Goods Moving Industry, GAO-01-318 (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 5, 2001).
Appendix II

FMCSA Education and Outreach Programs

Page 50 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

used to identify problem movers for investigation by FMCSA field staff. Our 

2001 report on DOT and FMCSA oversight of the household goods industry 

recommended that FMCSA make information on the number and general 

nature of complaints against carriers be made available to the public.6

FMCSA officials whom we spoke with said the agency intends to do this, 

but Privacy Act and other issues need to be resolved beforehand.

6

GAO-01-318.
Page 51 GAO-06-103 FMCSA Education and Outreach

Appendix III

GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments ApendxiI

GAO Contact Katherine Siggerud, (202) 512-2834

Staff 

Acknowledgments

In addition to the person named above, Cathy Colwell, Assistant Director; 

Colin Fallon; Eric Fielding; Donald Kittler; Sara Ann Moessbauer; and 

Elaine Vaurio also made major contributions to this report.

(542051)
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