Project Details
| Title: | Improving Commercial Vehicle Safety and Data Quality through University Partnerships |
| Start Date: | October 2019 |
| End Date: | September 2021 |
| Status: | Completed |
Abstract
Working with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) in a cooperative agreement, the overall goal of this project was to improve commercial vehicle safety through sharing research and best practices to improve data quality and the collection and use of CMV data. This was accomplished through two strategies. The first strategy was to document and share best practices of university partnerships with state law enforcement and driver licensing agencies to improve commercial vehicle safety and data quality throughout the Western Service Center region. The second strategy was to provide resources through the Commercial Vehicle Safety Center at NDSU-UGPTI as a point of contact for universities, law enforcement, and driver licensing agencies seeking assistance to establish partnerships to improve commercial vehicle safety and data quality.
The first strategy to document and share best practices was achieved through the following objectives.
- Each state law enforcement and driver licensing agency in the Western Service Center region was contacted to determine if there are new or updated partnerships with a university (or universities) on one or more projects to improve commercial vehicle safety through data quality improvements and/or through the collection and use of CMV data. If so, this information was documented. For the universities identified, each university was contacted for further details and information regarding any other related projects.
- A Commercial Vehicle Safety Summit was organized and conducted to bring together state law enforcement, driver licensing agency, university representatives, and industry from the Western Service Center region. The Summit was organized to share information regarding existing partnerships to improve commercial vehicle safety and data quality; and to allow those states who do not currently have a partnership to learn more about establishing a partnership.
The second strategy to provide resources through the Commercial Vehicle Safety Center at NDSU-UGPTI was achieved through the following objectives.
- In the course of gathering information regarding new or updated partnerships between universities and enforcement and/or licensing agencies to improve commercial vehicle safety and CMV data quality, details regarding the partnership were documented. These details were then shared with any other state agency or university interested in forming a partnership.
- NDSU-UGPTI continuously reached out to state agencies and universities to make them aware of the technical assistance available, the types of partnerships that can be formed, and the projects that can be conducted. One successful way to accomplish this outreach was through a series of webinars for topics of interest related to commercial vehicle safety and data quality. In addition, resources were posted and highlighted as they became available.
The time frame of this project was October 2019 through September 2021.
For more information about this project, please email Brenda Lantz (brenda.lantz@ndsu.edu).
