In 2008, FMCSA ordered 6,707 carriers out of  service. PRISM Has Helped Keep Unsafe Carriers from Registering, but Its Impact on Safety Is Hard to Measure

		PRISM Has Enabled 25 States to Identify and Keep Unsafe Carriers from Obtaining or Maintaining Vehicle Registrations

FMCSA data show that PRISM has resulted in the denial, suspension, or  revocation of the commercial motor vehicle registrations of 972 carriers in  2008. Stakeholders Contacted View PRISM Implementation as Worth the Effort, Although Its Impact on Safety Is Difficult to Measure

Officials from each of the 13 states we contacted that deny, suspend, or  revoke registrations told us that they believe PRISM is worth the effort to  implement because the grant program provides a deterrent against unsafe  carriers. Representatives from a safety association we met with told us that PRISM  is the only program that establishes a safety connection between a vehicle  and the motor carrier company on an up-to-date basis. The overall cost of implementing the  program ($5 million per year) is relatively small in comparison to the  potential benefit of increased roadway safety as a result of reduced out-of  service carriers operating on U.S. roadways, especially as more states  deny, suspend, and revoke the registrations of vehicles associated with  out-of-service carriers. In 2007, the Volpe Center, which conducted this  evaluation, concluded that states with denial, suspension, and revocation  capability show some improved safety over time compared with other  states, indicating that PRISM, when fully implemented, could have  contributed to lower crash rates, although its results were inconclusive in  several areas. Because all FMCSA programs  are aimed at reducing crash rates and because numerous factors  contribute to crash rates, isolating PRISM’s effect is difficult. In our view, applying outcome performance measures such as Volpe’s two  measures and measuring the percentage of out-of-service carriers affected  by PRISM, while ultimately useful, may be premature at this time. Patchwork Implementation Is One of Several Factors Limiting PRISM’s Effectiveness

According to FMCSA data, 22 states and the District of Columbia are not  far enough along in implementing PRISM to deny, suspend, or revoke  vehicle registrations of out-of-service carriers, and 3 states do not  participate in PRISM at all. FMCSA data show that the average time it took states to affect  vehicle registrations after the states committed to implementing PRISM  was 3 years and 4 months, but it can take as little as 10 months or as long  as 7 years and 4 months. Ten states hired a  contractor to implement technical aspects of PRISM. Inability to or difficulty in passing enabling legislation needed to deny,  suspend, or revoke commercial vehicle registrations based on a federal  out-of-service order. According  to officials in 12 states and representatives from safety associations we  interviewed, Congress should require all states to fully implement PRISM. Conversely, officials in 3 of the  26 states supported keeping PRISM a voluntary program. These officials  noted that a mandate was unnecessary, since only 3 states have not  committed to PRISM implementation. States with legacy registration systems  that do not allow connectivity to FMCSA safety databases, for example,  may need substantially more funds to enable them to fully implement  PRISM than PRISM grants generally can provide. Recommendation for Executive Action

In order to assess PRISM’s effectiveness in keeping unsafe carriers of road, we recommend that the Secretary of Transportation direct the  Administrator of FMCSA to measure PRISM program effectiveness wh the number of states that have the ability to deny, suspend, or revoke  registrations to out-of-service carriers is sufficient to make such  measurements meaningful. These data are to be reported to FMCSA on a quarterly basis by states that  have implemented PRISM to the point where they are denying,  suspending, and revoking vehicle registrations of out-of-service carriers. We conducted  semistructured interviews with state motor vehicle administrations from  13 states that have fully implemented PRISM; 3 states that are  implementing the grant program (that is, they are collecting vehicle  identification numbers and the DOT numbers of the carriers associated  with those vehicles and may be checking the safety status of the carrier at  the time of registration) but do not yet have the capability to affect vehicle  registrations; 8 states that have entered into an agreement with FMCSA to  implement PRISM grants but have not yet moved forward substantially to  implement the program; and 2 states that do not participate in PRISM at  all.
Why GAO Did This Study

To reduce the number of crashes involving commercial motor carriers, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) within the Department of Transportation orders unsafe carriers out of service. To help keep these carriers off the road, FMCSA's voluntary Performance and Registration Information Systems Management (PRISM) grant program, a small program funded at $5 million per year, helps states establish information systems connections between state vehicle registration and FMCSA's safety databases. These connections provide states with up-to-date information on carriers' safety status when carriers try to register or renew registrations with the state. For states to deny, suspend, or revoke registrations to out-of service carriers, states must pass legislation enabling them to do so. As directed by a congressional committee, GAO examined (1) PRISM's effectiveness and (2) the potential to fully implement the program nationally. GAO reviewed FMCSA data and discussed PRISM with a wide variety of federal, state, industry, and safety stakeholders

What GAO Found

Twenty-five states have implemented PRISM to the point where they are able to keep carriers that FMCSA has ordered out of service from obtaining or maintaining vehicle registrations. However, PRISM's safety impact is hard to measure. FMCSA data show that vehicles associated with 972 out-of-service carriers in 2008 had registrations denied, suspended, or revoked--about 15 percent of carriers placed out of service that year. However, this is likely an underestimate because the data can be difficult to track. Officials from the 13 states GAO contacted that are denying, suspending, or revoking vehicle registrations of out-of-service carriers and representatives from safety and industry associations said PRISM is worth the effort, but its impact on safety is hard to measure. An evaluation of the program sponsored by FMCSA in 2007 concluded that PRISM states show some improved safety over time compared with other states, indicating PRISM could have contributed to lower crash rates. However, because all FMCSA programs are aimed at reducing crash rates, isolating PRISM's effect is difficult. Nonetheless, the evaluation recommended that FMCSA adopt program measures to assess PRISM's effectiveness. FMCSA has not adopted all of these measures for various reasons, including a lack of resources. In GAO's view, applying such measures, while ultimately useful, may be premature since PRISM's success is undercut by the 25 states--including states with the greatest numbers of registered commercial motor vehicles--and the District of Columbia that do not yet have the ability to deny, suspend, or revoke vehicle registrations of out-of-service carriers. National implementation may not occur for years if PRISM continues as a voluntary program. FMCSA data show that, on average, it took states about 3 years and 4 months to get to the point where they could deny, suspend, or revoke registrations once they decided to implement PRISM--a process that took as little as 10 months to more than 7 years. Officials in states GAO contacted said that PRISM implementation was facilitated by such things as hiring a contractor to help with the program's technical components, and was hindered by such things as difficulty in passing state legislation needed to implement the program. According to officials in states GAO met with, FMCSA has been helpful in encouraging states to adopt and implement the program, but can do little in other areas, such as when state legislation is needed. Officials in some states and representatives from safety associations told GAO that Congress should require PRISM implementation so that no state becomes a refuge for registering out-of-service carriers. Other officials said that such a requirement is unnecessary, since only three states have not committed to implementing PRISM. While there are benefits to a congressional requirement that could lead to speedier national implementation, there are several significant potential drawbacks to doing so (for example, some states may require substantial money to adapt their information systems to make PRISM work) that lead GAO not to recommend such a requirement.