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Enhanced FMCSA Site Means Better Motor Carrier Data

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Accurate, complete, and timely crash and inspection data from states lets the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) better identify motor carriers that could pose a risk to the traveling public.

With Volpe support, FMCSA recently rolled out a revamped Data Quality website within FMCSA Analysis and Information (A&I) Online. Volpe designed and developed the enhanced Data Quality site, which provides performance measures, training, and tools for states to track, understand, and improve the motor carrier inspection and crash data that they are required to submit to FMCSA.

The Data Quality site lets states easily access quality performance measures on their data’s timeliness, accuracy, and completeness. Each state has its own page on the site, with historical performance measure results and resources to improve data quality.

visual representation of the enhanced Data Quality website

“We were keen on updating this website because there’s so much the Data Quality Program does, and we wanted the site to reflect that,” said Elizabeth Deysher, FMCSA data quality program manager at Volpe. “Overall, it’s better navigation than the previous site, and now the site can communicate calls to action for states, and direct states to their data quality metrics and improvement resources.”

Motor carriers and drivers can use the site to find resources where they can review their safety data and request a review of their data if they believe it is incorrect. States, FMCSA, and the public can also view national trends on crash and inspection data quality performance.

In addition, states can reach data quality specialists through the enhanced site. These specialists help states identify process improvements and look at their data in more detail—such as digging into the numbers to find out if there are municipalities that could be doing a better job with their data reporting. The data is updated every month, so specialists also reach out to states if their data quality results decline.

Data Quality website lead Candy Brown and her Volpe team reached out to representatives from states to understand how they used the previous site, their preferences, and functionalities they wanted changed or added. States provided continuous feedback on design and user interface, and Volpe conducted user acceptance testing before the enhanced site went live.

“This website should catapult the Data Quality Program into more and better training,” Deysher said. “We took the resources FMCSA provides and categorized it by reports, guidance, and outreach materials. It’s more organized, and users are intuitively directed to relevant information thanks to the website’s improved navigation.”

Visit the enhanced FMCSA Data Quality site.

Semi truck driving on a highway.
The revamped Data Quality website provides performance measures, training, and tools for states to track, understand, and improve their motor carrier inspection and crash data. (123RF photo)