The FMCSA https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/ in the Dept. of Transportation is the lead federal government agency responsible for regulating and providing safety oversight of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs). Its mission is reducing crashes, injuries, and fatalities involving large trucks and buses.  FMCSA partners with industry, safety advocates, and state and local governments to keep our nation’s roadways safe and improve CMV safety through regulation, education, enforcement, research, and technology.

FMCSA was established on January 1, 2000 by the 1999 Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act P.L. 106-159  https://www.congress.gov/106/plaws/publ159/PLAW-106publ159.pdf and separated from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).  The agency is headquartered in Washington and has regional field offices in various locales with the Midwestern Service Center (covering Indiana) being in Matteson, IL. Contact information for the Indiana division in Indianapolis is: 575 N. Pennsylvania St, Room 261, Indianapolis, IN 46204, Phone: (317) 226-7474  Fax: (317) 226-5657, Email: MCINOFF@dot.gov

FMCSA regulations are https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/search 49 CFR 300-399 with other pertinent regulations being in 49 CFR 40, 100-180, and 571 https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-49/subtitle-B/chapter-V/part-571  Agency research products and data can be found at https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safety/analysis-research-technology  Its March 2025 congressional budget request can be found at https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/2024-03/FMCSA_FY_2025_Budget_CJ_FINAL_508_compliant.pdf.

This blog post was submitted by Bert Chapman, Purdue University.