Task force to review compliance with Wisconsin's Passenger Carrier regulations

May 6, 2009

Commercial bus operators will need to make sure their buses are in order, as well as their paperwork.

To ensure compliance with commercial passenger carrier safety regulations, a task force of state investigators will conduct compliance reviews of interstate and intrastate passenger carriers located throughout the state. This will be a joint operation with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's National Passenger Carrier Strike Force called "Operation Safe Student." Operations will begin May 8 and conclude May 21, 2009. The task force will review passenger carrier operations at the carrier's primary place of business. This will include a comprehensive check to ensure compliance with drug and alcohol testing programs, driver's hours of service, driver qualifications, and a host of other mandatory safety regulations.

Statewide compliance reviews of passenger carriers will augment additional efforts being provided by the Wisconsin State Patrol's Motor Carrier Safety Program to include roadside enforcement. "Our carrier reviews will focus on passenger carrier operations," says Bernard Coxhead, manager of Wisconsin State Patrol Motor Carrier Enforcement Investigation Unit. "Using compliance reviews, we can identify which carriers are operating safely and correct defective areas through education and enforcement efforts. Previous task force compliance reviews have been used to improve school bus safety, dump truck carriers, and hazardous materials carriers. This year's task force will send a clear message about our commitment to safety to drivers and passenger carrier companies."

A combination of rigorous law enforcement, traffic safety education, and compliance reviews has helped reduce large-truck crashes in Wisconsin during the last 10 years. Coxhead said the State Patrol will now focus on reducing passenger carrier injuries and deaths.

In 2007, the most recent year for which there is data, there were 419 crashes involving passenger buses resulting in 141 injuries and two deaths.

For more information, contact:
Jon Bessler, Wisconsin State Patrol
(608) 220-5781, jonathan.bessler@dot.wi.gov