Two U.S. Democratic senators have asked the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to provide information on its tracking of large truck and bus crashes.
A letter sent to FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs from Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington and Sen. Edward Markey of Massachusetts was sparked by a published report from ProPublica and WBUR about a deadly April 2025 school bus accident.
An investigation of Transdev, the company involved in that crash, uncovered that it was involved in dozens of other fatal accidents that were not properly attributed to the company in FMCSA’s safety data.
“This raises serious concerns that FMCSA may be undercounting crashes, injuries, and fatalities involving large trucks and buses, and thus jeopardizing its mission to reduce such incidents and protect the safety of Americans,” the senators wrote.“Without accurate and complete data, it is impossible for FMCSA to properly target enforcement on unsafe companies, because the agency lacks the critical data needed to conclude they are unsafe.”
The senators also raised concern about FMCSA’s overall enforcement actions, stating that the agency completed 1,400 enforcement cases against motor carriers in 2025, down nearly 60% from 2024.
The letter requests that FMCSA provide information by Aug. 12, including documents sufficient to demonstrate why the number of FMCSA-closed enforcement cases has declined and the number of staffers responsible for analyzing inspection and crash data to identify high-risk carriers.
Cantwell is the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. The chairman is Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
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