Development of Hazardous Materials Shipper Prioritization Application

In the mid-1990s, an attempt was made to develop a performance-based prioritization program to help the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) during inspection and review of hazardous materials (HM) shippers. During this attempt, it became apparent that there were insufficient performance data to develop such a system (e.g., detailed information on incidents, violations, and shipments). In response, FMCSA developed the HM Package Inspection Program (HMPIP) to focus on inspecting individual shipments of HM at the roadside or on carriers' docks. In response to improvements made over the years to the package inspection data collected during HMPIP inspections, increased HM incident data, and improved departmental data identifying companies involved in shipping HM, FMCSA began a second effort to develop a performance-based HM shipper prioritization program. The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute was asked to review, document, and recommend improvements to the program. A thorough review and examination of the program was performed, and a prioritization software application was developed. Usability testing was performed in five states with existing shipper programs. All results were very good, indicating that the beta version of the program, with minor modifications based on user recommendations, should move forward into a fully functioning application for prioritizing HM shippers within FMCSA.