ATRI Research Documents Critical Role of Association Membership in Motor Carrier Safety

Washington, D.C. – The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) today released foundational new research that statistically corroborates that motor carriers who are active in state and national membership associations are safer than both former association members and carriers who have never been association members.

It has always been anecdotally assumed that association membership supports safety through a variety of association services and resources, but the necessary industry safety data and methodology had never before been assessed. This new empirical research processed public safety data from the Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS) through a series of statistical tools to confirm the relationship between association membership and safety performance.

More specifically, the research compared motor carrier MCMIS crash and violation data for trucking fleets that held a membership status of either Current, Former or Never members. Carrier status data came from a geographically representative sample of state trucking associations as well as from the American Trucking Associations.

A copy of the full report is available through ATRI's website here.