The Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) Operator Safety Training Grant Opportunity was established by the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act—A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), which was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush in August 2005.

The grant opportunity has two goals:

1. To expand the number of CDL holders possessing enhanced operator safety training in order to further reduce the severity and the number of crashes on U.S. roads involving CMVs.
   
   
2. To assist economically distressed regions of the U.S. by providing workforce training opportunities for qualified individuals to become CMV operators.

Who may apply:

Priority will be given to regional or multi-state educational or nonprofit associations serving economically distressed regions of the U.S. Eligible awardees also can include State governments, local governments, and accredited post-secondary educational institutions (public or private) such as colleges, universities, vocational-technical schools, and truck driver training schools. Post-secondary educational institutions must be accredited and recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. The list of accredited post-secondary educational institutions is available on the Department of Education Web site at www.ed.gov.

Federal local match:

The Federal share of these grants shall not exceed 80 percent of the approved expenditures in the project plan. A 20 percent matching share by the recipient is required. The amount of award to a qualified applicant will be at the discretion of FMCSA based upon a panel review of all applications, recommendations of the review panel, and funding available. Successful applicants will be required to sign a grant agreement with FMCSA.

Application deadline:

All grant proposals must be received by July 24, 2006. The application package must include a detailed project proposal and an estimate of the number of drivers expected to benefit from the grant. Priority will be given to programs that target participants who are currently unemployed, or provide job placement services to drivers upon completion of training.

How to apply:

Applicants may apply electronically or by mail.

1. Applicants may submit an electronic application package through www.grants.gov. To apply using this method, the applicant must first register with grants.gov by going to www.grants.gov/GetStarted.
   
   Then, the applicant must download, complete, and submit the grant application package by going to www.grants.gov/Apply.
   
   
2. Grant proposals may also be submitted directly to FMCSA by sending the application package to:

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
State Programs Division, MC-ESS
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE
Washington, DC 20590
Attention: CMV Operator Safety Training Grant Opportunity

For further information, contact:

Michael J. Lamm
Chief, State Programs Division
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
202-366-6830
mike.lamm@dot.gov