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 applications must be received by December 1, 2009. The application package must include required Federal forms and a detailed project narrative as outlined in the application instructions. 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.
   
   

For further information, contact:

Julie Otto
Transportation Specialist
State Programs Division
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
(202) 366-0710
julie.otto@dot.gov