On a warm and sunny morning in Savannah, Georgia, cars and pick-up trucks pull into the parking lot at Savannah Technical College’s Eckburg Auditorium. These transportation business executives, intermodal equipment provider (IEP) representatives, transportation logistic managers and motor carrier officials aren’t attending a class, despite Savannah Technical College’s reputation of graduating career-ready students and preparing them for high-demand jobs, including CDL driving. They are meeting for a biannual Savannah Community Coalition, an event organized, hosted and partly sponsored by a range of stakeholders, including the Savannah Technical College, Georgia Department of Transportation, Georgia Department of Driver Services, Georgia Port Authority, Georgia Department of Public Safety Motor Carrier Compliance and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
The Savannah Community Coalition’s mission is about improving and advancing commercial motor vehicle safety on our highways through collaboration and engagement with industry experts and peers. For about six years, the Savannah Community Coalition has been taking place with only a dozen or so attending the event in its early years. Topics include commercial motor vehicle safety, infrastructure improvement projects, and trending topics related to transportation operations surrounding the Port of Savannah, ranked as one of the busiest water ports in the United States.
FMCSA Safety Investigator Patrick “Kevin” Elrod and former Federal Program Specialist Tony Bennett are credited with being the visionaries who developed the Savannah Community Coalition. After working with motor carriers and intermodal equipment providers in the Savannah area, Elrod and Bennett recognized an opportunity to create better partnerships within industries involved in commercial motor vehicle operations at the Port of Savannah.
Georgia Division Administrator Danny McPeters kicked off the meeting by addressing the crowd and assuring attendees that he and his division staff are committed to addressing questions about FMCSA’s programs and regulations, while continuing to nourish a strong partnership. Topics discussed during the event included FMCSA’s new Clearinghouse II rule, ongoing road projects and infrastructure updates, Port of Savannah cargo statistics, and new technologies being deployed to check for unsafe commercial motor vehicle driving behaviors.
Collaboration is one of FMCSA’s core values that is leveraged to further the agency’s goals and strategies. By valuing the commitment and contributions of partners and stakeholders across the motor carrier community, the Savannah Community Coalition is a great example of FMCSA’s localized approach to discussing emerging commercial motor vehicle topics to help improve roadway safety.