Strategic Communications and Outreach Support for the
Compliance, Safety, Accountability Initiative

U.S. DOT, Volpe National Transportation Systems Center | Sponsored by FMCSA 

 

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) realized a need to change its enforcement model in order make further progress toward its mission of reducing motor vehicle-related crashes on U.S. highways. The changes to the enforcement model needed to be communicated to a diverse set of stakeholders, including more than 700,000 motor carriers, industry, safety advocates, and the public in order for them to understand how they would impact them and how they could take action to improve safety.

 

One of MacroSys’s key projects under a complex, multi-year, multi-million dollar IDIQ contract with the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center included providing communication strategy and tactical support to
plan and conduct a communications and outreach campaign for FMCSA’s new enforcement program, CSA—
Compliance, Safety, Accountability. The goal of the communication strategy was to ensure that every market segment involved understood that CSA was a comprehensive safety enforcement initiative implemented by FMCSA to reduce truck- and bus-related fatalities and injuries by:

 

• Establishing FMCSA as the driver and enforcer of motor carrier safety.

• Urging industry to work toward compliance with a compelling call to action.

• Supporting the field in deployment of CSA by deputizing them to carry the word to industry.

• Engaging industry in the deployment of CSA through opportunities for industry participation, input,
  and promotion.

• Demonstrating to stakeholders that FMCSA is meeting its mandate.

 

To support this campaign, MacroSys performed the following:

 

• Created and implemented a multi-phased communications strategy, branding, and messaging that focused on stepping enforcement personnel into the program ahead of industry and utilized a variety
  of technology and other tactics.

• Engaged stakeholders by organizing focus groups, planning webinars, facilitating listening session webcasts, and coordinating Federal and State working group meetings.

• Designed, developed, revised, packed, printed, and distributed communications and outreach materials, including articles, newsletters, flyers, factsheets, Q&As, brochures, etc.

• Coordinated outreach media display and delivered to drivers and owner/operator stakeholders using Pocket Card Networks and U.S. Field Services to produce, distribute, track, and refill outreach materials in 1,210 truck stop locations.

• Designed, built, maintained, enhanced, and tested internal and publicly accessible FMCSA website and Web 2.0 tools (including widgets, RSS feeds, video content, etc.).

 

Some of the key accomplishments from the communication and outreach effort include the following:

 

• Increased traffic to the Agency’s safety data website (Safety Measurement System) from 300,000 to over 3 million annually.

• Created and distributed briefings on Capitol Hill as well as informational flyers and presentation materials for more than 100 events.

• Drew more than 1 million unique visitors to the CSA outreach website upon its launch and featured
  6 fully subscribed webinars.

• Launched first-ever outreach to motor carrier drivers at 1,500 truck stops across the country and ensured distribution of 750,000 brochures.

 

MacroSys supported all aspects of this campaign as it evolved. By conducting an ongoing evaluation of the campaign’s successes and lessons learned, MacroSys was able to inform future evolution of this outreach and make necessary adjustments to ensure its continued success.