Motor Carriers
Analysis of Estimated Costs To Establish a Motor Carrier Administration Gao ID: RCED-86-211BR August 8, 1986In response to a congressional request, GAO: (1) analyzed the cost impact of proposed legislation to establish a motor carrier administration within the Department of Transportation (DOT); and (2) identified and provided information on readily identifiable motor carrier activities that DOT excluded from the hypothetical organization.
GAO found that separating the motor carrier program into a free-standing administration would increase costs by about $2.4 million. The GAO analysis of the total recurring costs was the same as the DOT estimate except that: (1) it differed significantly in the location of the new positions responsible for the increased costs; (2) it included 30 new positions where DOT included 34; (3) the DOT estimate included new regional positions, even though there would be no increase in regional work load; and (4) the DOT estimate did not include new headquarters positions, even though there would be newly created headquarters responsibilities. GAO also found that DOT overstated its estimate of one-time startup costs.