According to a government report, the American Trucking Assns.’ (ATA) recently discontinued  Highway Watch program was able to reach participant enrollment targets, yet received too few calls to warrant its continuation.

A safety reporting program started in 1998 by ATA, Highway Watch was expanded into security through funding from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2003. Highway Watch trained more than 830,000 individuals to identify and report safety and security incidents to a centralized call center, DHS’s Inspector General said.

“Although the American Trucking Assns. reached enrollment targets of more than 800,000 members, security incident reporting has remained steady at less than 200 calls a month,” the report said. “Furthermore, the American Trucking Assns. incurred costs to acquire the assistance of state trucking associations that were not well documented. Therefore, we cannot say definitively whether the benefits achieved so far have been worth the costs. DHS’ inconsistent oversight has also hindered the program.”

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