Grant Details


Commercial Motor Vehicle Operator Safety Training (CMVOST) Program - FY 2025

Agency: U.S. Department of Transportation
CFDA: 20.235
Federal FON: FM-DTG-25-001
Office: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Grants Management Office (GMO)
Multipart Grant: No
Next Due: 02/25/2025 (Application)
Solicitation Date: 12/18/2024
   
Match Required: No
Actual Funds: $3,400,000 (Estimated)
Award Range: $200,000 (Max)
Number of Awards: 25 (Estimated)
Summary:

The purpose of this program is to expand the number of individuals receiving commercial motor vehicle operator safety training in order to reduce the severity and number of crashes on U.S. roads involving commercial motor vehicles. Specifically, this program seeks to recruit current and former members of the U.S. Armed Forces, including National Guard members and Reserve members, and their spouses, and provide them with superior safety-focused training, as well as placement services to assist them in becoming employed in the transportation industry.

The funding agency will prioritize applications that fund tuition expenses and other educational expenses for qualified students. For the purposes of this program, qualified students include current and former members of the U.S. Armed Forces, including National Guard members and Reserve members, and children and spouses of service members. All such family member students are eligible for training, with or without the service member. Service members will receive priority for funding. Special consideration will also be given to students of underserved communities, including women and refugees. Students of underserved communities include people of color and others who have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality. Refugees are defined as those individuals who have abandoned their country as a result of major wars, persecution, torture, or genocide under Executive Order (EO) 14013.

Eligible activities include:

  • Recruiting qualified students and/or underserved students
  • Training qualified students and/or underserved students
  • Providing students with post-graduation job placement assistance

Applicants, where appropriate, should demonstrate how the proposed projects address the objectives of climate change/sustainability outlined in EO 14008 and support/advance equity in transportation, particularly in underserved communities, as outlined in EO 13985.

Eligible costs include the applicant’s published tuition rate, which may include such costs for U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) physicals, required DOT drug testing fees, and driver licensing fees, if they are standard published elements that are included in the published tuition rate. Eligible costs may also include indirect costs.

An optional webinar is scheduled for this program. Refer to the Application section for details.

Last Updated: December 20, 2024

Eligibility Notes:

Eligible applicants are:

  • Educational institutions accredited by an accreditation agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education
  • Non-accredited institutions that are approved by the U.S. Department of Labor as eligible training providers to accept Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) funding and approved by the State Approving Agencies (SAAs) and the U.S. Veterans Administration (VA) to accept VA benefits

Eligible entities may include:

  • State governments
  • County governments
  • City or township governments
  • Independent school districts
  • Public/state controlled institutions of higher education
  • Federally recognized Indian/Native American tribal governments
  • 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations
  • Small businesses
  • Hispanic-serving institutions
  • Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs)
  • Tribally controlled colleges and universities (TCUs)
  • Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian serving institutions

All applicants must meet the requirements for entry-level driver training (ELDT) and be listed on the Training Provider Registry.

Applications from training providers that train current of former members of the armed forces will be given priority for funding.

Applicants proposing multiple projects within a single application must provide separate and distinct project narratives, budget narratives, line-item budgets, and titles for each project, as detailed on pages 12-13 of the NOFA file.

Funding will not be provided to any private business for direct financial gain or profit.

Previous award recipients include:

  • Aims Community College (CO)
  • Collin County Community College District (TX)
  • Nordic Enterprises (CA)
  • Clark State College (OH)
  • Truck Driver Institute of Florida (FL)

Refer to the Award file for additional information on previous award recipients.

Eligible Applicants:
Local Government
Academic Institutions
Native American Tribe
Non Profits
Private Sector
Schools/School Districts
State Government
Tribal Organizations/Institutions
Application Notes:

Prior to submitting an application, new applicants are requested to contact the funding agency's Office of Civil Rights to coordinate the development of a draft Title VI Program Compliance Plan for the current federal fiscal year as soon as possible. Returning applicants will coordinate with the Office of Civil Rights to update and submit a final Title VI Program Compliance Plan for approval for the current federal fiscal year. To begin coordination with the Office of Civil Rights, applicants must contact the National Title VI Program Manager at [email protected].

Applications must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. ET on February 25, 2025.

Applications must be submitted online at www.ecivis.com/grants.gov.

Applications must include:

  • SF 424
  • SF 424A
  • SF 424B
  • Grants.gov lobbying form
  • SF LLL (if applicable)
  • Key contacts form
  • Indirect cost rate (IDC) agreement (if applicable)
  • Standard Title VI/Non-Discrimination Program Assurance and Plan
  • Documentation to show eligibility of accreditation by the U.S. Department of Education or documentation to show the institution is approved by the U.S. Department of Labor as an eligible training provider (as applicable)
  • Copy of published tuition rates for training program
  • Documentation to show applicant is an approved training provider
  • Application narrative (25 pages max):
    • Brief introduction
    • Problem statement and performance objective
    • Program activity workplan
    • Program evaluation and monitoring plan
    • Budget narrative

Applications must be formatted on standard-sized pages with margins no smaller than one inch on all pages, and must use 12-point Times New Roman font for all text, including tables and graphs. Applications must be submitted in a format readable by Microsoft Word or Excel, or in text-searchable .pdf formats, as applicable.

The following are required in order to submit an application:

  • Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number
  • SAM (System for Award Management) registration
  • SPOC (state Single Point of Contact) notification

Applicants may obtain a UEI number and verify or renew SAM registration status at www.ecivis.com/sam. Applicants in states participating in the SPOC program must contact the relevant SPOC listed in the SPOC file before applying.

An optional webinar will be held for this program as follows:

December 10, 2024
1:00 p.m. ET
Registration: usdot.zoomgov.com

Applications will be evaluated according to the following merit evaluation criteria:

  • Technical merit criteria
  • Budget review/cost analysis criteria
  • Program-specific criteria
  • Past performance criteria
  • Other selection considerations

Refer to the NOFA file for additional application information.

Match Required: No
Actual Funds: $3,400,000 (Estimated)
Award Range: $200,000 (Max)
Number of Awards: 25 (Estimated)
Match Notes:

Matching funds are not required for this program.

Funding Notes:

Approximately $3.4 million is anticipated to be available to support approximately 25 awards of up to $200,000 through this program.

Funds will be provided on a reimbursement basis.

The project period must begin upon the award date. Awarded funds will be available for the fiscal year of award plus two additional fiscal years.

Funds may not be used for:

  • Personal gain, such as individual requests for obtaining specialized training required for commercial driver's license (CDL) licensing
  • Costs that are not part of the training entity's published tuition rate, such as instructors or recruiters or administrative support salaries or other general recurring expenses associated with the applicant's daily operations
  • Costs incurred outside of the project period
  • Indirect costs if an approved indirect cost rate (IDC) agreement is not in force for the period of time that the indirect cost expenses are incurred
  • Salary-related bonus payments
  • Duplicative costs included in the indirect cost amount
  • Entertainment expenses or souvenirs

For FY 2024, a total of $3.5 million was distributed via 27 awards ranging from $101,000 to $139,980 through this program. For FY 2023, a total of $3 million was distributed via 20 awards ranging from $80,460 to $200,000. For FY 2022, a total of $3.1 million was distributed via 19 awards ranging from $60,600 to $200,000. Refer to the Award file for details.

Contacts:

Primary Contacts:

Francisco Soto
(202) 366-6511
CDLgrants@dot.gov

Program Staff
(202) 366-0621
FMCSA_GrantMgmtHelpdesk@dot.gov

Financial Contact:

James Ross
(202) 960-5176
James.Ross@dot.gov
FMCSA_GrantMgmtHelpdesk@dot.gov

Agency Address
U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
Grants Management Office (MC-BG)
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, West Building
Washington, D.C. 20590

Contact Notes:

Questions should be directed to the appropriate program contact.

Applications must be submitted online at www.ecivis.com/grants.gov.

The agency address provided is for reference purposes only.

Files:
Award File: US5988_Award_FY2025.pdf (1.3 Mb)
NOFA File: US5988_NOFA_FY2025.pdf (560.1 Kb)
Other Pre-Award File: US5988_Assurance_FY2025.pdf (261.3 Kb)
Other Pre-Award File: US5988_Checklist_FY2025.pdf (237.5 Kb)
Other Pre-Award File: US5988_Webinar_FY2025.pdf (122.7 Kb)
Federal Forms:
SPOC (67.7 Kb)
File Notes:

The NOFA file contains the full solicitation for this program. The Assurance file contains the required Title VI Program Assurance for the application. The Checklist file contains a checklist applicants should use as the format for their draft Title VI Program Compliance Plan. The Webinar file contains information regarding an optional webinar scheduled for this program. The Award file contains information on previous award recipients. The SPOC file contains information on the state Single Point of Contact program. Additional program resources can be found online at ai.fmcsa.dot.gov.

December 20, 2024
Full solicitation information for this program has been released and attached as the NOFA file. All sections have been updated accordingly.

Grant Keywords
Commercial Motor Vehicle Operator Safety Training Program, accredited educational institution, educational institution, institution, public college, private college, college, university, vocational-technical school, postsecondary educational institution, truck driver training school, association, state government, local government, federally recognized Native American tribal government, Native American tribal government, tribal government, tribe, tribal, DOT, US DOT, FMCSA, GMO, CMVOST, CMV, CDL, transport, transportation, USDOT, cargo, commercial vehicle, freight, goods movement, trade, truck, truck driver, semi, semi-permanent, trucking, trucking license, truck license, vocation, vocational training, mentor, mentoring, apprentice, apprenticeship, certificate, certification program, higher education, career development, certification, credential, credentialing, employee development, employee training, professional development, professional training, staff development, staff training, student veteran, veterans education, active service, air force, armed forces, army, coast guard, marine corps, military, national guard, navy, reserve, service member, Afghanistan, Gulf War, Iraq War, occupation, career advancement, hiring, job opportunity, jobless, labor, opportunities, out-of-work, personnel, underemployed, underprivileged, underrepresented, underserved, unemployed, unemployment, vulnerable, workforce, community need, families, family, basic need, commercial driver's license, commercial motor vehicle, training, job training, job placement, skills attainment, curriculum, postsecondary, institution of higher education, IHE, community college, postsecondary education, universities, CDL training, veteran, returning veteran, veteran service, veterans service, road safety, highway safety, trucker, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, BIL, military family, military families, veteran employment, veteran unemployment
Grant Categories
Economic Development
Training & Vocational Services
Human Services
Transportation