MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The University of Memphis Center for Transportation Innovation, Education and Research (C-TIER) has been awarded $2 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation to research high-risk work zones in order to create safer work environments for commercial drivers and commercial driving vehicles (CMV). The project is being led by C-TIER’s Director Dr. Sabya Mishra.
“We are truly excited to receive this award,” said Mishra, who’s also a professor of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering within UofM’s Herff College of Engineering. “This research project provides us with a meaningful opportunity to address a critical transportation safety challenge.”
The project, titled “PROTECT-CMV: Proactive Enforcement & Technology-Enabled Compliance for Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety in Work Zones,” will deploy AI-powered speed enforcement, real-time driver behavior monitoring and predictive crash analytics on the Interstate 40 and Interstate 65 corridors to help collect data that will hopefully help partner agencies — agencies like the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT), the Tennessee Trucking Association (TTA) or the Tennessee Highway Safety Office (THSO) — reduce CMV crashes, especially in high-risk zones where work zone activity and heavy truck volumes overlap.
“Commercial motor vehicle safety in work zones is one of the most pressing issues facing freight corridors today. Given Tennessee’s importance as a major freight and logistics corridor, improving commercial motor vehicle safety in work zones is important not only at the state and regional level but also for the broader national supply chain. There is a clear need for proactive, data-driven and technology-enabled safety solutions,” Mishra said.
With major interstate freight corridors, extensive rail and river connectivity, and globally important cargo operations anchored in the region, Tennessee supports the movement of an enormous daily volume of goods. This makes the state one of the most critical corridors for CMV activity in the country. However, with that volume comes significant safety risk, particularly in and around active work zones along heavily traveled corridors such as I-40 and I-65. These conditions create challenging environments for truck drivers, roadway workers and the traveling public. This context underscores the importance of UofM’s PROTECT-CMV project.
“We believe this award shows that UofM can bring together expertise from engineering, business, public agencies and industry partners to tackle complex, real-world challenges,” Mishra said. “More importantly, it reflects our ability to produce research that is relevant and designed to create measurable impact.”
Mishra is accompanied by Dr. Subhash Jha, associate professor in the Department of Marketing and Supply Chain at UofM’s Fogelman College of Business and Economics. Additional partners include Modaxo Elovate, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and the West Tennessee Regional Traffic Safety Task Force. PROTECT-CMV will run until Sept. 30, 2028.
Media Contact:
Parker King, Assistant Director
University Media and Public Relations
University of Memphis
tpking1@memphis.edu
