Originally, CSA stood for “Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010.” However, as national implementation of CSA rolled out in December 2010, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) transitioned the program, removing the “2010” and renaming the initiative “Compliance, Safety, Accountability.” CSA is a new FMCSA safety program to improve large truck and bus safety and ultimately reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities related to commercial motor vehicles. It introduces a new enforcement and compliance model that allows FMCSA and its State Partners to contact more carriers earlier in order to address safety deficiencies before crashes occur. The program establishes a new nationwide system for making the roads safer for motor carriers and the public alike.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA) mission is to improve safety by reducing crashes, injuries, and fatalities involving large trucks and buses. Over the past few years, the rate of crash reduction has leveled off, prompting FMCSA to take a new look at how the agency evaluates the safety of motor carriers and drivers and to explore ways to improve its safety monitoring, evaluation, and intervention processes. Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) is the result of this comprehensive examination. CSA enables FMCSA and its State Partners to assess the safety performance of a greater segment of the industry and intervene with more carriers to change unsafe behavior early.

The CSA Operational Model is the new way the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and its State Partners implement commercial motor vehicle compliance and enforcement programs.

The CSA Operational Model has three major components:

1. A new Safety Measurement System — CSA measures safety performance in new more comprehensive ways using inspection and crash results to identify carriers whose behaviors could reasonably lead to crashes.
2. A new intervention process — CSA helps FMCSA and its State Partners correct high-risk behavior by contacting more carriers and drivers with a comprehensive interventions process. This interventions process is designed to more efficiently and effectively correct safety deficiencies by tailoring the Safety Investigator's process to the carrier's specific safety problem(s).
3. A safety ratings process — CSA proposes a safety fitness determination methodology that is based on roadside performance and crash data.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA) regulations remained the same after CSA implementation in December 2010, though CSA does change how FMCSA prioritizes carriers for enforcement and how it enforces compliance. Generally CSA affects carriers subject to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs), carriers transporting passengers or cargo in interstate commerce, and carriers of hazardous materials in intrastate commerce, but may also include carriers whose State requires that they obtain a U.S. DOT Number. FMCSA has provided detailed answers to questions about the general applicability of the FMCSRs.

Generally CSA affects Mexican and Canadian carriers subject to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs), carriers transporting passengers or cargo in interstate commerce, and carriers of hazardous materials in intrastate commerce. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has provided detailed answers to questions about the general applicability of the FMCSRs.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA) regulations remained the same after CSA implementation in December 2010, though CSA does change how FMCSA prioritizes carriers for enforcement and how it enforces compliance. Generally CSA affects carriers subject to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs), carriers transporting passengers or cargo in interstate commerce, and carriers of hazardous materials in intrastate commerce. CSA may also include carriers whose State requires that they obtain a U.S. DOT Number. FMCSA has provided detailed answers to questions about the general applicability of the FMCSRs. CSA will enact three major changes:

1. There is a new Safety Measurement System (SMS) that gives a more comprehensive profile of carriers and drivers, better pinpoints the source(s) of safety problems, and more effectively identifies high crash-risk behavior. It is important that all FMCSA stakeholders understand the new SMS. To better understand how SMS works, read the SMS methodology, this flyer that compares SMS to SafeStat (i.e. the previous measurement system), and this SMS factsheet.
2. There is a new interventions process as well as state-of-the-art tools that are more efficient and effective in the enforcement and compliance process. They institute a wider range of interventions to influence compliance earlier and match intervention to the corresponding level of safety performance. It is important that all FMCSA stakeholders understand this new interventions process. The interventions are outlined in this factsheet.
3. There is a proposed change to the Safety Fitness Determination (SFD). The proposed change will assess the safety performance of a larger segment of industry. Furthermore, it will be based on roadside performance and intervention results, and ratings will be updated more often in order to convey current safety conditions. Once the final rule is passed, it will be important for all FMCSA stakeholders to understand it. To read more on the new proposed SFD, refer to pages 53487-53488 of this rulemaking notice located on FMCSA's website.

For the most part, CSA does not change Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs); rather, CSA changes how the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) operates in enforcing the current FMCSRs. In the future, FMCSA will consider a new methodology for determining the safety fitness of motor carriers, what is currently accomplished through the safety rating process described in Appendix B of 49 CFR Part 385. Such potential changes will be carried out through formal notice and comment rulemaking. In the future, FMCSA will consider a new methodology for determining safety fitness. Such potential changes will be carried out through notice and comment rulemaking procedures.

No one needs to register for CSA, nor is there any kind of mandatory training requirement. However, it is in commercial motor vehicle carriers' and drivers' best interests to be informed about CSA and what it means for them. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's CSA program impacts all carriers that are over 10,000 lbs. and travel interstate. CSA also impacts carriers that haul hazardous materials intrastate.

• February 2008 — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) launches a partial application of the CSA Operational Model Test (Op-Model Test) in Colorado, Georgia, Missouri, and New Jersey.
• 2009 — Five additional States join the CSA Op-Model Test group: Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, and Montana.
• April 12 - November 30, 2010 — Motor carriers can preview their own data by seeing their roadside inspections/violations and crash events organized by Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Category (BASIC).
• Summer 2010
  • June 30 — The Op-Model Test ends.
  • July — The four Test States partially applying the CSA Op-Model (Colorado, Georgia, Missouri, and New Jersey) fully switch over to CSA, bringing the total CSA Test States to nine.
  • August
    • The Safety Measurement System (SMS) Methodology is modified to increase its effectiveness.
    • Motor carriers can see an assessment of their violations based on the new motor carrier SMS, which replaces SafeStat later in 2010.
• December 2010
  • The SMS replaces SafeStat. The SMS is available to the public, including shippers and insurance companies.
  • The SMS Methodology is modified to increase its effectiveness.
  • FMCSA/States prioritize enforcement using the SMS.
  • FMCSA begins to issue warning letters to carriers with BASICs that exceed the threshold within their respective BASIC.
  • Roadside inspectors use the SMS results to identify carriers for inspection.
• 2011
  • Safety Fitness Determination Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) is scheduled to be released.
  • Enforcement staff will be trained and new interventions will be implemented State-by-State.

There are five important differences between CSA interventions and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's former compliance reviews (CRs):

• CSA provides a set of tools to address carriers' safety breakdowns; the CR is a one-size-fits-all tool.
• CSA interventions provide the ability to focus on specific safety breakdowns, while the CR requires a broad examination of the carrier.
• CSA interventions focus on improving behaviors that are linked to crash risk; the CR focuses on broad compliance based on a set of acute/critical violations.
• CSA Onsite Focused Investigations and Offsite Investigations are less resource-intensive and less time-consuming for the carrier; CRs are resource-intensive.
• CSA investigations may take place at a carrier's place of business or offsite; CRs are generally conducted onsite.

There are two ways a motor carrier can receive a symbol in a given BASIC. First, the Safety Measurement System (SMS) analyzes a carrier's on-road safety performance based on the new SMS methodology and that analysis results in a percentile for each BASIC. If the percentile is over the established intervention threshold, a symbol will appear in the “On Road” column of the SMS.

Second, if a serious violation was cited as the result of a carrier investigation within the past 12 months, the BASIC will show a symbol in the “Investigation” column displays. The triangle icon will remain present for 12 months regardless of whether corrective actions have occurred.

Interventions are selected based on the following factors: number of Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASIC) percentiles above the threshold (Note: a high BASIC percentile indicates high noncompliance), a symbol due to serious violations, commodity hauled (e.g., passengers, hazardous material), intervention history, and time since last intervention. A complaint or fatal crash could also trigger an investigation.

The Intervention Thresholds for carriers are organized by BASIC and are set based on a given BASIC's relationship to crash risk. FMCSA analysis has shown that the strongest relationship to crash risk is found with high percentiles in the Unsafe Driving, Fatigued Driving, and Crash Indicator BASICs. Therefore, these higher risk BASICs have a lower percentile threshold for interventions than the other BASICs. Currently, the Intervention Thresholds are as follows:

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and State Partners will use measurement results to identify carriers for CSA interventions. These interventions will offer an expanded suite of tools ranging from warning letters to comprehensive onsite investigations. These tools supplement the labor-intensive compliance review (CR) to better address the specific safety problems identified.

CSAinvestigators will be equipped to systematically evaluate why safety problems are occurring, to recommend remedies, to encourage corrective action(s), and, where corrective action is inadequate, to invoke strong penalties. Interventions will provide carriers with the information necessary to understand their safety problems and to change unsafe behavior early on. Interventions under CSA can be divided into 3 basic categories, which are described in detail below: early contact, investigation, and follow-on.

Early Contact

• Warning Letter — Correspondence sent to a carrier's place of business that specifically identifies a deficient Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Category (BASIC) and outlines possible consequences of continued safety problems. The warning letter provides instructions for accessing carrier safety data and measurement as well as a point of contact.
• Carrier Access to Safety Data and Measurement — Carriers have access to their measurement results (BASICs scores), as well as the inspection reports and violations that went into those results. With this information, carriers can chart a course of self-improvement. Carriers can also monitor this data for accuracy and challenge it as necessary through FMCSA's DataQs system.
• Targeted Roadside Inspection — CSA provides roadside inspectors with data that identifies a carrier's specific safety problems, by BASIC, based on the new measurement system. Targeted roadside inspections occur at permanent and temporary roadside inspection locations where connectivity to the Safety Measurement System (SMS) information is available. As Commercial Vehicle Information Systems and Networks (CVISN) technologies evolve they will be incorporated into the roadside inspections.

Investigation

• Offsite Investigation — A carrier is required to submit documents to FMCSA or a State Partner. These documents are used to evaluate the safety problems identified through the SMS and to determine their root causes. Types of documents requested may include third party documents such as toll receipts, border crossing records, or drug testing records. The goal is to identify issues responsible for poor safety performance. If the carrier does not submit requested documents they may be subject to an onsite investigation or to subpoena records (see below).
• Onsite Focused Investigation — The purpose of this intervention is to evaluate the safety problems identified through the SMS and their root causes. An Onsite Focused Investigation may be selected when deficiencies in two or fewer BASICs exist. Onsite Focused Investigations target specific problem areas (for example, maintenance records), while Onsite Comprehensive Investigations address all aspects of the carrier's operation.
• Onsite Comprehensive Investigation — This intervention is similar to a CR and takes place at the carrier's place of business. It is used when the carrier exhibits broad and complex safety problems through continually deficient BASICs, worsening multiple BASICs (three or more), or a fatal crash or complaint.

Follow-on

• Cooperative Safety Plan (CSP) — Implemented by the carrier, this safety improvement plan is voluntary. The carrier and FMCSA collaboratively create a plan, based on a standard template, to address the underlying problems resulting from the carrier's substandard safety performance.
• Notice of Violation (NOV) — The NOV is a formal notice of safety deficiencies that requires a response from the carrier. It is used when the regulatory violations discovered are severe enough to warrant formal action but not a civil penalty (fine). It is also used in cases where the violation is immediately correctable and the level of, or desire for, cooperation is high. To avoid further intervention, including fines, the carrier must provide evidence of corrective action or initiate a successful challenge to the violation.
• Notice of Claim (NOC) — An NOC is issued in cases where the regulatory violations are severe enough to warrant assessment and issuance of civil penalties.
• Operations Out-of-Service Order (OOS) — An order requiring the carrier to cease all motor vehicle operations.

Not necessarily. Motor carriers will enter the interventions process based on the nature and severity of their safety alerts. If a carrier's safety alerts are serious, it may enter the process through receiving an Offsite, Onsite Focused, or Onsite Comprehensive Investigation. If a carrier's safety alerts are just emerging, FMCSA will issue a warning letter. If a carrier's safety performance does not improve or worsens after it receives a warning letter, the carrier will enter the progressive process and receive an investigation. If performance improves, the carrier will no longer be identified for intervention.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Headquarters sends warning letters to motor carriers. A warning letter notifies a motor carrier that its safety performance data shows that the carrier is not fully complying with all applicable FMCSA safety regulations. The warning letter lists the Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories where the carrier's performance indicates safety issues and encourages the carrier to look at its Safety Measurement System data online. The warning letter does not require the motor carrier to respond to FMCSA. Motor carriers who receive warning letters should review their safety data and develop and execute strategies that will make their operation compliant with the safety regulations. Continued poor performance will lead to more intensive interventions.

For additional information, view the Warning Letter Factsheet (PDF, 414KB).

Carriers do not need to respond in writing to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) after receiving a warning letter. FMCSA does encourage motor carriers to log in to the Safety Measurement System (SMS) to examine their data, focusing their attention first on the BASICs that are over or near the intervention threshold. Carriers should consider doing all of the following:

• Ensure accuracy of data. Ensure that all the data listed is accurate and belongs to their U.S. DOT Number. If data is incorrect, they can submit a Data Review Request through the DataQs system.
• Examine violation types. Examine the summary of the violations that they are receiving and notice which violations occur most frequently, and those with the highest severity weights. These are two data points that should help carriers determine their next steps.
• Conduct detailed data analysis. Download violation data into an Excel spreadsheet for further analysis. Sort the data by driver, date, location of inspection, vehicle, vehicle type, and violation. Analyze the data for any trends to determine the root cause(s) of any safety problem(s) and review with the management team.
• Address identified safety issues. Develop and execute strategies to improve compliance with the safety regulations to prevent more intensive interventions. FMCSA has developed tools and resources that may assist motor carriers with this process. These tools may be found in Section VI of the SMS Information Center “What can a motor carrier do to improve?”
• Periodically review SMS data. Review SMS data monthly to monitor progress.

Generally speaking, a motor carrier remains in the CSA intervention process until the carrier no longer has BASICs exceeding the threshold in their respective BASIC. In the event that a carrier's BASIC percentile ranks fall below the threshold during an investigation or other intervention, the agency will complete its work.

CSA is as strong on enforcement as today's model. Notices of Claim are part of the CSA intervention process.

There are three types of investigations: Offsite, Onsite Focused, and Onsite Comprehensive. Offsite Investigations are conducted over the phone and through email, fax, and mail, while Onsite Focused and Onsite Comprehensive Investigations are conducted at a carrier's place of business.

The investigation process is similar for all investigation types. A Federal or State Safety Investigator (SI) reviews a motor carrier's Safety Measurement System (SMS) data, the specific violations that compose the SMS, and the motor carrier's intervention history. Next, the SI interviews representatives from the motor carrier over the phone and/or in person and reviews selected documents. The SI engages in these activities to examine the carrier's operations for compliance with Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations and to determine, with the carrier's participation, the organizational process breakdowns that are triggering the carrier's safety violations. The SI will determine the appropriate follow-on intervention(s) (e.g., Notice of Claim, Notice of Violation, and/or Cooperative Safety Plan). In addition, the SI will discuss with the carrier how it might improve its operations so that its SMS scores will improve.

The CSP is a structured plan for safety improvements based upon the underlying factors causing the carrier to have a symbol in any given Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Category. It is a voluntary plan on the part of the carrier to improve its safety performance. A carrier may submit a handwritten or an electronic version of its CSP.

Noncompliant motor carriers may be subject to costly repairs, delays, and penalties, or may be ordered off the road entirely. For additional information, visit the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's “Safety is Good Business – Crashes Hurt Your Bottom Line.”

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) intends to propose replacing the current safety rating process, which determines safety via a compliance review with a new Safety Fitness Determination (SFD) that will use the SMS to determine safety ratings. The SFD Notice of Proposed Rulemaking will be released in 2011. The SFD will need to go through the entire rulemaking process before it becomes law. Until the SFD becomes law, FMCSA will continue to use the current safety rating process. Current safety ratings can be found here: Safety and Fitness Electronic Records.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) uses the safety rating methodology as outlined in 49 CFR Part 385 and will continue to use this methodology until the rulemaking process is completed. Accordingly, just like today, a motor carrier will receive an Unsatisfactory safety rating following an onsite review if FMCSA determines that the carrier's safety management controls fail to meet the safety fitness standard outlined in 49 CFR Part 385. There are four important differences between FMCSA's current safety rating methodology and the proposed CSA Safety Fitness Determination (SFD):

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) uses the safety rating methodology as outlined in 49 CFR Part 385 and will continue to use this methodology until the rulemaking process is completed. Accordingly, following current procedures, a motor carrier will receive an Unsatisfactory safety rating following an onsite review if FMCSA determines that the carrier's safety management controls fail to meet the safety fitness standard outlined in 49 CFR Part 385.

The process of a motor carrier going back into service once it is determined to be Unfit is expected to remain the same as the current procedure. The biggest proposed change is that roadside data might be a factor in determining the Safety Fitness Determination (SFD). If a motor carrier were to receive a proposed Unfit determination, it would have 45 days (hazardous material/passenger carriers) or 60 days (all other carriers) to improve its SFD. Generally, this would be accomplished in one of three ways:

• Another investigation/compliance review
• A 385.15 appeal to the Chief Safety Officer if there are material errors with the information from either roadside data or interventions
• A 385.17 appeal to the Division Office if the motor carrier files evidence of corrective action

In the first half of 2012, the SFD Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is scheduled to be released.

Yes, they will.

In the short-term, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's proposed rule on SFD will propose that a motor carrier's formal safety rating (i.e., the replacement for the traditional Unsatisfactory, Conditional, or Satisfactory rating process) would be adversely affected by crashes only when the motor carrier is at least partly at fault. These are known as “preventable accidents.” A Safety Investigator would determine which crashes are preventable.

A pre-inspection screening, which takes less time than an actual safety inspection, may take many forms. It may include, but not necessarily be limited to, a cursory check of the vehicle. These cursory checks of a vehicle are commonly confused with a complete safety inspection. If a law enforcement officer conducts only a pre-inspection screening, then a safety inspection report will not be generated. It is also important to note that different enforcement jurisdictions may use different methods to select or screen a vehicle for a safety inspection. There are strict criteria regarding what needs to be done for a roadside inspection report to be generated. If the pre-screening doesn't meet those criteria, no report will be generated. Keep in mind that an inspection usually takes a lot longer than a pre-screening and involves a much more intense scrutiny of the driver and/or the vehicle. A driver can request an inspection, but it is up to the roadside inspector to determine if he or she will give one or not.

The North American Standard Driver/Vehicle Inspection Levels are explained on this Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration webpage.

Under CSA, the data collected at the roadside is more important than ever because it is used in the new Safety Measurement System to assess carriers' safety performance. Thus, inspection and crash data that are reported to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) must meet high standards of uniformity, completeness, accuracy, and timeliness. FMCSA has organized its effort to improve data quality into four core initiatives:

1. Train inspectors on how to make consistent documentation of roadside inspection and violation data.
2. Standardize processes for challenging data by providing procedural guidance on the management of the roadside data challenge process through the DataQs system.
3. Increase awareness of high-level goals of the inspection program by communicating to inspectors about how good inspections can support a systematic enforcement program and informing industry about the differences between screening and inspections.
4. Create system to ensure that inspectors use a uniform inspection selection process.

Inspection and crash data that are collected and reported to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) must meet high standards of uniformity, completeness, accuracy, and timeliness. FMCSA has made significant strides to improve the data quality of crash and inspection data by developing a comprehensive program that includes raising the awareness of these standards, developing a means to measure State safety data quality, and working directly with States through either a State onsite review process or direct technical assistance to improve the quality of State safety data.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) promotes the electronic collection of inspection data by providing the software and grants for laptops to States. In general, States that are not already collecting inspection data electronically are moving in this direction. To further provide incentives to States, FMCSA has created inspection data performance measures to raise awareness of the relative speed at which States upload inspection reports. In addition, FMCSA has provided online tools to help States diagnose the reasons for untimely submission of inspection reports. Nearly 95 percent of the over 3 million inspections conducted annually are uploaded to the FMCSA Website within FMCSA's 21-day standard.

Motor carriers can view an electronic duplicate of all of their inspections through the Safety Measurement System, FMCSA Portal, or SAFER. Motor carriers that want a physical copy of inspection reports must contact the State agency where the inspection occurred.

SMS results are incorporated into the existing software that inspectors have used to select carriers, which is called the Inspection Selection System (ISS). The new algorithm uses the Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs) information to calculate ISS scores and the BASIC information is also displayed in the ISS application. The SMS's BASICs in ISS replace SafeStat's Safety Evaluation Area values.

ISS is no longer available to the public. A carrier can access its own ISS value on the Compass Portal and can register on the website using its U.S. DOT Number and U.S. DOT PIN. For answers to questions about the Portal, contact compass@dot.gov or call 1-800-832-5660.

Studies have shown that unsafe driver behavior, both on the part of commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers and other drivers, is a major contributor to CMV-related crashes. Some studies indicate that a small segment of the CMV driver population is involved in a disproportionately large number of crashes. As a result, FMCSA expanded its approach to identifying and addressing unsafe drivers during interventions with motor carriers.

The DSMS is a component of the overall Safety Measurement System (SMS). The DSMS is a tool that enables law enforcement personnel to assess individual drivers in the Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs) using 36 months of roadside performance data across employers.

At this time, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) does not use this system to assign formal safety ratings or Safety Fitness Determinations (SFDs) to individual drivers. FMCSA does not remove any drivers from their job; only the State can do that. DSMS does not impact a driver's commercial driver's license (CDL). Neither drivers nor employing motor carriers have access to the DSMS. FMCSA does not address drivers the same way it addresses carriers today, nor will it under CSA. While carriers are prioritized for intervention based on the SMS, drivers are only investigated during a carrier investigation. Therefore, no Intervention Thresholds are in place for drivers.</

While the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) does not use the Safety Measurement System (SMS) or any other system to assign formal safety ratings to individual drivers, the agency recognizes that holding drivers accountable for safe driving behavior is an important part of the safety compliance and enforcement process. Safety Investigators (SIs) always systematically investigate drivers with egregious violations when investigating a motor carrier. Additionally, SIs use the Driver SMS, an internal safety assessment tool, to review drivers with strong patterns of noncompliance. Any violations that are not corrected may result in a Notice of Violation or Notice of Claim for the driver.

Motor carriers are held accountable for driver errors because they are responsible for the job performance of those who work for them. This is a longstanding Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration position and is not unique to Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) or the new SMS.

Carriers are evaluated only on inspections and crashes associated with their own U.S. DOT Number, so only violations that a driver receives while working for a motor carrier apply to that carrier's SMS evaluation. Therefore, the driver's violation history before the driver is hired and after the driver's employment is terminated will not impact a motor carrier's SMS results. However, even if a motor carrier terminates a driver, all of the driver's crashes and inspection results that he or she received while operating for that carrier still apply to the carrier's SMS evaluation for 24 months from the date of occurrence. Because the data is time-weighted, the effect of those occurrences on the motor carrier's percentile rank will diminish over the course of the 24 months.

PSP is a new Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration program mandated by Congress that is designed to assist the motor carrier industry in assessing individual operators' crash and serious safety violation history as a pre-employment condition. The program is voluntary and is not part of CSA.

Through NIC Technologies, motor carriers may request driver information for the purpose of pre-employment screening. The driver must provide written consent. Individual drivers may request their own driver information record at any time. The information will be retrieved from the Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS). MCMIS electronic profiles contain five years of crash data and three years of inspection data; however, MCMIS does not include conviction data. There is a fee for this service.

For a carrier to enroll in PSP, visit the enrollment page. For additional questions about PSP, visit the PSP Website's FAQs page or the PSP "Contact Us" page.

When investigating a motor carrier, a Safety Investigator (SI) looks at driver history for egregious violations of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs). These violations are sometimes referred to as Red Flag Violations and are always investigated as part of a carrier investigation. The SI conducting the investigation looks to see if the violation has been corrected. At present, there are 12 such violations, though this list may be updated periodically. These violations are outlined in the table below, along with the Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs) to which they correspond.

Any driver violations identified and addressed during carrier investigations that are not corrected may result in a driver Notice of Violation or Notice of Claim.

Drivers will be notified by mail and a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration investigator may contact them. Motor carriers and the public, however, are not informed about driver NOVs or NOCs.

Check, update, and review your records:

• Ensure that your motor carrier census form (MCS-150) is up-to-date and accurate.
• Monitor and review your Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Category (BASIC) percentile ranks as well as inspection and crash data in the Safety Measurement System (SMS) and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Portal.
• Maintain copies of inspection reports and evidence related to any observed violations, and request review of any potentially incorrect data using DataQs.

Ensure compliance:

• Review your inspection and violation history for the past two years. Identify patterns, trends, and areas needing improvement and begin to address these now.
• Examine your business processes to determine how they may be contributing to any safety compliance deficiencies.
• Take steps to increase your drivers' awareness that inspections are more important than ever, that all violations count "not just out-of-service violations" and that their performance directly impacts their driving records and the safety assessment of their employing carrier.

Visit the CSA Website:

• The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regularly updates materials on the CSA Website. There, you will find explanations, answers to questions, tips, and guidance.
• You can sign up for an email subscription or RSS feed to receive the most up-to-date information.
• You can also submit questions and review a full set of Frequently Asked Questions.
• Be sure to review the materials about SMS and the new BASICs; understanding the new SMS is an important step in preparing for CSA.

If you feel that any of the data in SMS is erroneous, you can request a data review through the DataQs system, an electronic means of filing concerns about Federal and State data released to the public by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). Any user, including motor carriers, drivers, and the general public, can submit a request for data review (RDR) using the DataQs system. You can register for DataQs via the FMCSA Portal or through the DataQs system directly.

RDRs require you to fill out simple forms with information from the relevant report, such as the report number, date and time of event, State, and an explanation for why the data should be changed. Documentation to support the RDR may also be submitted to the system. All information is routed to the organization responsible for the data. Electronic correspondence is used to communicate with the requestor when additional information is needed. DataQs is open to the public and the website provides an online help function to walk users through the process.

Please Note: A carrier can modify registration information (e.g., name, address, or Power Unit data) by updating the MCS-150 form.

No. There is no appeal process for DataQs rulings.

Speeding violations documented on a roadside inspection report are used in the SMS. If motor carriers or drivers receive a warning for speeding documented on a roadside inspection that they feel is unwarranted, they can use the DataQs process to request a review of the data.

It is important to understand that the State might give motor carriers or drivers a separate State violation, which can be appealed through the State court system. Since the roadside inspection data and the State violation data are separate, motor carriers or drivers would have to request review of each violation independently to have them both removed from their records.

Reviews of violations that are adjudicated in the State court systems do not automatically result in a change to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)-released data. In order to have a violation removed from the SMS record, a motor carrier or driver must file a request for data review (RDR) in the DataQs system. When an RDR is made through the DataQs system and the request is granted, the organization responsible for the data makes the appropriate changes. The record is then updated in the SMS during the next monthly run of the measurement system. However, users may only use the DataQs system to request a data review on data used by FMCSA.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is not certifying anyone's CSA training and is not tracking CSA seminars at the national level. However, the agency recommends that you contact your local FMCSA Division to see if they are carrying out any training in your State. Their contact information can be found in this list of Field Operations, Service Center, and State-level motor carrier Division offices. You can also contact local trucking professional organizations since they often hold CSA seminars.

In addition, you can educate yourself about CSA by accessing these helpful online informational tools:

• CSA Media & Outreach page
• CSA Frequently Asked Questions
• CSA Industry Briefing (PPT, 4.9MB)

Keep up with the latest information on CSA as it becomes available by signing up for the email subscription service or RSS feed and by periodically reviewing the CSA Website.

To request a speaker to address CSA at your organization, contact your State's FMCSA Division office. You can also make speaker requests via the CSA feedback system, which will add your request for a CSA speaker to a list of similar requests. If and when CSA speakers become available, the agency will contact you. Stakeholders can also call FMCSA Communications at 202-366-9999.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration does not have a budget for printing and mailing CSA material to the public. However, there are many free downloadable and printable documents available on the CSA Website.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) invites all stakeholders, including industry experts and representatives, to submit comment on the severity weights to the FMCSA CSA docket. Instructions for comment submission are below. FMCSA plans to continue this process for the duration of the CSA Operational Model Test (Op-Model Test). Comments submitted to date have been reviewed and, where possible, suggested changes were tested for their impact on SMS output. Proposed changes to improve the SMS have been made concurrent with rollout of the Op-Model Test and a substantial number of changes will be implemented with the test's completion. Also, severity weightings will be subject to formal public comment during the Safety Fitness Determination rulemaking. This public comment period will be announced with the publication of the rule. People can submit comments on this topic through any of the following methods and by referring to Federal Docket Management System Docket ID Number FMCSA-2004-18898:

1. Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting comments.
   This is the link for Docket ID Number FMCSA-2004-18898:
   http://www.regulations.gov/search/Regs/home.html#documentDetail?R=0900006480a4fe97
2. Mail: Docket Management Facility;
   U.S. Department of Transportation
   West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140
   1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
   Washington, DC 20590
3. Hand Delivery: U.S. Department of Transportation
   West Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140
   1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
   Washington, DC 20590
   *May be delivered between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, except on Federal holidays.
4. Fax: 1-202-493-2251

Each submission must include the agency name, FMCSA, and the Docket No. referenced above. Please note that U.S. DOT posts all comments it receives without changes, including any personal information, to the following website: http://www.regulations.gov

Stakeholder can also submit feedback through the CSA feedback mechanism located at:
http://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/CSA_Feedback.aspx.

There are several websites where you can find additional information on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and CSA. Specific links are highlighted below:

FMCSA

• FMCSA Website
• Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations
• A Motor Carrier's Guide to Improving Highway Safety
• Driver Pre-Employment Screening Program
• CMV Web-Based Driving Tips

CSA

• CSA Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
• CSA Outreach & Media Page
• CSA General Factsheet (PDF, 608 KB)
• CSA Quick Reference Tri-fold Brochure (PDF, 168 KB)
• CSA Industry Briefing PowerPoint Slides (PPT, 4.9 MB)

Safety Measurement System (SMS)

• Carrier Safety Measurement System Factsheet (PDF, 587 KB)
• SMS vs. Safety Status Measurement System (PDF, 525 KB)
• CSA Carrier Safety Measurement System Methodology (PDF, 2.4 MB)
• SMS Violation Severity by BASIC — SMS Methodology, Appendix A (PDF, 2.4 MB)

CSA Information for Drivers

• CSA Just the Facts (PDF, 583 KB)
• CSA Driver Factsheet (PDF, 399 KB)
• CSA for CMV Drivers, a Presentation (PPT, 2.8 MB)
• CSA Driver Safety Enforcement — What Carriers Need to Know (PDF, 105 KB)

The Op-Model Test was implemented in the following States: Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, and New Jersey. Although the Op-Model Test ended on June 30, 2010, these States still use the new Safety Measurement System and all interventions.

The Op-Model Test was a field test of the new Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) Safety Measurement System (SMS) and comprehensive intervention process, which began in four States in February 2008 and five additional States in 2009. During the Op-Model Test, a representative sample of interstate motor carriers within the States of Colorado, Georgia, Missouri, and New Jersey were measured in the SMS and subjected to interventions, while another representative set of carriers (a control group) within the four States were subject to the existing compliance and enforcement process. Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, and Montana were also part of the Op-Model Test; however, all carriers in these States were measured in SMS and subjected to interventions. The test lasted 30 months and ended on June 30, 2010.

A third party, the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI), formally evaluated the Op-Model Test and the report is forthcoming. The evaluation compares the test group to the control group in the four original CSA Test States and examines the impact of the program on the five additional Test States.

Early feedback from enforcement staff using the Safety Measurement System (SMS) and conducting new interventions was positive. Preliminary results from the Op-Model Test suggested that CSA offers a more efficient, effective means of identifying and intervening with motor carriers that have demonstrated safety performance issues. In particular, the Op-Model Test demonstrated the following:

• CSA enables enforcement staff to investigate more carriers with safety deficiencies using the same number of resources.
• The warning letter is encouraging carriers to recognize and address their safety deficiencies earlier, and carriers are responding.
• CSA is having a positive impact on motor carrier performance in behavior areas significantly related to crash risk, particularly Unsafe Driving and Fatigued Driving (Hours-of-Service).
• SMS offers a better assessment of carrier safety performance and a more effective means of identifying motor carriers that pose a high crash-risk.

PSP is a new Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration program mandated by Congress that is designed to assist the motor carrier industry in assessing individual operators' crash and serious safety violation history as a pre-employment condition. The program is voluntary and is not part of CSA.

Through NIC Technologies, motor carriers may request driver information for the purpose of pre-employment screening. The driver must provide written consent. Individual drivers may request their own driver information record at any time. The information will be retrieved from the Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS). MCMIS electronic profiles contain five years of crash data and three years of inspection data; however, MCMIS does not include conviction data. There is a fee for this service.

For a carrier to enroll in PSP, visit the enrollment page. For additional questions about PSP, visit the PSP Website's FAQs page or the PSP "Contact Us" page.

The FMCSA regulations can be found here. The FMCSA's “A Carrier's Guide to Improving Highway Safety” is also designed to assist motor carriers in understanding and complying with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations.

Most FMCSA questions that are unrelated to CSA can be answered either by FMCSA Headquarters at 1-800-832-5660 or by State FMCSA field offices.

CSA does not mandate event/log recorders. However, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration recently issued a new rule about mandating EOBRs for truck and bus companies with serious Hours-of-Service violations.

To learn more about Federal HOS requirements, please visit the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) website at http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/topics/hos-proposed/statement.aspx. Interested persons may also contact David Miller, FMCSA Office of Policy Plans and Regulation at (202) 366-5011.

The Federal government does hold the general public accountable for its role in all accidents, including those with trucks. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration deals with the general motoring public. FMCSA also has a program that deals with aggressive drivers called Ticketing Aggressive Cars and Trucks (TACT).

The New Entrant Safety Assurance Process, which took effect in December 2009, still exists under CSA. The CSA Operational Model is performance-driven and new entrants exhibiting unsafe behavior as indicated by CSA's Safety Measurement System will be incorporated into the interventions process while remaining in the new entrant program.

Questions about CSA can be answered at the CSA Website through one of three methods:

1. Browse the CSA Website's Outreach & Media page, which has many documents covering the different aspects of CSA.
2. Search the Website's Frequently Asked Questions.
3. If the first two methods are unsuccessful, submit your question at the CSA Feedback page or call the Communications & Outreach Team at 877-254-5365 to receive an answer directly.

Despite rumors to the contrary, no. While research was recently released stating that a driver's body mass index (BMI) is a risk factor for identifying sleep apnea, neither the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration nor the CSA program currently has any rules that restrict who can be a commercial motor vehicle driver based on BMI or weight, or neck size.

Information about registering for a U.S. DOT Number can be found here:
http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/registration-licensing/registration-licensing.htm.

If you have further questions about registration, please call FMCSA at 800-832-5660.

Information on the CSA logo can be found here:
http://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/Stay_Connected.aspx#branding

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA) SMS is an automated system that quantifies the on-road safety performance of motor carriers so that FMCSA can identify unsafe carriers, prioritize them for intervention, and monitor if a motor carrier's compliance problem is improving.

The SMS is not a Safety Fitness Determination (SFD) nor is it a Safety Rating pursuant to 49 CFR Part 385; also, it does not represent FMCSA's final determination about the safety of the carrier. Use of the SMS for purposes other than those identified above may produce unintended results and inaccurate conclusions.

FMCSA highly recommends that all motor carriers periodically review the SMS and, when necessary, initiate a request for data review through DataQs, an electronic data correcting system. The DataQs system is available online at http://dataqs.fmcsa.dot.gov.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration uses the Safety Measurement System (SMS) to:

• Identify motor carriers for interventions, such as warning letters, investigations, or roadside inspections.
• Determine the specific safety problems of the carrier to focus on during an intervention.
• Monitor motor carrier noncompliance issues over time.

SMS gets a monthly snapshot of data from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) national database, the Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS). SMS pulls the previous 24 months of roadside inspection data from MCMIS and State-reported commercial motor vehicle (CMV) crashes; motor carrier registration/census data and results from Federal and State investigations conducted within the previous 12 months.

The SMS quantifies the on-road safety performance of motor carriers to identify candidates for interventions and to monitor whether compliance problems are improving or worsening. The SMS also uses investigation findings and notifies a carrier with the triangle icon when it has exceeded the threshold within each of the seven Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs) where a serious violation has been discovered. The SMS has replaced the SafeStat measurement system as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's tool to prioritize motor carriers for potential intervention.

The differences between the two systems are shown in the table below:

SEA values derived from the former SafeStat measurement system will not be used in any way in the SMS. The SMS evaluates the previous 24 months of roadside inspection and crash data.

The Safety Measurement System (SMS) is organized into seven BASICs, which represent behaviors that can lead to crashes. The BASICs were developed based on information from a number of studies that quantify the associations between violations and crash risk, as well as statistical analysis and input from enforcement subject matter experts.

The BASICs are defined as follows:

• Unsafe Driving — Operation of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) by drivers in a dangerous or careless manner.
  Example Violations: Speeding, reckless driving, improper lane change, and inattention. (FMCSR Parts 392 and 397)
• Fatigued Driving (Hours-of-Service) — Operation of CMVs by drivers who are ill, fatigued, or in noncompliance with the Hours-of-Service (HOS) regulations. This BASIC includes violations of regulations pertaining to logbooks as they relate to HOS requirements and the management of CMV driver fatigue.
  Example Violations: HOS, logbook, and operating a CMV while ill or fatigued. (FMCSR Parts 392 and 395)
• Driver Fitness — Operation of CMVs by drivers who are unfit to operate a CMV due to lack of training, experience, or medical qualifications.
  Example Violations: Failure to have a valid and appropriate commercial driver's license and being medically unqualified to operate a CMV. (FMCSR Parts 383 and 391)
• Controlled Substances/Alcohol — Operation of CMVs by drivers who are impaired due to alcohol, illegal drugs, and misuse of prescription or over-the-counter medications.
  Example Violations: Use or possession of controlled substances/alcohol. (FMCSR Parts 382 and 392)
• Vehicle Maintenance — Failure to properly maintain a CMV.
  Example Violations: Brakes, lights, and other mechanical defects, and failure to make required repairs. (FMCSR Parts 393 and 396)
• Cargo-Related — Failure to properly prevent shifting loads, spilled or dropped cargo, overloading, and unsafe handling of hazardous materials on a CMV.
  Example Violations: Improper load securement, cargo retention, and hazardous material handling. (FMCSR Parts 392, 393, 397 and HM Violations)
• Crash Indicator — Histories or patterns of high crash involvement, including frequency and severity. It is based on information from State-reported crashes.

SMS evaluates the safety of individual motor carriers by considering all safety-based roadside inspection violations, not just out-of service violations, as well as State-reported crashes, using 24 months of performance data. SMS assesses motor carriers' safety performance in each of the seven Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs): Unsafe Driving, Fatigued Driving (Hours-of-Service), Driver Fitness, Controlled Substances/Alcohol, Vehicle Maintenance, Cargo-Related, and Crash Indicator.

SMS calculates a measure for each BASIC by combining the time- and severity-weighted violations/crashes (more recent violations are weighted more heavily), normalized by exposure, which is a statistical calculation that allows SMS to make a fair comparison between carriers with different levels of activity (e.g. a hybrid of the number of Power Units per Vehicle Miles Traveled or the number of relevant inspections). Applying a similar approach to what was used in SafeStat, the SMS converts each carrier's BASIC measures into percentiles based on rank relative to carriers with similar safety event groupings (i.e., number of relevant inspections, number of inspections with violations, or number of crashes).

The SMS is updated monthly, taking a snapshot of data on the 3^rd or 4^th Friday of each month, and takes approximately 10 business days to process and validate the data before it is uploaded on the website. These dates are estimates and are subject to change; if there are problems with the validation, the process could take longer than expected.

To understand more about the BASICS, review the SMS Factsheet and briefings on the CSA Website. For even more detail, review the SMS Methodology document. The document details which values are assigned for each violation and how they are weighted in Appendix A, starting on page A-4 in the SMS Methodology document.

Violations are impacted by time severity; that is, more recent violations are weighted more heavily. Violations that occurred within the last six months count three times, violations that occurred between six months and a year ago count twice, and violations between one and two years old count only once. After two years, violations do not count at all in the Safety Measurement System.

A “clean inspection” results when a relevant roadside inspection resulted in no violations for a particular Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Category (BASIC). Safety inspections with no violations can improve a carrier's SMS evaluation. For example, when a carrier has no BASIC violations related to the Fatigued Driving (Hours-of-Service), Driver Fitness, and/or Controlled Substances/Alcohol BASICs from a Driver Inspection (Level I, II, III or VI), this clean inspection will lower the associated BASIC measure. Similarly, when a carrier has no BASIC violations related to the Vehicle Maintenance and/or Cargo-Related BASICs from a Vehicle Inspection (Level I, II, V or VI), this clean inspection will lower the associated BASIC measure. Roughly one-third of the 3.5 million inspections that are uploaded each year have zero violations.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has conducted effectiveness testing on the Unsafe Driving BASIC (Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Category) of the CSA Carrier SMS, as it is currently calculated using all recorded moving violations without regard to whether a citation was issued. Put in simple terms, the analysis demonstrates there is a strong relationship between high scores in the Unsafe Driving BASIC, as derived by including all recorded moving violations, and future crashes. From a legal standpoint, the agency's use of warnings as one factor in the selection of an intervention does not constitute deprivation of a property interest for which a due process procedure is required. FMCSA has, however, as part of its attempt at further effectiveness analysis, reviewed the existing inspection data to determine if it is feasible to exclude recorded moving violations from consideration by the CSA CSMS when a citation is not issued. At this time, it is not feasible. A free-form text field exists whereby an enforcement officer can enter whether a citation was issued. However, the completeness and accuracy of this field is not sufficient to employ in the CSMS at this time.

To address this issue, FMCSA is considering the addition of a simple Yes/No field to indicate whether a citation was issued in conjunction with the recorded speeding violation. Furthermore, based upon concerns expressed by the American Trucking Associations and motor carriers participating in our CSA Operational Model Test, FMCSA is implementing modifications to the roadside inspection software that its field staff and our State Partners use that will require roadside officers to designate the severity of speeding offenses recorded on roadside inspections. For example, the enforcement officer will have to designate whether the recorded speeding violation was 1-5 miles per hour (MPH) over the speed limit, 6-10 MPH over, etc. Moving forward, this will allow FMCSA to assign less weight to the less severe speeding violations in the CSA CSMS.

Carriers are evaluated only on inspections and crashes associated with their own U.S. DOT Number, so only violations that a driver receives while working for a motor carrier apply to that carrier's SMS evaluation. Therefore, the driver's violation history before the driver is hired and after the driver's employment is terminated will not impact a motor carrier's SMS results. However, even if a motor carrier terminates a driver, all of the driver's crashes and inspection results that he or she received while operating for that carrier still apply to the carrier's SMS evaluation for 24 months from the date of occurrence. Because the data is time-weighted, the effect of those occurrences on the motor carrier's percentile rank will diminish over the course of the 24 months.

The severity points for all violations used in the SMS can be found in Appendix A of the SMS Methodology and in this MS Excel spreadsheet.

The severity weights reflect the relative importance of each violation within each particular BASIC. They cannot be compared meaningfully across the various BASICs. For example, a violation with a severity weight of 7 in the Vehicle Maintenance BASIC is not intended to be equivalent to a violation with a severity weight of 7 in the Driver Fitness BASIC. The violation severity weights are currently being reviewed based on feedback from the Operational Model Test and stakeholders.

This statement is not entirely correct. The SMS Methodology document states that the sum of all severity weights yielded by any one inspection for violations in any one Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Category (BASIC) is capped at a maximum of 30. The inspection cap of 30 applies to the sum of violation severity weights within a BASIC, not summed across all BASICs. This rule prevents one bad inspection from overwhelming the evaluation of a particular BASIC and allows SMS to assess a motor carrier's safety across several inspections.

Roadside inspection reports contain all specific 392.2 local laws cited, but the Safety Measurement System (SMS) uses only 392.2 violations that translate with a specific letter suffix (i.e., 392.2C, 392.2S). If the violation is a 392.2 (with no letter suffix), then SMS does not use it. If it has a suffix and it is not listed in the tables below, SMS does not use it.