Working Together for Safety
We Intervene
for Safety
for Safety
CSA Interventions
CSA has a wide array of intervention tools to help motor carriers comply with safety regulations. There are three categories of intervention: Early Contact, Investigation, and Follow-On.
The CSA interventions process evaluates why safety problems occur, recommends remedies, encourages corrective action, and when necessary, invokes strong penalties for carriers failing to comply.
Warning Letters
These letters notify motor carriers early on about their safety performance and compliance problems, and the consequences of not improving, which may include either Onsite or Offsite investigations.
Targeted Roadside Inspection
Conducted at a permanent or temporary roadside inspection location, these inspections are prompted by data that identify a carrier's specific safety problems.
Safety Investigators (SIs) conduct three types of investigations, which can take place at a carrier's place of business or remotely. During the investigation, SIs use FMCSA's Safety Management Cycle to diagnose safety performance and compliance problems to identify actions a carrier can take to improve.
Offsite Investigation
An SI requests copies of documents from a carrier and reviews the documents remotely, to identify specific safety performance and compliance problems.
Onsite Focused Investigation
An SI focuses on specific safety performance and compliance problems at the carrier's place of business, and may interview employees and perform vehicle inspections.
Onsite Comprehensive Investigation
An SI reviews the entire safety operation at a carrier's place of business and may interview employees and perform vehicle inspections.
Cooperative Safety Plan (CSP)
A voluntary plan a carrier may implement with the help of SIs to address safety problems. This plan may be used alone or with a Notice of Violation (NOV), but it cannot replace a Notice of Claim (NOC).
Notice of Violation (NOV)
A formal notice that violations are severe enough to warrant formal action, but not civil penalties. To avoid further intervention from FMCSA, the carrier must take corrective action and provide evidence of it, or contest the violations.
Notice of Claim (NOC)
A formal notice that violations are severe enough to warrant assessment and civil penalties.
Operation Out of Service Order (OOSO)
An order requiring the carrier to immediately cease all motor vehicle operations.
Step-By-Step Safety Compliance
The Safety Management Cycle (SMC) is a dynamic intervention tool designed to help motor carriers identify, understand, and address safety challenges in their operations.
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