Why is FMCSA Enhancing SMS? Continuous Improvement Leads to Increased Safety

As part of FMCSA’s work toward reaching U.S. DOT’s goal of zero roadway fatalities and serious injuries, the Agency looks for opportunities to continually improve SMS and the decision-making processes critical to safety.

The proposed changes were informed by FMCSA’s commitment to the following guiding principles:

Fairness

Ensuring greater consistency in results by holding similar carriers to the same standard, regardless of how their safety issues are documented.

Accuracy

Continually improving the quality of the data we use to stay focused on the motor carriers in most need of intervention.

The crash rate for carriers prioritized using the new methodology is 10% higher than under SMS.

Clarity

Helping motor carriers better understand their results and how to use them to adopt safer behaviors.

How does the new methodology affect my SMS results? Preview Your Carrier Data

Reaching zero roadway fatalities and serious injuries will require working with the entire roadway transportation community. The public comment period has closed; FMCSA is reviewing comments on the proposed changes for consideration as we finalize the prioritization methodology.

Motor carriers can log in to view their results under the proposed methodology. For more on how to view these results, watch this video demonstration.

Watch the Q&A Webinars

FMCSA took questions from the public during three Q&A webinars in March 2023. You can view recordings of these webinars using the links below (passcode is provided). You can also download the presentation slides.

What is new about this methodology? Enhancing SMS to Improve Safety

Click the boxes below to learn about each proposed change. These changes are also summarized in the February 15, 2023 Federal Register notice.

You can also download a printer-friendly version.

View Data From an Example Carrier

Reorganized "BASICs"

Reorganizing the Vehicle Maintenance and Unsafe Driving BASICs, now called “safety categories,” to focus on motor carriers with higher crash rates and more accurately pinpoint unsafe behaviors.

Reorganized "BASICs"

Reorganizing the Vehicle Maintenance and Unsafe Driving BASICs, now called “safety categories”
How is the methodology changing?

The Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs) from SMS would be called "safety categories" in the new methodology.

The following safety categories would be reorganized in the new methodology.

Unsafe Driving would include the following violations:

  • Controlled Substances/Alcohol violations (no longer in their own standalone category).
  • All Operating while Out-of-Service (OOS) violations, regardless of which safety category violation resulted in the OOS Order.
    Example: “396.9(c)(2): Operating an OOS vehicle” is included in the Vehicle Maintenance BASIC in SMS, but will be part of the Unsafe Driving safety category in the new methodology.

Vehicle Maintenance would be divided into two categories:

  • Vehicle Maintenance: Driver Observed includes violations that could reasonably be observed by a driver or detected as part of a Walk-Around (Level 2) roadside inspection.
  • Vehicle Maintenance includes all other vehicle maintenance violations, more commonly identified by a mechanic doing routine maintenance or detected as part of a Full (Level 1) roadside inspection.

Download a complete list of the violations in each reorganized safety category.

Why is this important?

Moving Controlled Substances/Alcohol violations to Unsafe Driving would help focus FMCSA’s investigative resources on carriers with higher crash rates.

Reorganizing these two categories would also provide more specific information to help motor carriers and enforcement pinpoint unsafe driver behavior and sources of vehicle maintenance issues.

Learn more

Download the New Prioritization Methodology Foundational Document to read the analysis behind this proposed change.

Reorganized Roadside Violations

Reorganizing roadside violations into 116 violation groups of similar safety behaviors to prevent inconsistencies that occur when multiple violations are cited for a single or very similar underlying issue.

Reorganized Roadside Violations

Reorganizing roadside violations into 116 violation groups of similar safety behaviors
How is the methodology changing?

The new methodology would organize the existing 959 roadside violations into 116 violation groups. While any of the 959 violations can still be cited during an inspection, for prioritization purposes, violations that identify the same or similar underlying safety issue would be grouped together. If a motor carrier receives more than one of the violations in a violation group during a single inspection, the new methodology would treat that set of violations as a single violation when calculating the carrier’s measure in that safety category.

For example, the Hours of Service (HOS) Compliance violations below are part of a violation group related to the safety issue of violating HOS regulations:

Violation Group: HOS Requirements

  • 395.3A2-PROP: Driving beyond 14 hour duty period (Property Carrying Vehicle)
  • 395.3A3-PROP: Driving beyond 11 hour driving limit (Property Carrying Vehicle)
  • 395.3(a)(3)(ii): Driving beyond 8 hour driving limit since the end of the last on duty, off duty, or sleeper period of at least 30 minutes
  • 395.3B2: Driving after 70 hours on duty in an 8 day period (Property Carrying Vehicle)

If a motor carrier is cited for two or more of the violations above in the same inspection, these violations would all appear in the inspection report. However, when FMCSA analyzes the carrier’s data to determine if the carrier should be prioritized, the new methodology would count this set of violations as one violation under the “HOS Requirements” violation group.

Download a complete list of the new roadside violation groups.

Why is it important?

There are often multiple ways to cite a carrier for the same underlying safety issue. FMCSA’s analysis indicated that, for prioritization purposes, determining whether a safety issue is identified is more important than determining how many ways it was documented.

Grouping a motor carrier’s violations before analyzing their data would ensure that motor carriers are treated fairly by holding carriers with similar safety issues to the same standards, regardless of how those issues were documented. This would prevent the inconsistencies in safety category measures that occur when multiple violations are cited for the same underlying safety issue during one inspection.

Learn more

Download the New Prioritization Methodology Foundational Document to read the analysis behind this proposed change.

Simplified Severity Weights

Simplifying violation severity weights to adopt a more straightforward approach.

Simplified Severity Weights

Simplifying violation severity weights to adopt a more straightforward approach
How is the methodology changing?

The new methodology would replace the “1-10” weighting scale for violations in SMS with a two-value scale: a severity weight of either 1 or 2.

Severity weights would be determined by the set of violations cited during an inspection, within a violation group. For more details on violation groups, see Reorganized Roadside Violations.

If a motor carrier receives one or more violations within a violation group, that set of violations would be assigned a severity weight of 2 if any of the violations meet the following criteria:

  • Out-of-Service (OOS) violations (apply to all safety categories except Unsafe Driving).
  • Driver Disqualifying violations (apply to Unsafe Driving only, as defined in 49 CFR 383.51).

If none of the violations in a set are OOS or Driver Disqualifying violations, that set will receive a weight of 1.

Why is it important?

After conducting analysis on multiple approaches, FMCSA determined that assigning customized weights to all violations was not as important as noting that the violation occurred. This simplified approach identifies carriers with higher crash rates for prioritization and makes it clearer why a specific violation is weighted more heavily than others.

Learn more

Download the New Prioritization Methodology Foundational Document to read the analysis behind this proposed change.

Improved Intervention Thresholds

Adjusting the Intervention Thresholds for three safety categories to focus on carriers with the highest crash rates.

Improved Intervention Thresholds

Adjusting the Intervention Thresholds for three safety categories to focus on carriers with the highest crash rates
How is the methodology changing?

The new methodology would adjust the Intervention Thresholds in the following safety categories to better reflect their relationships to crash rate.

The new Vehicle Maintenance: Driver Observed and Vehicle Maintenance safety categories will have the same thresholds as the SMS Vehicle Maintenance BASIC:

  • 80% for general carriers.
  • 65% for passenger carriers.
  • 75% for HM carriers.

The Driver Fitness thresholds will increase from:

  • 80% to 90% for general carriers.
  • 65% to 75% for passenger carriers.
  • 75% to 85% for HM carriers.

The HM Compliance thresholds will increase from 80% to 90% for all carrier types.

For criteria for the general carrier, passenger carrier, and HM carrier thresholds, download the current SMS Methodology.

Why is it important?

FMCSA’s analysis showed that every safety category has a different relationship to crash rate, with some having a higher correlation than others. Adjusting the thresholds ensures that FMCSA focuses its enforcement program on the carriers with the highest crash rates.

Learn more

Download the New Prioritization Methodology Foundational Document to read the analysis behind this proposed change.

Proportionate Percentiles

Eliminating large percentile changes that occur for non-safety related reasons to more precisely indicate how a motor carrier’s performance is trending from month to month.

Proportionate Percentiles

How is the methodology changing?

Proportionate percentiles use the exact number of inspections and crashes to assign a percentile for a motor carrier, rather than relying on the cutoffs in SMS established by safety event groups.

This methodology has several benefits compared to the safety event group approach used in SMS:

  • Customized to a carrier’s exact number of events.
  • Ensures stable results for carriers by only allowing for gradual percentile changes from month to month when dropping or adding events.
  • Allows an individual carrier’s change in measure to have greater influence on their percentile. There will no longer be substantial percentile increases without a corresponding measure increase.
Why is it important?

This approach would improve the Agency’s ability to compare carriers with similar carriers, and more precisely and accurately indicate how a carrier’s performance is trending from month to month.

Learn more

Download the New Prioritization Methodology Foundational Document to read the analysis behind this proposed change.

Greater Focus on Recent Violations

Only calculating percentiles for safety categories in which a carrier has received a violation within the last 12 months to focus on carriers with more recent safety issues.

Greater Focus on Recent Violations

Only calculating percentiles for motor carriers with violations cited within the last 12 months
How is the methodology changing?

In SMS, motor carriers may be prioritized in HOS Compliance, Vehicle Maintenance, HM Compliance, and Driver Fitness even if they have not received a recent violation in these categories.

The new methodology would only calculate percentiles in a safety category if the motor carrier has received at least one roadside violation in that category within the past 12 months. This means that a carrier with violations in a safety category that are all 12 months or older will not be assigned a percentile and would not be prioritized in that category based on roadside inspection data alone. The proposed change applies to the following safety categories:

  • HOS Compliance;
  • Vehicle Maintenance;
  • Vehicle Maintenance: Driver Observed;
  • HM Compliance; and
  • Driver Fitness.
Why is it important?

This change will improve FMCSA’s focus on carriers with recent violations and higher crash risk.

Learn more

Download the New Prioritization Methodology Foundational Document to read the analysis behind this proposed change.

Updated Utilization Factor

More accurately accounts for the on-road exposure of motor carriers with the most Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) per vehicle.

Updated Utilization Factor

More accurately accounts for the on-road exposure of motor carriers with the most Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) per vehicle
How is the methodology changing?

The Utilization Factor helps ensure that measures in the Unsafe Driving and Crash Indicator safety categories account for carriers’ different levels of exposure to inspections and crashes. In SMS, the Utilization Factor is applied to carriers that drive up to 200,000 VMT per average Power Unit (PU)—in other words, a carrier’s VMT per average number of vehicles they have on the road. The new methodology would extend the Utilization Factor to carriers that drive up to 250,000 VMT per average PU.

Why is it important?

After analyzing carrier-reported VMT data, FMCSA found that carriers are reporting higher VMT now than in 2009 when the Utilization Factor was developed and first applied. Extending the Utilization Factor to include motor carriers that drive up to 250,000 VMT per average PU reflects these recent data trends and leads to more accurate measures, helping the Agency focus on carriers in most need of intervention.

Learn more

Download the New Prioritization Methodology Foundational Document to read the analysis behind this proposed change.

New Segmentation

Extending segmentation of carriers by operation and vehicle type to additional safety categories to improve carrier-to-carrier comparisons.

New Segmentation

Extending segmentation of carriers by operation and vehicle type to additional safety categories
How is the methodology changing?

In SMS, carriers are only segmented when calculating percentiles for the Unsafe Driving and Crash Indicator BASICs. The new methodology would retain this segmentation, and would also segment the following safety categories:

  • Segment HM Compliance by Cargo Tank and Non-Cargo Tank carriers.
  • Segment Driver Fitness by Straight and Combination carriers.
Why is it important?

Extending segmentation to HM Compliance and Driver Fitness will ensure motor carriers are treated fairly by comparing them to other carriers with similar operations and patterns of violations.

Learn more

Download the New Prioritization Methodology Foundational Document to read the analysis behind this proposed change.

Accounting for Not Preventable Crashes

Continuing to incorporate results from Crash Preventability Determination Program into the prioritization methodology.

Accounting for Not Preventable Crashes

Continuing to incorporate results from the Crash Preventability Determination Program
How does this affect the methodology?

The new methodology would continue to exclude from SMS crashes that are determined by FMCSA to be not preventable and note the "Not Preventable" determinations in the Pre-Employment Screening Program.

Why is it important?

FMCSA is listening to motor carriers and making adjustments to the SMS methodology that align with FMCSA's core safety mission.

Learn more

For more information, visit the Crash Preventability Determination Program website.

About the Proposed Changes

Timeline

Phase 1: Prioritization Preview

Phase 1

FMCSA engages enforcement and industry stakeholders in an inclusive process to improve safety compliance and prevent CMV crashes. Motor carriers can log in to see if they would be prioritized under the new methodology. Motor carriers and other stakeholders may submit public comments about the proposed changes described above via regulations.gov. Comments are due by May 16, 2023.

Phase 2: Revise Prioritization

Phase 2

FMCSA will carefully review all public comments and incorporate recommendations that align with the Agency's safety mission into the final methodology.

Phase 3: Update Prioritization

Phase 3

FMCSA will implement the finalized methodology. This means the new methodology will be used by FMCSA enforcement to help determine which motor carriers to prioritize for CSA Interventions.

    Learn More

    Preview Resources

    What's Changing?

    A side-by-side comparison of the current SMS methodology and the proposed changes.

    Download

    Proposed Changes Guide

    A print-ready summary of all the proposed changes to new methodology, as listed above.

    Download

    Foundational Document

    The full analysis behind the proposed changes to the new methodology.

    Download

    Violation Groups

    A list of all violations used in the proposed methodology sorted by violation group and safety category.

    Download

    Questions?

    If you have any questions about the preview, please contact the CSA InfoLine.