New Brakes Out-of-Service Violation

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is committed to continually updating the Safety Measurement System (SMS) to align with its regulations and IT systems to effectively identify large truck and bus companies with the highest safety risk and prioritize them for an intervention.

As part of this effort, FMCSA added a brakes out-of-service (OOS) violation, also known as cite 396.3A1BOS, to the SMS. The brakes OOS violation differs from other violations in the SMS. The brakes OOS violation relates directly to underlying brake violations that are already used in the SMS. It signifies an OOS condition based on the underlying violations noted under other cites. When these underlying brake violations indicate that 20% or more of the total brakes are defective, 396.3A1BOS is cited and recorded as an OOS violation. The brakes OOS violation provides carriers and Safety Investigators with a clearer picture of the brake issues that lead to an OOS condition.

The brakes OOS violation took effect in the SMS as of April 1, 2017 and has not been implemented retroactively. Violations cited before April 1 will not be used. Impacted carriers will see this change reflected in their Vehicle Maintenance Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Category (BASIC) with the early May release. More information on this change will be available in the SMS Methodology document and in the SMS Appendix A spreadsheet with the May release.

SMS Website Updated

In addition, the CSA SMS Website has been updated with the March 31, 2017 snapshot. Motor carriers can check their own safety assessments now.

Additional SMS results are available to enforcement users and motor carriers that are logged into the SMS. Logged-in enforcement users can view all motor carrier safety data, while logged-in carriers can only view their own data. Currently, the SMS allows motor carrier login via U.S. DOT Number and U.S. DOT Number PIN; however, FMCSA encourages motor carriers to log in using the FMCSA Portal. If you don’t have a Portal account, register for one today.

To register for a Portal account:

1. Visit the Portal’s Account Request page, or click the registration link on the Portal login screen
2. Select Company Employee or an Associate of a Company, and click Next
3. Enter your U.S. DOT Number, and click Lookup
4. Select Company Official from the Available Roles box, and click Add Role
5. Click Next
6. Follow the onscreen prompts to complete your registration

Once you have logged into the Portal, access your complete safety profile on the SMS Website by clicking on the A&I (SMS) link in the Available FMCSA Systems box in the upper left-hand corner of the screen.