The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration ("FMCSA") announced planned improvements to the implemented in December 2010 as part of the agency’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability initiative. A preview is currently available to motor carriers and law enforcement. During this data preview period, FMCSA requests comments on the possible impact of the changes. To comment, go to www.regulations.gov; the docket number is FMCSA 2012-0074. The changes will be available to the public in July 2012.
FMCSA says the SMS improvements are based on ongoing analysis and feedback from enforcement personnel, the motor carrier industry and other stakeholders, and are designed to more effectively identify and prioritize high-risk and other unsafe motor carriers for enforcement interventions designed to reduce commercial motor vehicle crashes and hazardous materials incidents.
FMCSA will provide motor carriers with the ability to preview how the improvements impact their individual safety data in SMS. These improvements include:
• Changes to the SMS methodology that identify higher-risk carriers while addressing industry biases;
• Better applications of SMS results for agency interventions by more accurately identifying safety-sensitive carriers – such as carriers transporting people and carriers hauling hazardous materials – so that such firms can be selected for CSA interventions at more stringent levels; and
• More specific fact-based displays of SMS results on the SMS Website.
So far, few carriers have researched the new truck safety enforcement program, even though it is scheduled to begin in December. According to the FMCSA, just 13,000 -- 2.6 percent -- of the 500,000 active carriers have gone online at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to check their standing once the program is underway.
Officials surmise that the reason so few carriers have researched the program is because some percentage of the active carriers simply are not in the information loop, or are too focused on their daily affairs to take note of a deadline that, until now, has been many months away.
FMCSA Administrator Anne Ferro noted that even though CSA 2010 will start in December, the roll-out will take place gradually over the next year as the states get their enforcement people trained in the new system. At some point during the first half of the year the agency will publish a proposal in order to determine safety fitness under CSA.
When the program is rolled out in December, the FMCSA will start sending warning letters to carriers whose data does not meet standards and the agency will start determining which deficient carriers will get field interventions.
Despite some misunderstadning, the agency is not generating a public driver scorecard, rating or ranking. Also, CSA will not lead to mass CDL suspensions, and the agency has no plans to restrict the ability to drive based on physical characteristics such as weight, body mass index or neck size.
We reported last month that the FMCSA was about to open a web site allowing motor carriers to obtain a preview of their performance in the Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories ("BASICS") of the new CSA 2010 (now simply "CSA") FMCSA enforcement initiative.
The site is now open and every motor carrier should take advantage of the opportunity to check the information before it becomes available to the public. To do so, carriers will need an FMCSA-issued “U.S. DOT Number Personal Identification Number (PIN).” A PIN number can be obtained from the FMCSA’s Safety and Fitness Electronic Records (SAFER) System web site at http://safer.fmcsa.dot.gov. Click on the link in the text “Click here to request your Docket Number PIN and/or USDOT Number PIN” and follow the instructions to obtain a USDOT Number PIN. There is no charge but a valid credit card is required as verification of the carrier's electronic signature. Further information on the web site is available from the FMCSA at http://csa2010.fmcsa.dot.gov/Documents/Data_Preview_Guidance.pdf .
Public availability (for all except the Crash Indicator) is scheduled for December 2010. Motor carriers should be sure to check the site to be aware of, and take steps as needed to deal with, their motor carrier safety ratings before then.
The American Trucking Associations ("ATA") continues to press the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration ("FMCSA") on CSA crash accountability. In our previous post dated June 24, 2010, we noted that one of the concerns voiced by the ATA about the current CSA system was that accidents enter the system without the recognition of fault. Dave Osiecki, senior vice president of policy and regulatory affairs at ATA, sent a letter to the FMCSA this week requesting the agency remove the following types of crashes from the safety measurement system: crashes involving a vehicle traveling in the wrong direction; crashes involving a vehicle rear-ending a truck while legally stopped at a traffic light; crashes involving a vehicle striking a truck while legally parked off the road; and documented suicides. According to Osiecki, these types of crashes should be removed as a matter of agency policy because it is reasonable to presume that the commercial driver and carrier in these types of crashes have no accountability for the crash.
The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration ("FMCSA") announced yesterday its next step in the phased rollout of Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010 now simply called ("CSA “). Starting August 16, 2010 the FMCSA will allow motor carriers to see how they are performing in each of the seven Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories ("BASICS").
The FMCSA also said it has improved the system to address certain trucking industry concerns. For example, exposure under two of the BASICS - Unsafe Driving and the Crash Indicator - will no longer be based on only the number of power units, but will instead use a calculation based on a combination of power units and miles driven. In addition, Carriers will now be grouped by the number of inspections with a violation (for Unsafe Driving) and the number of crashes (for the Crash Indicator); the number of power units will be replaced by the number of relevant inspections when grouping under the Controlled Substances/Alcohol BASICS; etc.
Finally, despite speculation to the contrary, the FMCSA confirmed its intention to proceed with CSA 2010 implementation in accordance with its published schedule available at: http://csa2010.fmcsa.dot.gov/about/csa_when.aspx
A hearing was held yesterday on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's ("FMCSA") new enforcement program, CSA 2010. While there is general support for the program, some of the concerns deal with timing, data quality and funding. For example, one concern voiced by Keith Klein, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Transport Corporation of America, who spoke on behalf of the American Trucking Associations, was that under the FMCSA's current CSA 2010 system, accidents enter the system without the recognition of fault. In other words, there is no way to recognize the difference between preventable and non-preventable accidents. In response, Ann Ferro, the agency's chief, emphasized that crash data are a legitimate indicator of a motor carrier's safety performance regardless of fault. She went on to say, however, that the agency recognizes the problem of crash accountability and will analyze the data if the carrier's safety fitness rating comes into question.
Consistent with press reports, the FMCSA formally announced the revised implementation date for the CSMS portion of CSA 2010 in today’s (4/9/10) Federal Register. The highlights:
· On November 30, 2010, the FMCSA plans to replace SafeStat with the new CSMS.
· Beginning this Monday, April 12, individual motor carriers will be able to preview their performance data at http://csa2010.fmcsa.dot.gov.
· On November 30, 2010, the FMCSA is planning on: (1) Replacing its current measurement system, SafeStat, with CSMS, (2) sending warning letters nationwide, and (3) implementing a revised nationwide Inspection Selection System for roadside inspectors that will be based on CSMS rather than SafeStat.
· The nine states currently operating in the operational model test - Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, and New Jersey - will carry out the full array of CSA 2010 interventions after the test concludes in June 2010.
· For the remaining 41 States, the new CSA 2010 interventions will be phased in during 2011.
This announcement does not affect the safety fitness determination (SFD) methodology. Changing the SFD requires rulemaking, and the FMCSA stated it will be the subject of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to be published for comment at a later date during 2010. While the rulemaking is in process, the FMCSA will continue to issue safety ratings in accordance with the existing rules at 49 CFR part 385 - Safety Fitness Procedures.
The FMCSA just released the website for the upcoming Pre-employment Screening Program (PSP). This signals the next phase of the CSA 2010 roll out despite the uncertainty of various of its features. As mentioned in our recent CSA-2010 webinar, the PSP is a new database developed by the FMCSA that can be accessed by motor carriers to obtain accident and roadside inspection data for individual drivers. The website is available at: http://www.psp.fmcsa.dot.gov.
The database is only available to motor carriers and, based on the FAQ included on the website, can only be used for pre-employment purposes. In other words, carriers cannot use the database to access information on currently employed or leased drivers. Carriers wishing to access the PSP must sign an Enrollment Agreement and pay both an annual enrollment fee ($25 for small carriers of less than 100 power units and $100 for larger carriers) and a $10/record fee. Also, before accessing the records of a particular driver, carriers must obtain a written consent (a sample is included in the Enrollment Agreement) from the driver authorizing such access. This may be how the FMCSA plans to monitor the improper use of the site – by tracking motor carriers that are checking current driver force rather than checking for drivers applying for employment. Individual drivers can obtain their own report for a fee of $10. Carriers might wish to start using the site to obtain a sense of how such data will impact driver recruiting, for example, how many more drivers will be found to be unemployable.
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