Computers Pick the Targets of Federal Auditors

The U.S. Department of Transportation has only limited resources to keep tabs on the safety of every operation that involves running trucks in interstate commerce — a daunting task, considering an estimated 450,000 such entities exist.

So, what do you do when you have a really big number to crunch? You drag out the computer.

In the early 1990s, DOT’s Office of Motor Carriers turned to the experts, who invented a weighted calculus known as the Safety Status Measurement System, or SafeStat, as it is familiarly known to truckers and regulators. SafeStat is the feds’ basic tool for red-flagging “problem” companies and setting the focus for close supervision. (See "SafeStat Explained," p. 13)

Coming hard on the heels of SafeStat is another advance in carrier safety enforcement, wrapped up in another acronym: PRISM — for Performance and Registration Information Systems Management, now being tested in selected states. This will tie vehicle registration to a carrier’s safety performance. States will deny tags to unsafe carriers.

SafeStat and PRISM represent what trucking enforcement will look like in the 21st century, but critics on many sides question whether the two systems of the future are based on the same faulty data as past efforts. It’s the classic computer problem of garbage in, garbage out, meaning a system is only as good as the information it’s given.

But DOT officials say PRISM itself can fix the data problems.

For the full story, see the Sept. 6 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.