FMCSA Defends Safety Score

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety System defended its Safety Measurement System scores for motor carriers after 10 industry trade associations asked Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx to discontinue the public display of scores.

FMCSA said the system has improved highway safety “by making company violations and safety records publicly available to consumers, law enforcement and other businesses.”

American Trucking Associations and nine other groups asked Foxx on Aug. 22 to direct FMCSA to remove the scores from public view because the data processing has been widely criticized, including a report by Congress’ Government Accountability Office. FMCSA took issue with the report.

“The GAO’s one-size-fits-all approach to analyzing inspection data would require the agency to triple the number of inspections we finance each year to exceed more than 10 million nationwide, which is simply unrealistic under our budget, and would fail to assess the behavior of more than 90 percent of the entire motor carrier population,” FMCSA spokeswoman Marissa Padilla said in response to the petition.

Foxx has not yet responded to the letter.