FMCSA to Propose CSA-Related Changes

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration confirmed Friday it will propose changes to the presentation of its safety-rankings system later this year.

The changes to the Compliance, Safety, Accountability program are aimed at making it clearer to the public that fleets’ scores are not meant to be safety ratings.

The Safety Measurement System, a component of CSA, provides the public with violation and inspection data.

“We recognize the presentation can be made clearer so visitors can better understand what the scores mean — and what they don’t mean,” FMCSA spokesman Duane DeBruyne told Transport Topics.

The changes will not affect how FMCSA calculates scores or uses CSA to prioritize its enforcement actions, DeBruyne said.

“The goal is to make it clearer what the SMS scores mean and what they don’t mean,” he said. “The algorithm’s not changing.”

SMS data reflect how a company’s violations and audits compare with similar companies, expressed as percentile rankings in different violation categories. They are not official ratings, which can only be issued after FMCSA auditors evaluate a carrier’s operations.

The SMS changes will make that distinction clearer, DeBruyne said.

“The data won’t be changing, it’s just the way it looks, and making it clearer what it means and what it doesn’t mean,” he said.

FMCSA also wants to make clear that a carrier should not be considered unsafe just because the agency does not have data.

“The lack of data should not be interpreted to the detriment of the carrier,” DeBruyne said.

FMCSA will allow motor carriers to see a preview of the changes sometime this year and provide time for comment. The preview will then be open to the public before the agency implements the final changes.

DeBruyne said FMCSA may also consider changing its system that assigns numeric scores to regulatory violations into a system that designates violations as a high, medium or low penalty.