Opinion: Rule Changes Ahead for SafeStat Audits
By Eddie Morgan
National Director of Sales
Commercial Drivers Legal Plan Division
Pre-Paid Legal Services Inc.
This Opinion piece appears in the March 1 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.
The rules are changing for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s “SafeStat” audits for trucking companies. The Safety Compliance Review used in the past was a pass/fail system that very few failed. But with Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010 — better known as CSA 2010 — and its new safety measurement system, a carrier that violates even one of the regulations popularly known as the “15 deadly sins” will fail.
Space prevents listing all 15 “sins” here, but they include using a driver known to have tested positive for a controlled substance, using a commercial motor vehicle not periodically inspected and knowingly using a driver who does not possess a valid commercial driver license.
It’s estimated that nearly half of companies undergoing a Safety Compliance Review will fail to meet the new standards. Companies that fail will be given progressive interventions, the ultimate being suspension of operations.
The CSA 2010 safety measurement system differs from SafeStat in a number of significant ways:
• The safety measurement system, or SMS, is organized according to specific behaviors rather than SafeStat’s general safety evaluation areas.
• It will identify problems in a structure consistent with CSA 2010, while SafeStat simply prioritized carriers for a compliance review.
• It will consider all safety-based inspection violations, whereas SafeStat uses only out-of-service violations and selected moving violations.
• The safety-based violations are weighted for risk, a measure not employed by SafeStat.
• SMS evaluates an entity’s safety fitness, which SafeStat didn’t.
• Individual drivers are assessed by SMS, while SafeStat assessed only carriers.
As this list suggests, drivers will suffer most from the changes. Industry estimates suggest that between 175,000 and 250,000 drivers will be taken off the road when the plan is fully implemented. In fact, soon there will be three basic ways a driver can lose his job.
A driver now may be suspended for having too many “points” on his license. Points vary from state to state and can be assigned for violations that FMCSA does not consider “serious.” A driver actually can lose his license even with no serious violations.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations define eight basic “serious” violations. A driver who receives two of the eight in a three-year period is suspended for 60 days. A third violation in the same three-year period means an additional 120 days of suspension, and these suspensions are imposed regardless of whether the violations occurred in a commercial vehicle or in a personal vehicle. Before suspension, the fleet or its insurance company may require termination of the driver, even if the driver’s license isn’t suspended.
The proposed plan gives equal weight to convictions and tickets that are dismissed — even warning tickets. CSA 2010 lists seven “deadly sins” for drivers:
• Unsafe driving.
• Fatigue.
• Driver fitness.
• Drug and alcohol use.
• Vehicle maintenance.
• Loading/cargo securement.
• Crash history.
These tickets are weighted by severity and how recently the ticket was received, with more weight given to the most recent.
The data used to develop the ratings are collected during roadside inspections and will cover the prior 24 months. That means carriers and drivers are being evaluated right now, and many of them are unaware of this continuing evaluation.
Anyone who tells you he or she knows exactly how CSA 2010 will be implemented either is not being completely truthful or has insight into future events not available to ordinary mortals.
FMCSA is facing pressure from virtually all corners to change various aspects of the program. If the estimates of its effect on employment are correct, it remains to be seen whether the Obama administration is willing to take an action that could increase unemployment significantly.
SafeStat has had “questionable” accuracy for a long time, and highly credible industry sources have pointed out what appears to be biased weighting in the program’s current form.
It never has been more important for drivers and trucking companies to obey the laws. And because CSA 2010 is based on roadside inspections, drivers particularly should avoid the “triggers” for roadside inspections: speed (35%) and observable defects such as faulty brakes, lights, tires, etc. (31%).
In addition, drivers and their companies need to have high-quality local legal representation if an issue arises.
The action plan for carriers begins with becoming educated on the new environment. A lot of information and misinformation float around out there. Your safety director needs to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff with this help of information from a reputable source, while also realizing that, as with any new regulations, there are less-than-reputable companies looking to capitalize on misrepresenting the new rules.
Carriers must educate their drivers, making sure they understand the new rules and their effects on the driver’s ability to earn a living under the new system. Be sure to emphasize that the best defense is to know and obey all rules, both moving and DOT violations.
Pre-Paid Legal Services Inc. offers insurance and legal service products in the United States and Canada. Its Commercial Drivers Legal Plan division has headquarters in Marietta, Ga.
