Survey Finds CSA Safety Rules Confound Many Drivers

This story appears in the Aug. 15 print edition of Transport Topics.

A survey of more than 4,500 truck drivers concluded that drivers have a poor understanding of the government’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability program, and nearly two-thirds fear they could lose their jobs because of the ratings program.

Nearly 80% of drivers surveyed said they believed the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s CSA system would not reduce the number of truck-involved crashes, according to the American Transportation Research Institute. In addition, more than 98% of drivers could not correctly identify which five Behavioral Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories, or BASICs, scores are publicly available.

“Findings reveal that support for the government program is still divided, and there are mixed reports of how well CSA is functioning,” ATRI said Aug. 10. “More must be done to improve understanding surrounding CSA’s basic tenets, which, despite modest education and training efforts, do not appear well-known.”

The survey included 204 drivers who completed forms in March at the Mid-America Trucking Show and 4,351 fleet drivers who volunteered from an unnamed large motor carrier.

“The takeaway for the trucking industry is that what this shows

is that trucking companies need to educate their drivers on what CSA is and why it matters,” said Boyd Stephenson, manager of security and safety operations for American Trucking Associations.

Among of the survey’s other findings:

• About 22% said safety awareness had increased among their peers, 10% reported a decrease in safety behaviors and 68% observed no changes.

• One in four said they refused to drive less well-maintained vehicles since the CSA program began in December.

• More than 83% expected the CSA program to exacerbate the driver shortage.

• About 25% expected take-home pay to be reduced as a result of CSA, while only 20% expected pay to increase.

The survey also identified a number of myths associated with CSA. For example, 87% of drivers falsely believed that traffic tickets and convictions are part of FMCSA’s safety measurement calculations, 77% incorrectly believed that a trucking company inherits past violations from new hires, and 72% erroneously believed FMCSA can revoke a commercial driver license as a result of CSA.

In addition, 68% of drivers incorrectly believed that CSA takes into account a driver’s personal driving record. Conversely, more than 95% realized that all violations — and not just out-of-service violations — count against drivers and carriers under CSA, and 82% were aware a carrier cannot remove violations simply by firing the responsible driver.

“Clearly, CSA still represents a new and challenging government program, with varying degrees of understanding throughout the trucking community,” the survey concluded.

ATA’s Stephenson said the ATRI survey showed the more educated drivers are about CSA, the more likely they are to support it.

“One session is probably just enough to scare the drivers as to how this could interfere with their ability to make a living,” he said, “but multiple sessions can delve into the depths and really show how it can be a net win for a driver.”

Stephen Keppler, executive director of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, said he was not surprised by the results.

“I think there’s a lot of effort going into education of the program,” Keppler told Transport Topics, “but it’s clear from the ATRI results that we still have a long ways to go.

“There are a lot of people that I think may still be in denial about the program, but it’s here to stay.”

Responses from about 60 owner-operators who took the survey showed that more than one-third considered their services to be

requested less since CSA began, and 23% reported higher post-CSA insurance rates.

Norita Taylor, a spokeswoman for the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, said, “We hear from our members less and less often over time expressing concerns about CSA, but as with any new system, we are not surprised that there is still a learning curve taking place.

FMCSA said it is still reviewing the study and “is committed to continuing its educational outreach to drivers . . . on the safety benefits” of CSA. The agency also said it was encouraged that drivers surveyed understood many of the critical aspects of the program.