Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) is a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) initiative to improve large truck and bus safety. It introduces a model that allows FMCSA to contact a larger number of carriers earlier in order to address safety problems before wrecks occur.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration recently updated the Safety Measurement System and their Serious Violations spreadsheet. These changes include five Serious Violations that are currently used in investigations. Motor carriers cited with any of these violations will see them reflected in the March SMS data release. The five added Serious Violations include: failing to provide security awareness training, failing to provide in-depth security awareness training, knowingly allowing, requiring, permitting, or authorizing an employee with more than one commercial driver’s license to operate a commercial motor vehicle, requiring or permitting a property-carrying commercial motor vehicle driver to drive more than 11 hours, and requiring or permitting a property-carrying commercial motor vehicle driver to drive if more than 8 hours have passed since the end of the driver’s last off-duty or sleeper-berth period of at least 30 minutes.
According to FMCSA, Serious Violations are “violations where noncompliance is so severe that they require immediate action by a motor carrier regardless of its overall safety posture-or violations that are indicative of breakdowns in a carrier’s safety management controls.”
FMCSA uses the Safety Measurement System to assess carrier safety performance. SMS results can provide stakeholders with valuable safety information and it helps in identifying specific safety problems. If they discover a Serious Violation in the carrier’s most recent investigation then the SMS will show that violation in the Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Category. In all, SMS enables carriers to view an assessment of their weaknesses. This helps motor carriers and stakeholders that are involved with the motor carrier industry make safety-based business decisions.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulates all carriers throughout North America that haul loads over 10,000 lbs. and travel the interstate. They also regulate carriers that haul hazardous materials intrastate.
FMCSA recently enhanced the SMS website in order to improve the user’s experience. The changes make the safety information easier to access and understand for motor carriers that want to improve their safety performance. The updates include: improvements to the mobile version of the website, upgraded search and data download functionalities, and a revised history view that now includes additional information, such as carrier status.
There are many things that a motor carrier can do to improve.
- Be knowledgeable of the Federal Motor Carrier and the Hazardous Materials safety regulations.
- Understand how your safety management contributes to your safety problems.
- Check your carrier registration information at least every two years or whenever there’s a change in your company’s profile.
- Review you inspection and crash reports data.
- Educate yourself and others on the regulations and the industry’s best practices.
With more than 5 million truck and bus drivers sharing the road with more than 250 million motorists, it’s important that everyone educates themselves on the CSA initiative.
You will find downloadable posters, factsheets, brochures, business cards, and PowerPoint presentations on FMCSA’s CSA program here: https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/yourrole/motorcarriers.aspx
