Federal Compliance, Safety, Accountability Program for Truckers

The Compliance, Safety, Accountability program, known as CSA, was instituted by federal regulators for better enforcement of large truck and bus safety rules.

2012-05-23

May 23, 2012 (Press-News.org) Federal truck-safety regulators released a new, improved program in December 2010 that changes the way the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the part of the U.S. Department of Transportation responsible for heavy-truck and large bus safety, enforces compliance with federal road-safety rules and regulations. The agency's priority is to reduce the rate of commercial-truck crashes and related injuries and deaths.

The FMCSA noticed the decreasing rate of truck accidents was dropping at a slower pace and undertook a comprehensive overview of how it could better impact that rate through its monitoring and intervention of specific trucking companies and truckers. The result of the analysis is the new Compliance, Safety, Accountability program, known as CSA.

CSA allows the FMCSA in coordination with comparable state agencies to review safety practices of a higher number of truckers and intervene earlier to head off unsafe behaviors. Subject to CSA are trucking carriers with vehicles more than 10,000 pounds that engage in interstate driving as well as haulers of hazardous loads, even within any one state.

The agency emphasizes that it did not change its safety rules and regulations with CSA, only the intensity and clarity with which it decides how to intervene and enforce those regulations.

Safety Measurement System

The "centerpiece of CSA" is its Safety Measurement System, referred to as the SMS. This online, public database helps the FMCSA analyze and identify safety issues associated with particular trucking fleets. SMS looks at past safety violations, inspection results and accident data to project the risk of future collisions. To do this, the program utilizes seven safety-related categories named "the BASICs":

-Unsafe driving
-Fatigued driving (related to hours of service)
-Driver fitness
-Controlled substances and alcohol
-Vehicle maintenance
-Cargo
-Crash indicator

Within some of these categories, 12 so-called "red flag" driver violations are identified as particularly serious and require correction. These include:

-Driving with multiple licenses, without a valid commercial license or without the correct type of license for the type of vehicle operated
-Driving after disqualification
-Driving in possession of or after using drugs
-Driving in possession or under the influence of alcohol, or after using it within the previous four hours
-Driving without proper qualification

Federal and state regulators and law enforcement look at a company's violations in each of these seven buckets to help determine "patterns of high-risk behaviors" and provide appropriate guidance and support to reduce the risk of accidents for that fleet. Some of the interventions used include:

-Early warning letters
-Roadside inspections
-Targeted compliance reviews
-Onsite or offsite investigations

FMCSA says that if, with its support and guidance, carriers still do not take steps to correct safety deficiencies, it will not hesitate to impose "strong civil penalties." This could include the issuance of an "operations out-of-service order" or OOS that orders a trucking fleet to pull completely off the road.

Effects of Public Safety Data

The transparency CSA brings to individual trucking fleets and truckers through the SMS has caused companies to implement more stringent hiring practices in order to raise the overall quality of operators and ultimately improve company safety records. Private software companies have stepped up with new offerings of computerized programs that aid in driver data capture, on boarding of new employees and ongoing safety compliance.

The knowledge that insurance companies and shippers have access to safety data puts additional pressure on truckers to improve their safety pictures.

Stepped-up governmental intervention and enforcement, as well as public and private pressure, are likely to positively affect the rate of 18-wheeler accidents. However, truck accidents will always be a reality and anyone involved in one need to take action to protect his or her rights by consulting with an experienced truck accident attorney. Such a personal injury lawyer will know how to conduct an investigation from the point of view of the victim, including preserving evidence through interviews, site evaluation, and public and private document procurement.

Article provided by Giacoletto Law Office, PC
Visit us at www.scglawoffice.com

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Federal Compliance, Safety, Accountability Program for Truckers

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