On March 7, The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced that their Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) raw data is publicly visible (again) after removal in December.
Background on The FAST Act
In early December, President Obama signed the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act). Last month we published a blog outlining the FAST Act and the implications for the FMCSA.
At a high level, the FAST Act prohibited the FMCSA from displaying property carriers’ absolute measures in the Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs) as part of their Safety Management System (SMS) Website until they made changes to become compliant.
What Can Be Seen Now?
The FMCSA reported widely on Monday that they’ve made the required changes and that information is now publicly available again. Currently, the FMCSA has an informational pop-up on their website outlining that the changes are now live on their site.
It’s important to remember that measures are generated directly from safety data and not based on relative comparisons to other motor carriers. It is noted that all information on passenger carriers remain available to the public. We can now view information collected from:
- Roadside Inspection and State-reported CMV crash data
- Acute and critical violations and investigation results
- Measures for all public BASICs including:
- Unsafe Driving – Dangerous or careless operations of a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) including speeding, reckless driving, improper lane change, and distracted driving
- Hours of Service (HOS) Compliance – Operation of a CMV by drivers who are ill, fatigued, or in non-compliance with HOS regulations including violations regarding records of duty status (RODS)
- Driver Fitness – Operation of a CMV by drivers who are unfit to operate due to lack of training, experience, or medical qualifications
- Controlled Substances/Alcohol – Operation of a CMV by drivers who are impaired due to alcohol, illegal drugs, or misuse of prescription or over-the-counter medications
- Vehicle Maintenance – Failure to maintain CMV and/or properly prevent shifting loads
What’s Not Publicly Available?
Although the majority of information is publicly available, a few items remain hidden. The public cannot view crash indicator and hazardous materials compliance BASICs. If you want to view your own non-public BASICs, you must log into the FMCSA Analysis and Information portal to view it.
What Can Law Enforcement See?
What you probably really want to know is what can law enforcement actually see? Well – complete SMS results are available to enforcement users that are logged into the SMS. Enforcement users can see all carrier safety data, while logged-in motor carriers can only view their own data.
CSA Scores Matter
Judging by the short amount of time that CSA scores were removed from public view, we can draw conclusions on how important they are to the industry. CSA provides a view into how well carriers and drivers comply with safety rules while detecting those who are not and intervening before it’s too late. Intervention tools allow investigators to evaluate why problems occur, recommend changes, and where necessary, issue penalties for violations – making the roads a safer place for everyone.
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