TRUCKLOAD
transportationreport
The government safety initiative isn’t going away, so those affected by the program need to make their peace with it. CSA 2010, THE FEDERAL government’s far-reaching initiative to remove unsafe commercial drivers from the nation’s roads, has rolled into its second full year of opera- tion generating as much con- troversy, frustration, and
hope as it did in its first.
Implemented by the Department of Transportation’s
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
(FMCSA), CSA uses a complex methodology to rate
the nation’s motor carriers on safety. Short for
“Compliance, Safety, and Accountability,” CSA incorporates a “Safety Measurement System,” or SMS, that
assesses a trucker’s on-road performance over the most
recent two-year period and indicates whether the
assessment should prompt the agency to dig deeper
into the carrier’s operational fitness.
The SMS includes seven “Behavior Analysis and
Safety Improvement Categories” known as “BASICs.”
Embedded in the seven categories are more than 640
infractions that a driver and vehicle can be cited for.
CSA replaces SafeStat, the government’s prior safety
measurement system.
The SMS database is populated by data generated
from roadside inspections triggered by infractions
such as speeding on an interstate or state highway. A
speeding violation gives law enforcement “probable
cause” to pull a truck over and conduct what is known
as a walk-around inspection of the vehicle and driver.
Any infractions that are then found will accumulate as
points on a company’s safety “scorecard,” which is
COPING WITH CSA: LOVE IT, HATE IT, OR IGNORE IT
updatedmonthly. Should the point total exceed the FMCSA’s thresh- old for safety compliance, government inspectors will conductanin-houseauditof the company’s operations.
From there, a determination
will be made if the driver is fit to continue behind the
wheel.
RIPPLE EFFECTS
CSA’s impact, which is relatively muted for now, will
likely intensify in the years to come. Many experts
believe it will lead to as many as 10 percent of licensed
commercial truck drivers being removed from their
cabs or quitting the business altogether, exacerbating
what is expected to be a growing shortage of qualified
drivers to move the nation’s growing freight volumes.
(There are currently between 3. 5 million and 4 million
licensed commercial drivers.) As a result, shippers and
freight brokers are bracing for a multiyear rise in
freight rates as the supply of drivers and rigs lags
behind the projected demand for freight services.
In 2012, rates are forecast to rise between 5 and 12
percent, depending on whether the carrier is a truckload or less-than-truckload hauler, the type of service
being provided, and if a user is under contract or relying on the spot market to secure a freight hauler.
CSA could also change the calculus between truckers
and the insurance companies that underwrite their
operations because the scores are expected to become
an important criterion in determining premiums and
