During February 2008, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) launched a field test of the new Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010 (CSA 2010) operational model. During this test, a representative sample of interstate motor carriers within the Sates of Colorado, Missouri, New Jersey, an Georgia are being subjected to a new safety measurement system and progressive interventions designed to pinpoint a motor carrier's poor safety performance with significant emphasis placed on the data that is gathered at the roadside.

It is important to note that the operational model test will not provide any regulatory relief. Motor carriers are not actually being rated under the CSA 2010 safety fitness methodology, because that methodology must yet be implemented through rulemaking. Instead, motor carriers will be rated under FMCSA's current rating process in conjunction with the new CSA 2010 Safety Measurement System and progressive interventions.

During the test, FMCSA will determine the effectiveness of the new operational model; both in safety impact and its effect on State and Federal resources. The test is a critical step in addressing CSA 2010's goals, which include reaching more carriers and drivers, increasing compliance, and decreasing motor carrier-related crashes and fatalities.

The test will continue 30 months into mid-2010, at which time FMCSA is planning full implementation of the CSA 2010 model. FMCSA would like to thank our State partners who are participating in the important test: the Colorado State Patrol, the Georgia Department of Public Safety, the Missouri Department of Transportation, and the New Jersey Department of Transportation.