PROGRAM MEASURES
Compliance Reviews

Roadside Inspections
      - Driver OOS Rate
      - Vehicle OOS Rate
      - Roadside Inspection Levels
      - Roadside Inspection Activity

Traffic Enforcement
      - 19 Driver Violations

Compliance Reviews

Definition: A Compliance Review is an on-site examination of a motor carrier's records and operations to determine whether the carrier meets the FMCSA safety fitness standard, i.e., are adequate safety management controls in place to ensure acceptable compliance with applicable safety requirements to reduce the risk associated with:

• Alcohol and controlled substance testing violations
• Commercial driver's license standard violations
• Inadequate levels of financial responsibility
• The use of unqualified drivers
• Improper use and driving of motor vehicles
• Unsafe vehicles operating on the highways
• Failure to maintain crash registers and copies of crash reports
• The use of fatigued drivers
• Inadequate inspection, repair, and maintenance of vehicles
• Transportation of hazardous materials, driving and parking rule violations
• Violation of hazardous materials regulations
• Motor vehicle crashes and hazardous materials incidents.

All Compliance Reviews accounted for in this report have been processed at the state level and entered into the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS). The reported Compliance Review activity is based on the Compliance Review date (the date the review was conducted) as opposed to the date a safety rating was issued.

Data source: FMCSA Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS) December 19, 2008 data snapshot.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) operates and maintains the Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS). MCMIS contains information on the safety fitness of commercial motor carriers and hazardous material (HM) shippers subject to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) and the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMRs). MCMIS is a collection of safety information including state-reported crashes, compliance review and roadside inspections results, enforcement data, and motor carrier census data. The Compliance Review submodule uses the MCMIS Compliance Review and Census data to compile and publish the National reports.

• The MCMIS Compliance Review data used in this section includes carrier performance and compliance data regarding FMCSRs and HMRs which are captured during an on-site compliance review (CR). CR data contains the number of drivers and power units, carrier safety ratings, number of recordable accidents, and the number and types of acute, critical, and other violations discovered during a CR.
• The MCMIS Census data contains records for several hundred thousand active entities, i.e., motor carriers, hazardous materials shippers, and registrants (entities who register vehicles but are not carriers). The census data provides descriptive data on the carrier such as the number of drivers and power units, carrier location, operation type and cargo types transported by the entity. In order to identify each entity, MCMIS assigns a unique number to each entity record. This number is referred to as the record census number. This is also the number supplied to an entity as their USDOT number.

Roadside Inspections

Definition:The roadside inspection program consists of roadside inspections performed by qualified safety inspectors following the guidelines of the North American Standard, which was developed by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance in cooperation with the FMCSA. Most roadside inspections by the states are conducted under the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program(MCSAP) a grant program administered by the FMCSA. There are five levels of inspections including a vehicle component, a driver component or both.

A roadside inspection occurs when a MCSAP inspector conducts an examination on individual commercial motor vehicles and drivers to determine if they are in compliance with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) and/or Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMRs.) Serious violations result in the issuance of driver or vehicle OOS orders. These violations must be corrected before the affected driver or vehicle can return to service. Moving violations also may be recorded in conjunction with a roadside inspection.

Driver OOS Rate: The percentage of driver inspections that found serious violations and resulted in the issuance of a driver OOS order.

Vehicle OOS Rate: The percentage of vehicle inspections that found serious violations and resulted in the issuance of a vehicle OOS order.

Roadside Inspection Levels: The North American Standard Truck Inspection procedures have identified six levels of inspections. The Inspection types identified in the table are defined according to the level of inspection that was conducted.

• LEVEL I - North American Standard Inspection - An inspection that includes examination of driver's license, medical examiner's certificate and waiver, if applicable, alcohol and drugs, driver's record of duty status as required, hours of service, seat belt, vehicle inspection report, brake system, coupling devices, exhaust system, frame, fuel system, turn signals, brake lamps, tail lamps, head lamps, lamps on projecting loads, safe loading, steering mechanism, suspension, tires, van and open-top trailer bodies, wheels and rims, windshield wipers, emergency exits on buses and HM requirements, as applicable.
  
  
• LEVEL II - Walk-Around Driver/Vehicle Inspection - An examination that includes each of the items specified under the North American Standard Inspection. As a minimum, Level II inspections must include examination of: driver's license, medical examinees certificate and waiver, if applicable, alcohol and drugs, driver's record of duty status as required, hours of service, seat belt, vehicle inspection report, brake system, coupling devices, exhaust system, frame, fuel system, turn signals, brake lamps, tail lamps, head lamps, lamps on projecting loads, safe loading, steering mechanism, suspension, tires, van and open-top trailer bodies, wheels and rims, windshield wipers, emergency exits on buses, and HM requirements, as applicable. It is contemplated that the walk-around driver/vehicle inspection will include only those items which can be inspected without physically getting under the vehicle.
  
  
• LEVEL III - Driver-Only Inspection - A roadside examination of the driver's license, medical certification and waiver, if applicable, driver's record of duty status as required, hours of service, seat belt, vehicle inspection report, and HM requirements, as applicable.
  
  
• LEVEL IV - Special Inspections - Inspections under this heading typically include a one-time examination of a particular item. These examinations are normally made in support of a study or to verify or refute a suspected trend.
  
  
• LEVEL V - Vehicle-Only Inspection - An inspection that includes each of the vehicle inspection items specified under the North American Standard Inspection (Level I), without a driver present, conducted at any location.

Roadside Inspection Activity: The activity reported on for each inspection level is the following:

• Inspections - Number indicates the number of all roadside inspections with or without violations.
  
• Inspections with no violations - Number indicates the number of roadside inspections where no violations were recorded. Percent represents the percentage of all inspections with no violations.
  
• Inspections with violations - Number indicates the number of roadside inspections where violations of the FMCSRs were recorded. - (Review the FMCSA Regulations for detailed definitions of the regulations). Percent represents the percentage of all inspections with violations.

Data source: FMCSA Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS) December 19, 2008 data snapshot.

 
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) operates and maintains the Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS). MCMIS contains information on the safety fitness of commercial motor carriers and hazardous material (HM) shippers subject to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) and the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMRs). MCMIS is a collection of safety information including state-reported crashes, compliance review and roadside inspections results, enforcement data, and motor carrier census data. The Roadside Inspection submodule uses the MCMIS inspection and census data to compile and publish the National and State reports presented on A&I.

• The MCMIS Inspection data contains information captured at a Roadside Inspection (RI). This data includes the type of inspection conducted (inspection level), the number of driver and vehicle violations, and Out of Service (OOS) violations resulting from RIs. The inspection also provides the vehicle size and identification, driver information, and the date and location of the inspection.
• The MCMIS Census data contains records for several hundred thousand active entities, i.e., motor carriers, hazardous materials shippers, and registrants (entities who register vehicles but are not carriers). The census data provides descriptive data on the carrier such as the number of drivers and power units, carrier location, operation type and cargo types transported by the entity. In order to identify each entity, MCMIS assigns a unique number to each entity record. This number is referred to as the record census number. This is also the number supplied to an entity as their USDOT number.

Traffic Enforcement

 

Definition: The Traffic Enforcement (TE) sub-module provides information about the commercial motor vehicle (CMV) Traffic Enforcement Program which is a component of the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program (MCSAP), a grant program administered and funded by the FMCSA and conducted by State enforcement personnel.

An inspection is identified as a traffic enforcement event when at least one traffic violation is present in the inspection. Only those traffic enforcements that initiate a subsequent roadside inspection are included in the MCSAP program. Also, if a roadside inspection results in only alcohol or drug related violations then it is not considered a Traffic Enforcement inspection. The traffic enforcement program is based on nineteen state or local traffic enforcement violations noted in conjunction with a roadside inspection.