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HM can greatly exacerbate the consequences of crashes and cargo spills. Because the old Cargo-Related BASIC included HM violations and load securement violations, some HM safety issues could have been masked.
FMCSA consulted subject matter experts to identify and apply severity weightings to the 239 HM violations contained in the old Cargo-Related Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Category (BASIC) and the 112 additional HM safety-based violations attributable to the motor carrier. The Agency then conducted effectiveness testing to compare the old Cargo-Related BASIC with a new BASIC containing only the HM violations to determine which better identified carriers with a high risk of HM safety problems. The analysis found that the new BASIC identified carriers with more future violations and with higher violation rates than the old Cargo-Related BASIC.
Concerns were raised that some HM safety issues could be masked due to the inclusion of both HM and load securement violations in the Cargo-Related BASIC. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration implemented the HM Compliance BASIC to specifically address motor carriers that do not comply with Federal safety regulations related to properly packaging and transporting hazardous cargo, or accurately identifying and communicating hazardous cargo in the event of a crash or spill. The HM Compliance BASIC identifies carriers with higher HM violation rates (33.8% versus 29.1%) and HM out-of-service rates (5.4% vs. 4.0%) than the Cargo-Related BASIC.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration moved the cargo/load securement violations from the old Cargo-Related BASIC to the Vehicle Maintenance BASIC.
FMCSA will prioritize its workload using, among other things, the modified Vehicle Maintenance BASIC. This BASIC will remain public.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) gave motor carriers a preview of the revised terminology as well as the crash breakout for eight months. FMCSA encouraged feedback on the terms before they were released publicly in December. Additionally, the crashes category is broken out from the previous "crashes with fatalities and injuries" into two separate categories: “crashes with fatalities” and “crashes with injuries.” The table below outlines the terms that are used for each Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Category (BASIC).
Motor carriers subject to the passenger carrier threshold in the Safety Measurement System (SMS) are held to a significantly higher standard than non-passenger carriers. Due to the importance of ensuring safe passenger transportation, enforcement stakeholders support an updated definition of passenger carrier within the SMS to more accurately identify passenger carriers subject to most of FMCSA’s regulatory authority.
FMCSA analyzed carriers with passenger carrier authority. The updated definition adds 5,700 carriers. It also removes 4,200 carriers.
With safety as our number one priority, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) clarified the definition of passenger carrier within the SMS as follows:
FMCSA conducted an analysis to determine how many carriers would be subject to the HM Intervention Threshold if the Agency changed the inspection criteria to require the observation of recent inspections and a certain percentage of inspections where the carrier was designated as hauling placardable quantities of HM. FMCSA determined that tightening HM placardable inspection criteria would still cover 94% of the placardable HM inspections in the last 24 months.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s criteria for HM carriers has been modified in order to focus intervention resources on those carriers involved in the majority of placardable HM transport. The new inspection-based criteria include the following:
The previous version of the Safety Measurement System (SMS) did not include any roadside violations associated with an IEP trailer distinct from the motor carrier. While violations that should be found during the pre-trip inspection are the motor carrier’s responsibility, other violations would not be noticeable to the driver and should be attributed to the IEP. This distinction is now applied in the SMS.
FMCSA uses data from the 3.5 million roadside bus and truck inspections conducted across the country each year to inform decisions about safety. FMCSA evaluated roadside inspection data to confirm that there are data present to discriminate between IEP and carrier/driver responsibility for certain violations related to the condition of the intermodal trailer. FMCSA collects information from inspection reports that indicate, based on an enforcement officer’s observation, whether the IEP provided space for a pre-trip inspection and whether the driver performed a pre-trip inspection. FMCSA applied this rule to the past 24 months of roadside inspections, resulting in an increase of approximately 22,000 violations included in the SMS Vehicle Maintenance Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Category. A list of IEP violations can be found at https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/Documents/IEP_Attributable_Violations.xlsx.
The Safety Measurement System was updated so that the Vehicle Maintenance Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Category includes the subset of violations that (1) can be discovered and addressed as part of the driver’s pre-trip inspection on the intermodal equipment and (2) that meet the above criteria where the driver could have or should have conducted a pre-trip inspection on the intermodal equipment. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration worked collaboratively with enforcement and industry to identify the violations. Here is a link to the current list of IEP that can be attributed to the driver’s and carrier’s record:
Previously, the SMS included Level III driver-only inspections in the Vehicle Maintenance Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Category (BASIC) only when vehicle violations were noted on the inspection. Industry and enforcement were concerned that many vehicle violations fell outside the scope of the inspection and could have biased the Vehicle Maintenance BASIC data.
FMCSA uses data from the 3.5 million roadside inspections conducted across the country each year to inform decisions about safety. FMCSA evaluated the extent to which inspectors are citing vehicle violations during driver-only inspections to confirm that this problem merits the attention that stakeholders have demanded. Approximately 139,000 violations, or 2.6% of all vehicle violations that were used in the previous version of SMS were vehicle violations cited during a driver-only inspection. While very few driver violations are ever documented in vehicle-only inspections, this change was made to ensure that only violations within the scope of a particular type of inspection are included in the SMS. All violations from roadside inspections will continue to be on a carrier’s inspection report, however, only violations that fall within the scope of the specific inspections being performed are used in the SMS. Most basically, this means FMCSA is aligning violations that are in the SMS with Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance inspection levels by eliminating vehicle violations derived from driver-only inspections and driver violations from vehicle-only inspections. This will ensure the accuracy of our information by allowing our experts to better focus their inspections, either on vehicle-only inspections or driver-only inspections.
FMCSA removed vehicle violations found during driver-only inspections and driver violations found during vehicle-only inspections to bring the Safety Measurement System into alignment with existing Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance policies regarding inspection levels.
No, when SMS the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration implements the new changes to the SMS, driver violations found during Level V vehicle-only (vehicle) inspections will are no longer being used in the SMS by SMS.
FMCSA has aligned speeding violations to be consistent with current speedometer regulations (49 CFR 393.82) that require speedometers to be accurate within 5 mph by removing 1 to 5 mph speeding violations. FMCSA will also lower the severity weight for speeding violations that do not designate MPH range above the speed limit to 1 for violations. These changes apply to the prior 24 months of data used by SMS and all SMS data moving forward.
FMCSA made two changes to the Fatigue (HOS) Driving BASIC. The name of this BASIC is changing to the HOS Compliance BASIC. This BASIC continues to have a strong association with future crash risk. This action is being taken to reflect that the BASIC includes hours of service recordkeeping requirements that, by themselves, do not necessarily indicate fatigued driving or driving in excess of allowable hours. The second change is that FMCSA will equally weight paper and electronic logbook violations in SMS for consistency purposes.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA) SMS is an automated system that quantifies the on-road safety performance of motor carriers so that FMCSA can identify unsafe carriers, prioritize them for intervention, and monitor if a motor carrier's safety and compliance problem is improving.
The SMS is not a Safety Fitness Determination nor is it a safety rating pursuant to 49 CFR Part 385; also, it does not represent FMCSA's final determination about the safety of the carrier. Use of the SMS for purposes other than those identified above may produce unintended results and inaccurate conclusions.
FMCSA highly recommends that all motor carriers periodically review the SMS and, when necessary, initiate a Request for Data Review through DataQs, an electronic data correcting system. The DataQs system is available online at http://dataqs.fmcsa.dot.gov .
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration uses the SMS to:
The Safety Measurement System (SMS) is organized into seven BASICs, which represent behaviors that can lead to crashes. The BASICs were developed based on information from a number of studies that quantify the associations between violations and crash risk, as well as statistical analysis and input from enforcement subject matter experts.
The BASICs are defined as follows:
SMS gets a monthly snapshot of data from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) national database, the Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS). SMS pulls the previous 24 months of roadside inspection data from MCMIS and State-reported commercial motor vehicle crashes and motor carrier registration/Census data and results from Federal and State investigations conducted within the previous 12 months.
SMS results are updated monthly. A snapshot of the data is taken on the third or last Friday of each month and then it takes approximately 10 days to process and validate the data. Once validated, the results are uploaded to the SMS Website. The table below lists a tentative schedule for future releases of SMS results:
Logging into the SMS provides additional functionality. Motor carriers that log in can view their Hazardous Materials Compliance and Crash Indicator Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Category (BASIC) measurements and assigned percentiles. In addition to the publicly available BASICs, logged-in users can also view additional detailed information on roadside inspections and crashes that are not available to the general public, such as driver names and other carrier-specific details.
Motor carriers can log in to the SMS in one of two ways: 1.) Entering their U.S. DOT Number and U.S. DOT PIN via the SMS login page, or 2.) Logging into the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Portal and selecting the SMS link. You will then enter the SMS as a logged-in user.
If you do not know your PIN, click here and follow the link for requesting your U.S. DOT PIN. (Note: Entering the Docket Number PIN will not allow login.)
Access to the SMS login page and to the FMCSA Portal is available from the SMS homepage, as copied below:
Yes. General public users can view SMS information for motor carriers, with the exception of the measurement and percentile results of the Hazardous Materials (HM) Compliance and Crash Indicator Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs). General public users can view the inspections, violations, and crashes that are used to calculate the BASIC measurements and percentile ranks. However, driver names and other carrier-specific details are available only to the individual carrier and enforcement staff.
The major sections displayed in the Safety Measurement System (SMS) for the selected motor carrier include the following:
The BASICs Overview categorizes the results for each of the seven BASICs.
The On-road column lists the motor carrier's percentile for each BASIC. If the percentile is over the established Intervention Threshold for the motor carrier, the percentile is presented with a symbol.
The Investigation column displays the “Serious Violation Found” icon for a BASIC if a Serious Violation was cited within 12 months of the Safety Measurement System (SMS) results date. The icon will be present regardless of whether corrective actions have occurred. Select this link to view the list of Serious Violations.
The BASICs Status column displays a symbol, if either the On-road column's percentile is over the established threshold or if the Investigation column displays the “Serious Violation Found” icon. This indicates that the BASIC is in a status and that the motor carrier may be prioritized for an investigation and a roadside inspection
Note that for general public users, the Hazardous Materials (HM) Compliance and Crash Indicator BASICs display the message “Not Public.” Motor carriers that log in to the SMS can view the Hazardous Materials (HM) Compliance and Crash Indicator BASICs, but only for their own U.S. DOT Number. Within the BASICs details pages, inspection and violation listings are available to all users, regardless of their logged-in status, but the measure, percentile, and other specifics of these two BASICs are available only to logged-in motor carriers.
Also, the Crash Indicator BASIC displays “Not Applicable” under the Investigation column because there are no violations associated with the Crash Indicator BASIC on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's list of Serious Violations.
BASIC Overview Panel
The details of each BASIC can be accessed by clicking on the BASIC's tab within the BASICs Overview. Note that a motor carrier's past performance can be accessed by selecting History.
To learn more about how to interpret the on-road and investigation columns click on the “What Does This Mean?” button.
The Safety Measurement System (SMS) calculates a measure for each Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Category (BASIC) as described in the SMS Methodology document. The measure is then used to assign a ranking, or percentile, for each motor carrier that has information that could be compared against other similar carriers. This percentile ranking allows the safety behavior of a carrier to be compared with the safety behavior of carriers with similar operations and numbers of safety events.
The percentile is computed on a 0-100 scale, with 100 indicating the worst performance and 0 indicating the best performance. The carrier in the group with the highest measure will be at the 100th percentile, while the carrier with the lowest measure in the group will be at the 0 percentile. All other carriers in the group will be between these two numbers based on their compliance records.
Interventions are selected based on the following factors: number of Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs) percentiles above the threshold (Note: a high BASIC percentile indicates high noncompliance), a symbol due to Serious Violations, commodity hauled (e.g., passengers, Hazardous Material (HM)), intervention history, and time since last intervention. A complaint or fatal crash could also trigger an investigation.
The Intervention Thresholds for carriers are organized by BASIC and are set based on a given BASIC's relationship to crash risk. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s analysis has shown that the strongest relationship to crash risk is found with high percentiles in the Unsafe Driving, Hours-of-Service (HOS) Compliance and Crash Indicator BASICs. Therefore, these higher risk BASICs have a lower threshold for interventions than the other BASICs. Currently, the Intervention Thresholds are as follows:
The Summary of Activities presents the number of roadside inspections and crashes that have occurred during the 24-month timeframe that is used to calculate the Safety Measurement System results for the motor carrier.
The Total Inspections count consists of all roadside inspections (Levels I through VI).
The Driver Inspection count consists of all Level I, II, III, and VI inspections. The driver OOS rate is calculated as the number of driver inspections with at least one driver OOS violation divided by the total number of driver inspections.
The Vehicle Inspection count consists of all Level I, II, V, and VI inspections. The vehicle out-of-service (OOS) rate is calculated as the number of vehicle inspections with at least one vehicle OOS violation divided by the total number of vehicle inspections.
The Placardable Hazardous Materials (HM) Inspection count consists of all vehicle inspections, Level I, II, V, and VI, where placardable quantities of HM are present. The HM OOS rate is calculated as the number of placardable HM vehicle inspections with at least one HM OOS violation divided by the total number of placardable HM vehicle inspections.
The Total Crashes count consists of all the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration -reportable crashes. The number of crashes that resulted in an injury or fatality to a person involved in the crash is presented as well as the number that required at least one vehicle to be towed from the scene due to disabling damage where there were no injuries or fatalities.
The Recent Investigations list the five most recent investigations conducted by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration or its State Partners. The listing is not limited to the 24-month timeframe that is used to calculate the Safety Measurement System results for the motor carrier.
The Carrier Registration Information contains a summary of the registration information provided by the motor carrier to the Federal Motor Carrier Administration (FMCSA). This information is current as of the Safety Measurement System (SMS) data snapshot date. If a motor carrier updates its registration information after the SMS data snapshot date, the changes will be reflected in the next monthly SMS results.
The most up-to-date registration information for a motor carrier can be obtained from FMCSA's SAFER system at http://safer.fmcsa.dot.gov .
The date of the last update to the registration information is also listed. Motor carriers are required to update this data at least every two years. A message is displayed if the registration data has not been updated within the two-year requirement period.
Instructions for updating motor carrier registration information are displayed by selecting the Update Registration Information button.
Selecting the View Carrier Registration Details button will display additional details of the motor carrier's registration information, including contact information, operation classification, and type of cargo carried.
Each BASIC's details page, except where noted, consists of five parts:
Each BASIC's Overall Status is determined by the results of the motor carrier's on-road performance over the previous 24 months and the investigation results over the previous 12 months. Overall Status will display a symbol if either the on-road performance's percentile is over the established threshold or the investigation results show the discovery of a Serious Violation. This indicates that the BASIC is and the motor carrier may be prioritized for an intervention, which can include a warning letter, investigation, and identification for a roadside inspection.
All inspection violations that pertain to a Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Category (BASIC) are assigned violation weights that reflect their association with crash occurrence and crash consequences. The violation weight helps differentiate the levels of crash risk associated with the various violations attributed to each BASIC. Violation weight is assigned on a 1¿10 scale, where 1 represents the lowest crash risk and 10 represents the highest crash risk relative to the other violations in the BASIC. Also, an additional weight of 2 is applied to violations that result in out-of-service orders.
Crashes are assigned severity weights according to their impact. Greater weight is attributed to crashes involving injuries, fatalities, and/or the release of hazardous materials than to crashes only resulting in a vehicle tow-away.
Because the weights reflect the relative importance of each violation within each particular BASIC, they cannot be compared meaningfully across the various BASICs. The Safety Measurement System (SMS) severity weights are subject to change, so please refer to the SMS Methodology and SMS Methodology Appendix A Violations List for further information.
Inspection violations corresponding to each BASIC are found in the Safety Measurement System Methodology document, Tables 1 through 6 within Appendix A.
Any violation or crash that occurred within the previous 24 months of performance data is considered when determining the Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Category (BASIC) measure. However, inspections, violations, and crashes are time weighted when they are included in the SMS calculations. Events that have occurred within 6 months of the SMS run date receive the highest time weight, events greater than 6 months but less than or equal to 12 months are assigned less time weight, and events that occurred greater than 12 months from the SMS run date are assigned the smallest time weight. Details are explained in the SMS Methodology document.
Yes. All roadside safety inspection findings count in the SMS, regardless of whether or not the safety inspection report contains violations. Roughly one-third of the 3.5 million inspections that are uploaded to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA) database each year have zero violations. Safety inspections without regulatory violations serve to improve a motor carrier's evaluation in the SMS.
Carriers and drivers should be aware that not every law enforcement stop is a safety inspection; law enforcement may stop a vehicle to conduct a pre-inspection screening to determine if a vehicle or driver warrants closer examination. A pre-inspection screening may take many forms and may include, but not necessarily be limited to, a cursory check of the vehicle. These cursory checks are commonly confused with a complete safety inspection. If a law enforcement officer conducts only a pre-inspection screening, then a safety inspection report will not be generated. If a driver thinks that a safety inspection has been conducted, FMCSA encourages the driver or motor carrier to ask for a copy of the report to document the safety inspection.
One of the ways the Safety Measurement System (SMS) accounts for the differences between carriers and their operations is to place carriers in safety event groups based on the number of safety events (e.g., inspections, crashes) in which the carriers have been involved.
Safety event groups enable SMS to deal with the widely diverse motor carrier population, while ensuring that similarly situated carriers are treated with the same standards. Safety event groups do not compare carriers by the commodities they haul or their industry segment.
For a detailed description and examples of the safety event groups for each Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Category, please refer to theSMS Methodology document.
The SMS uses segmentation within the Unsafe Driving and Crash Indicator Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs) to account for carrier differences by placing the carrier population into two groups based on the types of vehicles operated. Carriers are grouped by the following two vehicle types/operations:
The segmentation of motor carriers means that companies who have fundamentally different types of vehicles/operations are not compared to each other.
For a detailed description and examples of the safety event groupings by and for each BASIC, please refer to the SMS Methodology document.
PUs are recorded in the motor carrier registration data (MCS-150) on file. PUs may include vehicle types such as trucks, tractors, hazardous material tank trucks, motor coaches, and school buses.
The number of PUs a carrier has is used in part to account for each motor carrier's level of on-road exposure when calculating the Unsafe Driving and Crash Indicator Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs). SMS calculates the average number of PUs for each carrier by using (1) the carrier's current number of PUs, plus (2) the number of PUs the carrier had 6 months ago, plus (3) the number of PUs the carrier had 18 months ago divided by 3. The average PUs numbers along with annual Vehicle Miles Traveled information are used as a measure of exposure to estimate the number of PUs operated over a 24-month time period when traffic enforcement violations (used in the Unsafe Driving BASIC measure) or reportable crashes (used in the Crash Indicator) could have occurred. Due to the potentially significant changes in exposure of individual carriers over the course of 24 months (via downsizing, mergers, etc.), an average number of PUs provides a more accurate estimate of vehicle exposure for carriers that have updated their MCS-150 motor carrier registration information.
Please refer to the SMS Methodology document for additional information and an example of the average PU calculation.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) includes investigation findings (e.g., what FMCSA or State Partners find during a motor carrier investigation) when assessing Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Category (BASIC) performance. The Investigation Results Details tab provided in the Safety Measurement System Website displays a “Serious Violation Found” icon when an investigation conducted within the previous 12 months resulted in the discovery of a Serious Violation within a BASIC. Serious Violations include those that are determined as follows:
The “Serious Violation Found” icon will be displayed in the carrier's Investigation Results for the BASIC for 12 months following the date of the investigation. Select this link to view the list of Serious Violations.
All the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)-reportable crashes, without any determination as to responsibility, are included in the SMS. A crash is reported to FMCSA if it involves the following:
AND
The Carrier Safety Measurement System (CSMS) Crash Indicator considers a carrier's accident involvement, without any determination as to responsibility. State-reported crash data are used to calculate the Crash Indicator measure of relative crash involvement. State-reported crash data does not have information regarding fault. The CSMS algorithm, by design, ranks carriers in comparison to other carriers. All carriers are treated the same way. In the case of the Crash Indicator measure the carrier's crash rates are being compared to other carriers' crash rates without any determination as to responsibility of individual crashes. Therefore, there is no relative disadvantage to any particular carrier. To eliminate misinterpretation, a caveat is placed wherever CSMS Crash Indicator-related values are shown. The caveat states, "A motor carrier’s crash assessment (Crash Indicator BASIC measure and percentile) and the list of crashes below represent a motor carrier’s involvement in 24 months of reportable crashes without any determination as to responsibility" When a Crash Indicator percentile is relatively high, it suggests that a further examination of causes is needed, and if correctable, action should be taken by the motor carrier. CSMS calculations are applied uniformly to all carriers and are adjusted for exposure. For a more detailed explanation of the calculation of the Crash Indicator and its components, please refer to the SMS Methodology document.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration provides roadside inspectors with data that identifies a carrier's specific compliance problems, by Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Category, based on the motor carrier's Safety Measurement System results. Targeted roadside inspections occur at permanent and temporary roadside inspection locations.
The warning letter provides motor carriers with early notification of potential safety performance issues. Warning letters are based on roadside performance results collected during the previous 24 months. The warning letter is sent to the motor carrier's principal place of business and specifically identifies Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories that exceed the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's Intervention Threshold relative to the motor carrier's safety event grouping and outlines possible consequences of continued compliance problems. View a sample warning letter here.
Carriers do not need to respond in writing to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) after receiving a warning letter. FMCSA does encourage motor carriers to log in to the Safety Measurement System (SMS) to examine their data, focusing their attention first on the Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories that are over or near the Intervention Threshold. Carriers should consider doing all of the following:
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration provides Safety Investigators with data that identifies a carrier's specific compliance problems, by Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Category (BASIC), based on the motor carrier's Safety Measurement System (SMS) results. Potential investigations include the following:
The following items are possible follow-on actions from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) investigations:
2. Understand how your safety management contributes to your safety problems.
3. Check and update your MCS-150 carrier registration information whenever there is a change to your company's profile and at least every two years, as is required by regulation.
4. Review your inspection and crash reports data and request corrections as needed.
5. Educate yourself and your employees on the regulations and industry best practices.
1. Ensure compliance. Take action to address trends and patterns that you find. Learn more about the safety regulations your company has violated by reviewing the regulations and the corresponding areas in the FMCSRs:
o Driving — FMCSR Parts 392 and 397
o Hours-of-Service (HOS) Compliance — FMCSR Parts 392 and 395
o Driver Fitness — FMCSR Parts 383 and 391
o Controlled Substances and Alcohol — FMCSR Parts 382 and 392
o Vehicle Maintenance — FMCSR Parts 392, 393 and 396
o HM Compliance — FMCSR Part 397 and U.S. Department of Transportation HM regulations Parts 171, 172, 173, 177, 178, 179 & 180.
Review FMCSA's educational and technical assistance document, A Motor Carrier's Guide to Improving Highway Safety. This document contains useful information for both drivers and carriers. NOTE: Please do not use this guide as a substitute for the FMCSRs. You should consult the FMCSRs, which are updated quarterly online.
2. Understand how your safety management contributes to your safety problems. Systematically assess your company's safety management practices and make improvements where necessary. It is important for you to consider how safety will be achieved within your organization. Putting this in place begins with developing processes that incorporate safety into every aspect of your operation. Whether you are just starting out, or you have an established company, you should have safety-minded business practices. These will help make sure that you follow Federal regulations. Having these in place can save lives and reduce injuries. They can also improve your company's bottom line by saving time and money on paying fines and responding to regulatory compliance issues. They can also reduce the financial cost of crashes. FMCSA created a tool, the Safety Management Cycle (SMC) to help with this process. Carriers can download an overview of the SMC here: https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/Documents/FMC_CSA_12_002_SMC_Overview.pdf and download a list of safety improvement practices that help resolve typical carrier process breakdowns related to each of the BASICs here: https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/About/SMC_Overview.aspx. To help identify areas that are causing your safety breakdowns, use the SMC and ask yourself these questions:
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES — Operational rules and processes for a motor carrier and its employees.
A. Do you have policies and/or procedures in place for all areas of safety, especially those FMCSA has noted as weaknesses?
o Are your policies and procedures clearly defined for all the safety management processes noted below: roles and responsibilities; qualifications and hiring; training and communication; monitoring and tracking; and meaningful action?
o Are they updated to match the current environment and align with regulations or other company policies?
o Are they realistic? If implemented as stated, would they achieve intended goals?
o Are they documented? How are they communicated?
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES — Expectations and assignment of duties for a motor carrier and its employees.
A. Are the roles and responsibilities of employees in your company clearly defined?
B. Are the roles and responsibilities effective as defined?
o Are they complete? Do they cover all policies and procedures?
o Are they updated to match the current environment and align with policies and procedures?
o Are they realistic? As defined, will they achieve intended goals? Are they documented? How are they communicated?
QUALIFICATIONS AND HIRING — Finding and qualifying people for the defined roles and responsibilities.
Hiring
A. Are your job descriptions well written? Do the job listings have adequate visibility? Are you getting enough applicants? B. Do the wrong people apply for the job because the job description does not match the real job?
Qualifications
C. Have you hired employees who are not qualified for the position due to
o lack of background investigation, or
o lack of, or poor understanding of, the skills, knowledge, and abilities needed for the job?
TRAINING AND COMMUNICATION — Ongoing process to ensure that a motor carrier and its employees have the proper skills and knowledge to complete their jobs.
Training
A. Do you have training in place? B. Is your training adequate and effective? • Have you conducted a comprehensive assessment of training needs? • Does your training method and approach match content? • Are your participants evaluated to see if they understand training material? • Was anything (or enough) done to support training in the field?
Communication
C. Are you communicating effectively with your employees? D. Are there consistent and open channels of communication within your organization? E. Do your communication methods match the needs of the situation? Frequency? Understandable format? Language?
MONITORING AND TRACKING — Ensuring that a motor carrier and its employees are in compliance with policies and procedures and roles and responsibilities.
A. Do you have a process for monitoring and tracking your employees? B. Are you monitoring and tracking frequently enough? C. Are you documenting any behavior monitoring adequately? D. Is the right behavior being tracked?
MEANINGFUL ACTION — Providing positive reinforcement for, or aiming at improving or correcting, employee behavior.
A. Are you able to effectively assess the monitoring and tracking data and select the appropriate meaningful action? B. Are you implementing refresher training when appropriate? C. Are you implementing a disciplinary process when appropriate? D. Are you implementing an incentive reward and recognition program? E. Are you implementing improvements to safety management processes when monitoring and tracking data points to a safety management process breakdown?
3. Check and update your MCS-150 carrier registration information.
A. Review your motor carrier information including address, email address, number of Power Units (PUs) and drivers, and Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT). Ensure that VMT reflects the previous calendar year and is accurate.
B. Update your motor carrier registration information (MCS-150) if any data needs to be corrected.
. Review your reports through the SMS Website.
A. Do all of the inspection and crash reports belong to your company? Is any of the data included in these reports incorrect? Remember that all safety-based violations count, not just out-of-service violations.
B. If you think any of the data is erroneous, request corrections through FMCSA's DataQs system. The DataQsprogram allows motor carriers and drivers to request a data review of information that resides in FMCSA databases.
5. Educate yourself and your employees!
. Visit the Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) Website to learn more about CSA.
A. Subscribe to the RSS feed or email list to stay connected on the latest CSA news and information.
B. Educate your drivers!
1. Hand out the Driver Factsheet (PDF, 399 KB). This factsheet tells drivers what they need to know about CSA and what they can do to prepare for the change.
2. Review with drivers FMCSA's CMV Web-Based Driving Tips. This website was developed to raise the consciousness of CMV drivers about common driving errors and to provide valuable driving tips through an easily accessible tool: the Internet. Fleet safety managers can also use this website for their driver training programs. These tips offer preventive measures that drivers can take to help avoid crashes.
3. Fleet safety managers can also leverage the SIRs available within the SMS. SIRs is a compilation of articles, reports, and other tools designed to assist motor carriers with improving their current safety management practices. SIRs are searchable by resource number, BASIC, or safety management practice.
The Unsafe Driving BASIC includes operation of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) in a dangerous or careless manner. Example violations include speeding, reckless driving, improper lane change, and inattention (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulation Parts 392 and 397). The following Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) resources can help motor carriers improve their Unsafe Driving BASIC measure:
FMCSA created a tool, the Safety Management Cycle (SMC). The SMC helps carriers determine their organizational breakdowns that are causing the carriers' safety violations The SMC has its own webpage located here: https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/About/SMC_Overview.aspx. Carriers can download an overview of the SMC here: https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/Documents/FMC_CSA_12_002_SMC_Overview.pdf and download a list of safety improvement practices that help resolve typical carrier process breakdowns related to the Unsafe Driving BASIC here: https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/Documents/FMC_CSA_12_019_UnsafeDriv_SMC.pdf.
The HOS Compliance BASIC includes operation of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) by drivers who are ill, fatigued, or in noncompliance with the HOS regulations. This BASIC includes violations of regulations pertaining to records of duty status (RODS) as they relate to HOS requirements and the management of CMV driver fatigue. Example violations include exceeding HOS, maintaining incomplete or inaccurate RODS, and operating a CMV while ill or fatigued. (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulation Parts 392 and 395). The following resources can assist motor carriers in ways by which to improve the HOS Compliance BASIC measure:
FMCSA created a tool, the Safety Management Cycle (SMC). The SMC helps carriers determine their organizational breakdowns that are causing the carriers' safety violations The SMC has its own webpage located here: https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/About/SMC_Overview.aspx. Carriers can download an overview of the SMC here: https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/Documents/FMC_CSA_12_002_SMC_Overview.pdf and download a list of safety improvement practices that help resolve typical carrier process breakdowns related to the HOS Compliance BASIC here: https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/Documents/FMC_CSA_13_004_HOS_Compl_SMC.pdf.
The following crash countermeasure resources can assist motor carriers in ways by which to improve the Crash Indicator BASIC measure:
Motor-Carrier-Management-Related:
Driver-Related:
Vehicle-Related:
FMCSA created a tool, the Safety Management Cycle (SMC). The SMC helps carriers determine their organizational breakdowns that are causing the carriers' safety violations The SMC has its own webpage located here: https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/About/SMC_Overview.aspx. Carriers can download an overview of the SMC here: https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/Documents/FMC_CSA_12_002_SMC_Overview.pdf and download a list of safety improvement practices that help resolve typical carrier process breakdowns related to the Crash Indicator BASIC here: https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/Documents/FMC_CSA_12_018_CrashIndic_SMC.pdf.
The Driver Fitness BASIC includes operation of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) by drivers who are unfit to operate a CMV due to lack of training, experience, or medical qualifications. Example violations include failing to have a valid and appropriate Commercial Driver's License and being medically unqualified to operate a CMV (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulation Parts 383 and 391). The following resources can assist motor carriers in ways by which to improve the Driver Fitness BASIC measure:
FMCSA created a tool, the Safety Management Cycle (SMC). The SMC helps carriers determine their organizational breakdowns that are causing the carriers' safety violations The SMC has its own webpage located here: https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/About/SMC_Overview.aspx. Carriers can download an overview of the SMC here: https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/Documents/FMC_CSA_12_002_SMC_Overview.pdf and download a list of safety improvement practices that help resolve typical carrier process breakdowns related to the Driver Fitness BASIC here: https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/Documents/FMC_CSA_12_021_Fitness_SMC.pdf.
The Controlled Substances/Alcohol BASIC includes operation of commercial motor vehicles by drivers who are impaired due to alcohol, illegal drugs, and misuse of prescription or over-the-counter medications. Example violations include use or possession of controlled substances or alcohol (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulation Parts 382 and 392). The following Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) resources can assist motor carriers in ways by which to improve the Controlled Substances/Alcohol BASIC measure:
FMCSA created a tool, the Safety Management Cycle (SMC). The SMC helps carriers determine their organizational breakdowns that are causing the carriers' safety violations The SMC has its own webpage located here: https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/About/SMC_Overview.aspx. Carriers can download an overview of the SMC here: https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/Documents/FMC_CSA_12_002_SMC_Overview.pdf and download a list of safety improvement practices that help resolve typical carrier process breakdowns related to the Controlled Substance and Alcohol BASIC here: https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/Documents/FMC_CSA_12_022_Sub_Alc_SMC.pdf.
The Vehicle Maintenance BASIC addresses the requirements within the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs), specifically 49 CFR Parts 392, 393 and 396, to properly maintain a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) and to prevent shifting loads, spilled or dropped cargo, and overloading of a CMV. The following resource can help motor carriers improve their Vehicle Maintenance BASIC measure:
FMCSA created a tool, the Safety Management Cycle (SMC). The SMC helps carriers determine their organizational breakdowns that are causing the carriers' safety violations The SMC has its own webpage located here: https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/About/SMC_Overview.aspx. Carriers can download an overview of the SMC here: https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/Documents/FMC_CSA_12_002_SMC_Overview.pdf and download a list of safety improvement practices that help resolve typical carrier process breakdowns related to the Vehicle Maintenance BASIC here: https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/Documents/FMC_CSA_13_007_VM_Cargo_SMC.pdf and https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/Documents/FMC_CSA_13_005_VM_Inspect-Repair_SMC.pdf.
The HM Compliance BASIC includes unsafe handling of HM on a commercial motor vehicle (CMV). Example violations: leaking containers, improper placarding, improperly packaged HM. (FMCSR Part 397 and U.S. Department of Transportation HM regulations Parts 171, 172, 173, 177, 178, 179 & 180). The following resources can help motor carriers improve their HM Compliance BASIC measure:
FMCSA created a tool, the Safety Management Cycle (SMC). The SMC helps carriers determine their organizational breakdowns that are causing the carriers' safety violations The SMC has its own webpage located here: https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/About/SMC_Overview.aspx. Carriers can download an overview of the SMC here: https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/Documents/FMC_CSA_12_002_SMC_Overview.pdf and download a list of safety improvement practices that help resolve typical carrier process breakdowns related to the HM Compliance BASIC here: https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/Documents/FMC_CSA_13_006_HM_Compliance_SMC.pdf.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has developed a specific mechanism to facilitate data reviews. Requests for data reviews (RDRs) can be made through the DataQs system, an electronic filing system that motor carriers, drivers, and the public use. The first step is to register either at the DataQs website (https://dataqs.fmcsa.dot.gov/), or via the FMCSA Portal. Instructions for filing an RDR are provided, and include simple forms and the submission of information such as the report number, date, and time of the event, State, explanation, and supporting documentation, if needed. Once filed, the RDR and all relevant documentation are routed to the organization responsible for the data, and electronic correspondence is used to communicate with the requestor. The DataQs website is open to the public and offers an online help function to walk users through the process.
Please Note: A carrier can modify registration information (e.g., name, address, or Power Unit data) by updating the MCS-150 form.
The DataQs system is an electronic means of filing concerns about Federal and State data released to the public by the FMCSA. DataQs is the best way to get the data correction request process initiated, as all changes to data must be made at the source (i.e., the Agency that enters the data).
A motor carrier, driver, or other stakeholder can register for DataQs via the FMCSA Portal or through the DataQs system directly. Requests for data corrections require simple forms to be filled in with information from the relevant report, such as the report number, date and time of event, State, and an explanation for why the data should be changed. Documentation to support the Request for Data Review (RDR) may also be submitted to the system. All information is routed to the organization responsible for the data. Electronic correspondence is used to communicate with the requestor when additional information is needed. DataQs is open to the public and the website provides an online help function to walk users through the process.
Here are some tips to assist you in filing DataQs RDRs:
Please note: A carrier can modify its registration information (e.g., name, address, or Power Unit data) by updating the MCS-150 form.
There are several websites where a motor carrier can find additional information on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA). Specific links are highlighted below:
FMCSA
CSA
Safety Measurement System (SMS)
CSA Information for Drivers