Frequently Asked Questions
The Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) are questions and answers about Compliance,
Safety, Accountability (CSA) that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
(FMCSA) compiled to assist the public. As questions come in through the website,
FMCSA adds them to the database along with their answers. If you do not see your
question or topic addressed, please
contact us
by submitting a feedback form. We will respond to you directly and consider your
question for inclusion in the FAQs.
The FAQ area has recently been enhanced. Users can now search FAQs by stakeholder
group, topics (displayed on the left side of the page), or by entering a keyword
below. Choosing “Show All” will display the entire collection of FAQs.
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How do I determine if a violation will count against a carrier, a driver, or both
in the Safety Measurement System (SMS)?
Answer
The SMS uses all safety-based violations recorded during roadside inspections to
evaluate safety. A list of these violations can be found in Appendix A of the SMS
Methodology document. All of the violations in Appendix A count against the motor
carrier. A subset of these violations is applied to evaluate driver safety in cases
where the commercial motor vehicle driver is also responsible in part for the occurrence.
This subset of violations is noted in the “Driver Responsible” column in Appendix
A of the Carrier SMS Methodology document, and is also noted in Appendix A of the
Driver SMS Methodology document.
At present, only enforcement personnel who are conducting motor carrier investigations
use the driver safety assessment tool in the SMS. The new tool enables Safety Investigators
to focus on drivers with poor safety performance histories when they are investigating
a motor carrier.
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