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FMCSA changes public display of CSA data as part of agreement

Term ‘alert’ replaced by triangular symbol

Posted March 11, 2011

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced it has reached a settlement agreement with three trucking associations that will end litigation over information published on the website of FMCSA’s motor carrier enforcement program, Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA).

The National Association of Small Trucking Companies, Inc. (NASTC), the Expedite Alliance of North America (TEANA), and the Air & Expedited Motor Carriers Association (AEMCA) filed suit on Nov. 29, 2010, challenging FMCSA’s CSA program. Under the agreement, FMCSA will make changes to CSA’s Safety Measurement System (SMS) public website to address concerns regarding the display of information on a commercial motor carriers’ safety performance.

The key changes that FMCSA will make to the SMS public website by March 25, 2011 are as follows:

  • Replace any ALERT symbol currently displayed in orange on the SMS website with a symbol of the exclamation mark inside a yellow triangle.
  • Revise the disclaimer language on the SMS website to read: “The data in the Safety Measurement System (SMS) is performance data used by the Agency and enforcement community. A [insert graphic of exclamation mark inside yellow triangle] symbol, based on that data, indicates that FMCSA may prioritize a motor carrier for further monitoring. The [insert graphic of exclamation mark inside yellow triangle] symbol is not intended to imply any federal safety rating of the carrier pursuant to 49 USC 31144. Readers should not draw conclusions about a carrier's overall safety condition simply based on the data displayed in this system. Unless a motor carrier in the SMS has received an UNSATISFACTORY safety rating pursuant to 49 CFR Part 385, or has otherwise been ordered to discontinue operations by the FMCSA, it is authorized to operate on the nation's roadways. Motor carrier safety ratings are available at http://safer.fmcsa.dot.gov and motor carrier licensing and insurance status are available at http://li-public.fmcsa.dot.gov.”

On Dec. 13, 2010, FMCSA launched its CSA enforcement program that is used to analyze all safety-based violations from roadside inspections and crashes to measure a commercial motor carrier's on-road safety performance. CSA allows FMCSA to reach more carriers earlier and deploy a range of corrective interventions to address a carrier's specific safety problems before crashes can occur.

To learn more about the CSA settlement agreement, visit the CSA website at http://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov.

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