FMCSA delays full CSA 2010 rollout

Carriers now have access to data for new program

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has pulled back on its original plan to implement its Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010 program in July, but the agency has given motor carriers access to CSA 2010 data so that they can begin working with it before CSA 2010 kicks in later this year.

Although the new Carrier Safety Measurement System won’t replace SafeStat until Nov. 30, carriers now can view their data as sorted by the Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010 Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs).

In the April 9 Federal Register, FMCSA said it will replace its Motor Carrier Safety Status Measurement System – commonly known as SafeStat – with an improved Carrier Safety Measurement System on Nov. 30. CSMS is part of the agency’s CSA 2010 initiative. In a housekeeping measure, FMCSA withdrew proposed improvements to SafeStat that it had published for public comment on May 3, 2006.

The new CSMS algorithm “will be able to better identify high-risk motor carriers, make more efficient and effective the agency’s and its state partners’ allocation of compliance and enforcement resources, and provide the motor carrier industry and other safety stakeholders with more comprehensive, informative and regularly updated safety performance data,” FMCSA said in the April 9 notice.

Effective April 12, FMCSA began offering motor carriers a preview of their own CSMS data as sorted by the CSA 2010 Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs). Carriers can review the data by using a PIN number at http://www.csa2010.fmcsa.dot.gov. The preview also will be an opportunity for fleets to update and verify their safety performance data online, FMCSA says.

The preview has limitations, however. The American Trucking Associations says that while the preview includes carriers’ safety events – roadside inspections and crashes – and resulting violations, it does not reflect carriers’ scores in each of the BASICs. Beginning on Nov. 30, motor carriers and the general public will be able to view more complete CSMS data, including scores in each of the BASICs. But the public will not be able to view the Crash Indicator scores because of continued concerns about the quality of the underlying crash data, ATA says. Currently, the accident Safety Evaluation Area (SEA) score in SafeStat – as well as the overall SafeStat score – is withheld from public view for the same reason.

ATA also says that FMCSA on Nov. 30 will begin issuing warning letters to deficient carriers, but will not utilize the full range of CSA 2010 interventions; instead, FMCSA will use CSMS to prioritize motor carriers for standard onsite compliance reviews. For a copy of the Federal Register notice, go to