CSA 2010 draws commercial attention

Firms offer products related to FMCSA initiative

If motor carriers struggle with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s new approach toward safety oversight, it won’t be for lack of support from the private sector. In recent weeks, several suppliers of safety and technology products and services have unveiled new offerings to help carriers cope with FMCSA’s Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010. FMCSA released CSA 2010 data directly to carriers in April, but the agency has yet to offer tools for analyzing the data in relation to other carriers, which is necessary for scoring.

Vendors are lining up with new offerings to help carriers cope with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s new approach toward safety oversight, Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010.

J.J. Keller & Associates (www.jjkeller.com) launched CSA Management Suite to help transportation professionals prepare for and manage their safety compliance programs under CSA 2010. J.J. Keller says its CSA Management Suite interacts with FMCSA’s Safety Measurement System (SMS) so that carriers have up-to-date accident, violation and roadside inspection data to generate a safety rating and see how they will stack up in CSA 2010. The company says the online service acts as an early warning system that enables carriers to conduct internal audits and implement corrective actions to resolve any potential violations.

CSA Management Suite will help subscribers evaluate their situation, identify the steps they can take to improve and implement safety compliance programs to decrease their likelihood of a FMCSA intervention, says James Keller, president and chief operating officer of J.J. Keller.

The CSA Management Suite includes tracking tools for accidents and roadside inspections; a self-audit tool that determines a carrier’s safety fitness rating and recommends corrective actions; a comprehensive dashboard to keep carriers informed of where they stand with each CSA 2010 BASIC in terms of drivers, units, crashes and violations; 30 prewritten company policy templates; reporting and analysis tools to provide early warning reports; and unlimited access to J.J. Keller’s experts via the Personal Assistant tool.

PeopleNet (www.peoplenetonline.com) recently introduced a “CSA 2010 bundle,” which the company sees as a comprehensive approach to meeting safety goals under FMCSA’s program. In addition to managing drivers’ hours of service with eDriver Logs, the CSA 2010 bundle includes other safety applications such as Onboard Event Recording, Speedgauge, engine fault code monitoring, speed alarms and more. The bundle also includes onsite help by PeopleNet Professional Services to ensure CSA 2010 readiness by helping customers understand how to use the technology to assess, measure and impact safety performance.