Waynes World - October 2009
CSA 2010 TO REPLACE THE SAFESTAT
SYSTEM THIS COMING JULY, AND...
HOW CSA 2010 WILL AFFECT
ALL TRUCK DRIVERS
by Wayne Schooling
Right now, data about your driving is being recorded by the DOT for your “Driver Safety Rating” when CSA 2010 goes into effect in July of 2010. Yes, you read that right! Drivers will soon have their own safety rating. Drivers need to know that with CSA 2010, they are responsible for their own safety ratings. In addition to the owner operators, this new bill could be a death sentence to small companies as the number of trucks in a fleet will now be part of the formula used to determine your safety score.
Comprehensive Safety Analysis (CSA) 2010 is a major Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) initiative to improve the effectiveness of FMCSA’s compliance and enforcement programs. Its ultimate goal is to achieve a greater reduction in large truck and bus crashes, injuries, and fatalities, while making efficient use of the resources of FMCSA and its state partners.
The FMCSA has speculated that as many as 175,000 drivers may have unfit safety ratings and find themselves without a job. These drivers would be unemployable! There is very little a driver can do to fix an unfit rating. When they are declared unfit, they can NO LONGER DRIVE a commercial vehicle. The only thing they can do is wait for some time to pass to allow some of their tickets to drop off their 36-month history, which the ratings are based on. Most drivers would have to quit driving for a period of time, since they wouldn’t be able to earn a living. If a driver has a “marginal” status, the one thing they can do is have a clean inspection. Clean inspections will take points off of their record. So, marginal drivers can improve their lower safety score.
The key features of CSA 2010 are to: 1) Increase the opportunity to have contact with more carriers and drivers; 2) Use more and better data to improve performance measurements for identifying high risk carrier and driver behaviors; and 3) Apply a wide range of interventions to correct these high risk behaviors before they become chronic and habitual. CSA 2010 could cost you or your company hundred of thousands of dollars in fines and lost revenue due to drivers being declared “unfit” if you do not begin taking action now to implement and follow a measurable, results-oriented safety program, based on the soon-coming CSA 2010 guidelines.
Certainly, most companies will develop a minimum safety rating requirement for hiring and firing drivers, most of which will likely be dictated by the liability insurance carriers. I suspect that most of the insurance carriers will set a minimum safety score that a driver must have in order to be insured. Should a driver fall below that minimum, the insurance company could no longer insure them and the driver would have to be let go. New drivers being recruited would also have to meet the minimum safety rating in order to join the company. I foresee that the driver’s safety rating will become a regular part of the background check, and will determine if a driver can be hired or not.
The CSA 2010 system will monitor the safety performance of both the carrier and the driver. FMCSA has designed two safety measurement systems – one for carriers, and one for drivers. At this point, the only thing that I can suggest, if you are a driver or an owner operator, is that you immediately look into getting the necessary proper training so that you don’t get any (or any more) tickets. Here is another interesting fact to consider: under CSA 2010, not only will your driving infractions and crashes be monitored and used to determine your safety score, but also your vehicle maintenance infractions. Yes, I said vehicle maintenance is now going to be held against you, the driver, and will be reflected on your driving report and safety rating. It looks like the days of drivers moving from carrier to carrier are coming to an abrupt end.
CSA 2010’s operational model will be based on the Behavioral Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs), which are seven categories of data available through the Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS). These seven categories represent behaviors that can lead to crashes like unsafe driving, fatigued driving, driver fitness, controlled substances and alcohol, vehicle maintenance, improper loading/cargo securement, and crash history. These data categories are weighted differently based on how they correlate to crash causation, but all are part of CSA 2010’s Safety Measurement System (SMS), and all are collected from on-road safety performance activities like roadside inspections, traffic enforcement, the intervention process, and crashes.
Management does not get off easy, either. Under article 444, one key word was changed. It used to say that motor carriers had a moral and legal obligation to DETECT violations. Now, it says they have a moral and legal obligation to PREVENT violations. Additionally, the article used to say that the CEO of the motor carrier encompassed all the influence over its drivers. The article now states that ALL PERSONS in contact with the drivers have influence. Managers now know that their actions (or inactions) will have a significant impact on their rating – they can be held accountable, not just the CEO.
CSA 2010, which will replace the old SafeStat system, is currently being tested in six states (CO, GA, MN, MO, MT and NJ). FMCSA is testing the validity, efficiency and effectiveness of CSA 2010’s operational model. Whether you are an owner operator or a company driver, I would highly suggest that you go either to the FMCSA website (www.fmcsa.dot.gov) for more information and/or NTA’s website (www.ntassoc.com) for official US DOT training. Protecting your driving record is the most important way you can begin preparing for CSA 2010.
~ NTA remains a name you can trust. Our website (www.ntassoc.com) is your official U.S. DOT Internet Training Site and we are administrators of a Nationally Accredited Drug and Alcohol Program. If you have any questions, call me at (562) 279-0557 or send me an e-mail to wayne@ntassoc.com. Until next month, “Drive Safe – Drive Smart!”