The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has announced an in-person listening session to collect information on potential changes to how it rates motor carrier safety fitness. This session is part of FMCSA’s ongoing effort to update its Safety Fitness Determination (SFD) process, which was initiated last year with an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking.
Why Change Motor Carrier Safety Fitness Determinations?
Currently, the FMCSA uses a three-tier rating system—Satisfactory, Unsatisfactory, and Conditional—determined by compliance reviews, or DOT audits. These reviews assess motor carriers based on six factors: General, Driver, Operational, Vehicle, Hazmat, and Accident rate. However, this system has been criticized for being resource-intensive and only covering a small fraction of motor carriers. In Fiscal Year 2019, out of more than 567,000 active interstate motor carriers, only 11,671 compliance reviews were conducted, resulting in 306 Unsatisfactory, 1,842 Conditional, and 2,701 Satisfactory ratings.
Proposed Changes to the Rating System
FMCSA is considering moving to a single rating system, where carriers are only rated as Unfit if they fail to meet safety standards. This shift from the current three-tier system aims to prevent misunderstandings about what a Satisfactory rating implies. Presently, a Satisfactory rating may be misinterpreted as an endorsement of a motor carrier’s ongoing operations, rather than an evaluation at the time of investigation. Additionally, under the current system, carriers with a Conditional rating can still operate despite having significant safety management issues.
Linking SMS to Fitness Reviews
The FMCSA has long aimed to integrate its Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program and Safety Measurement System (SMS) with fitness reviews. The SMS is used to prioritize motor carriers for investigation, organizing data into categories known as Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs). However, the trucking industry has resisted this integration due to perceived issues with SMS data accuracy.
Details of the Texas Listening Session
The public listening session is scheduled for June 29 from 1-2:30 pm CDT at the Texas Trucking Show in Houston. During the session, FMCSA will seek feedback on several key issues:
- The effectiveness of the three-tiered rating system versus a single Unfit rating.
- The use of inspection data and the SMS in determining safety fitness.
- Incorporating driver behavior into SFD ratings.
- Revising the safety violations list used for ratings.
- Adjusting the weights of specific violations, particularly for unsafe driving.
The session will be held at the NRG Center in Houston, TX. While preregistration for the listening session is not required, attendees must register for the Texas Trucking Show.
Future Virtual Listening Sessions and Written Comments
FMCSA plans to hold two virtual listening sessions on these topics in June and July. The agency is also accepting written comments until August 7, 2024.
These efforts are part of FMCSA’s broader goal to refine and improve the safety fitness determination process, ensuring it is more comprehensive and reflective of actual safety performance.
Source:
Leave a Comment