conditional rating

Big difference between CSA/safer score and a rating. A unsatisfactory/conditional/satisfactory rating only comes from a compliance review audit.

 

oh he never said he got compliance review,my mistake

 

This happened to a friend in 2011. He was told that he needed to work with the conditional rating for about 6 months and then he would have enough in his files to warrant a new review. So once you have written to the dot and they come out to meet you, you should be ok. That is if they actually do come out. I am in shock that you have worked for a year with a conditional status. Bravo to you for making it. Condocruiser I believe what was being said is that the drivers were given unlimited time to deliver freight and were not being forced to break laws.

 

dgc:

I'm a safety director with experience with pulling my current employer from an old conditional rating (my bosses father use to own the company) and during an on-sight review resulted in a conditional rating. Last year the boss reopened his former dad's company and I reviewed the past review documents and created an "action plan" and submitted it to the state FMCSA division office for review and upgrade request. Long story made short...the action plan was accepted and the company was given a satifisactory rating which we still enjoy today.

Here is the facts....minus so major issue you have still pending; FMCSA does NOT do an on-site review to upgrade an operating authority EVER. If they do an on-site review the only way you can go is down (in this case you can only go to unsatisfactory if they come and do an on-site review). The rules have change to save personnel time and get more reviews in the limited time they have.

 

Wow Dogbreath: Sounds like you are one of the few who actually did this. It never stops amazing me at the things said by dot officers, letters, etc that just aren't actuality. I seen the letter stating the 6 month audit, and you say contrary. Not shocking, just surprising I guess.

 

Although there is quite a bit of a process to upgrading your status, it’s not impossible. This can even be done within your own organization if you have the time and means to accomplish it. The key to the upgrade is the Compliance Review sent to you by your assigned DOT Investigator. With this, a Request for Review needs to be created in a language DOT is looking for. If this letter is not written correctly, DOT office staff will literally shred and deny the request as we’ve been told by Investigators. Within the Request for Review letter, a Corrective Action Plan must be put into place and followed.

Writing the Request for Review letter is the easy part, even if it does take a lot of work. Following the Corrective Action Plan is where the difficulties lie as FMCSA rules and regulations change on a constant basis. Please note that DOT will only consider the request if they see that your company is showing signs that you are already following your Corrective Action Plan. Sometimes this can take months of bringing your scores down before it’s a good idea to request an Upgrade.

Besides having quality management over your employees to enforce your company policies, much of the Corrective Action Plan comes down to clerical work that DOT Investigators can clearly see with organization and continuous updates of files in a way required by DOT. Being sure that your company is moving in the right direction with compliance will be a big help when a DOT Official considers your Upgrade.

If you manage to request an Upgrade within 90 days of receiving your Denoted Status, you are one of the lucky few that read your Review correctly. Again, it’s best to have a Corrective Action Plan in place before doing so, but responding within the 90 day window correctly will have much better results than waiting past that small window of opportunity.