CSA 2010: How will the Driver Rating System affect you?

You've always been responsible for the condition of the equipment that you operate, this doesn't do anything to change that.

Let me ask you this - How many tickets for faulty equipment are you going to put up with, before you go into the office and demand that they do something about the equipment?

Any ticket you get under the CSA2010 program will fall off your record in three years - your rating as a driver will always fluctuate as ticket are added and removed. It's when a driver starts racking up a bunch of tickets that the warnings begin to take place.

Also, when a carrier starts receiving too many tickets based upon the size of the peer group they're in, that's when they start coming under increased scrutiny from the DOT.

Here is the methodology that they're going to use to determine points assessed for various violations - it starts at page 36. (You'll need to be able to open .pdf files to read it.)

Some violations are more severe than others - not wearing a seatbelt is 1 point, speeding is 5, reckless driving is 10 points. Most equipment violations are 1 & 2 points, but some are worse. The same applies to HOS violations, logbook violations, HazMat violations, and so on - there are minor violations, and then there is the serious stuff.

And, you can only be dinged for three violations at a time - preventing an overzealous DOT officer from literally "throwing the book" at you.

 

Yeah....they're the one's making the news right now going belly-up....

 

Please explain why it costs more to maintain a position as a safe company . These companies get better insurance rates and their safety rating gets them the premium customers that pay better rates . Better maintained equipment also means less on repairs , tows and down time . Then you have less paid in fines and violations .

 

It "costs" more because safer companies require safer and better skilled drivers to make them safer......
You get what you pay for....therefore...
A driver who's willing to drive for less because of inexperience or because they lack safety and driving skills...won't be hired on by a safe and reliable trucking company...

They'll wind up going to the "Werners" and the "Swifts" of the industry....Who are self-insured.....but...heh....CSA 2010 will change that now won't it?....

 

It was an "observation" not a prediction. But, if the dispersions cast on trucking companies, even the "good" ones, are deserved, then I can see where a company "in the cat-bird seat" could take advantage of their position and make stockholders, members of the BOD, and upper echelon management real happy. Drivers, needing to keep bills paid, might (and I emphasize might) rather stay with a company that is in no imminent danger of being put OOS even is the pay offered was borderline satisfactory. Better the devil you know. I didn't say that it costs more to maintain a position as a safe company-just that the guise of needing more money to maintain a good safety rating might come in to play. Happens all the time, trucking industry or not......like "reserves for capital improvement". There's all kinds of ways to make the bottom line look sad but put smiles on the faces of the muckity mucks.

 

Many of the better companies are privately owned and don't try to impress stockholders . They also are better because they have better motivated employees that give better service that gets better contracts . The better drivers will continue to get better pay .

 

God forbid that they, the company leaders, forget who helped to get them there....drivers and other employees that do their part to keep customers satisfied. It's a vicious circle - the more vicious the better. Know what I mean?

 

Companies forget who made them all the time. All of the "evil" mega-carriers started out as one truck, remember? Then they got a few trucks with good drivers. Then they got bigger with awesome contracts and then they started to eat drivers three meals a day.

 

The hope is that the smaller, "good" companies will see how the big boys tumbled and protect their hard won good name at all costs (viciously!).

 

Lets say for your vary first ticket (or 3 tickets at one time if you will)you have ever got was what you posted above that would ba a total of 48 points. 10+5+1=16x3=48.

And by the way.........wasnt the idea of the CDL to get rid of all the bad drivers in the first place?