CSA Scores ar Changing, Thoughts?

Would be nice. I spoke to fmcsa reps at gats last year and they seemed to listen. A couple of weeks before that release actually. I talked about how the scoring system is very skewed against small trucking companies and how our customers will use use that public data against us, and insurance companies too. I talked about how for CSA to really work it needs to account for safety more to offset the sometimes petty extortion.

Every three months a carrier goes without a moving violation they should get a 30% reduction in score and etc is what I mentioned.

I also mentioned, “who’s safer?”. When you have a mega fleet who’s involved in 10 fatal accidents a year with 400 OOS. But have 4000 trucks, but is deemed safer than the one truck operator who is OOS one time and only has very few inspections. We need our safety to be accounted for in “Compliance Safety Accountabilty”.

I also mentioned that the way the current system is set up, it also in turn sometimes, encourages rouge behavior to some. Because many think, I can have $5k worth of new tires, new brakes and etc and still get dinged for something,,, so why bother,,, and they just go rouge. Maybe this new deal will be a step in the right direction? Maybe

 

Maybe the DOT can take the staff out of Banning and other certain scales for a two week cruise exclusive to the Caribbean or something.

The last two DOT inspectors (One a smart female...) called BS on some of my times. I come back at them and say what BS. You drive a car to work I have to roll this heap and it takes longer.

That usually quiets them down. If they make war and want to know what it takes to do that time they can have at it.

 

Long ago I prefilled my paper log to leave the Silicon Valley south of SF I think US 101 east. Meaning that paper says I start driving at 6 am from that location. Went to bed the night before.

Got up ran just a little bit past 6 by oh... 9 minutes or so. Took off finally. Sheesh.

Hit the old 101 scale house, instantly pulled in for major inspection inside their bay. A colonoscopy would have been pleasant compared to that ramrod (Old word) female DOT standing on my boots yelling BS at my 6 am departure. She then stated she knows #### well how long it takes to that particular scale.

I said under my breath, in a car probably. A thousand clocks in this lady's life. I couldnt help it. If i stayed silent.

The inspection turned into something of a dare for her.

She actually did not find a #### thing in, on, under over that blessed brand new truck with oh... 2000 miles or so on it. Did not find fault with me. Sorta.

Back to paper logs. Eyeballed me carefully for signs of deception. I kept my cool and stood my ground. It's 6 am on the logbook I left ma'am. If you want to be more exact have Uncle Sam put in what we call ELD today. (Me and my big mouth.

Satellite message to dispatcher inspection success. They did everything they could to find something to write up on.

Then I told him for all of our sakes do not whatever you do send me back to this valley ever again.

 

Doesn't 101 run north-south, though? It's kinda THE Pacific Coast highway, running from the tip of the WA peninsula to the bare edge of the sunny sands of CA...