How useful are company FMCSA scores?

So we had another recruiter come and pitch to our CDL class today. Something interesting this particular recruiter said though was that he recommends new drivers go to the FMCSA web site and look at the safety and inspection scores for companies you're potentially considering. I'd seen this "FMSCA" term batted about a bit on here but never paid that much attention to it until today b/c I didn't really know what it was or how it could be useful.

I've been trying to do my diligence and research on potential companies so I went and looked up a few that I'm considering. The ones I looked up all had pretty good scores but I'm not sure if that's b/c I've spent a few months narrowing down my choices w/ a lot of research or perhaps these scores really don't mean very much? So that's what I'm wondering, how accurate / useful are a companies FMCSA scores for a potential driver and in particular a brand new driver?

 

All they tell you was how many reported accidents a company had but there's a disclaimer on the page that even says that they don't parse out "At fault". So you have no idea how often the accidents may have been the other vehicles fault? To me that's not that useful. I'd agree on the OOS though, if there's an excessive number it could be an indication of the maintenance program.

 

Eh, the way I see it google is free and while you'll typically only see reviews on the jobs sites by people who felt strongly about a company one way or the other, searching around to places like this forum can help you find out about endemic issues a certain company or even an entire industry might have.

I'd agree that recruiters are just sales people concerned mostly w/ their "butts in seats" numbers but they can be useful for some basic info like company name, location, general pay structure ( you need to be able to parse out the bs and get to the bottom line ), who provides your benefits and what kind of freight they haul and where?

These are the typical questions I go into each recruiter session with and I can usually get those answers in the first 5 -10 minutes. Everything else is fluff but I've gotten a rep in my class for taking copious notes b/c I always go home and cross check everything we were told. I'm always kind of surprised everyone isn't doing this but a lot of my classmates have come back to me later and said, "Hey what did that guy from Schneider or TMC say they paid?" I can usually tell them and then add some "real world" info I found out later like what most drivers are getting for average miles w/ certain companies and how that's translating into real world pay. I guess it may be b/c I'm a little older ( 49 y.o. ) and this is a legit second career move fro me so I can't afford a "hit-or-miss" kind of thing.

. . . also my wife and I dated / were engaged for five years before getting married. We kinda knew we would after two years but neither of us was really ready. We've been married for 12 years now so it seems to be working out so far.

 

Most volume sales folks are like this, you just gotta know how to get the important info out of them and then supplement it w/ your own research. I always say a car salesperson has NEVER told me anything about a car I was going to buy that I didn't already know.