Out of service- New Authority

I would disagree, for a new authority with one truck it's a pretty big deal

 

Especially if it’s the only inspection you’ve had.

 

It is not the end of the world unless you have other violations in the equipment maintenance BASIC or continue to get more in the same category. One out of service by itself is not awful but once a pattern develops it can lead to insurance cost increases, increased roadside inspections and even trouble booking loads with some brokers. Also it can lead to an early new entrant audit focused on your areas of deficiency, in this case vehicle maintenance.

Best advice is to be very diligent on your pre-trip and in-trip inspections, walk around your truck every time you stop to check for obvious defects and stay on top of things. You will need to get a few clean inspections to dilute the weighted average of having one bad inspection. Don't start avoiding scales or inspections, that will hurt more than help you need clean inspections to reduce the impact of an out of service.

 

It’s not so much the violation, it’s more the oos percentage. If that is the only inspection, then his percentage will be 100% until some clean inspections are done.

 

Ultimately the impact on a carrier's safety score is determined by how the officer wrote the violation. If he cited flat tire (393.75(a)) instead of underinflated tire (393.75(f)(2)) the point violation would be 8 (out of a possible 10), which is very severe and in the eyes of the CSA program highly likely to cause a crash where an underinflated tire is only a 3, low probability of causing a crash. Add in the out of service points and time multiplier and this one violation could has a severe impact on a carrier's safety score.

This is why attitude with the officer is critical as well. The difference between 3 points and 8 can often be the driver's attitude with the officer. Example, flat tire is any tire underinflated by 20 PSI or more below the load chart recommended cold inflation pressure for the load being supported. Say you need 100 PSI in your tires for the load being supported and you are at 80 PSI, technically this is a flat tire but could also be cited as simply an under inflated tire at 3 CSA points instead of the 8 for flat. Attitude will go a long way towards getting the lower value violation on the inspection report.

I am not saying their methodology is fair or even accurate but it is the system we have to work with for now so drivers and carriers need to be extra diligent in checking their rigs for defects multiple times per day.