For The Defense, December 2011 - DRI Today

ing motor carriers into groups according
to the number of inspections with applicable
violations found for a carrier in each of
these categories.
Table 6. Fatigued Driving, Driver Fitness,
Vehicle Maintenance, Carglo-Related
BASICS Safety Event Groupings
Number of Inspections
Safety Event with Applicable
Group
Violations
1 3–10 (Fatigued Driving)
5–10 (all others)
2 11–20
3 21–100
4 101–500
5 501+
The FMCSA may identify interventions
for motor carriers when they exceed
the applicable thresholds for the specific
BASICS within their assigned safety event
groups.
The SMS
In addition to performing all these calculations
and housing data for motor carriers,
the SMS makes data for each motor carrier
available to the public through the FMCSA
website, displaying it in the format illustrated
below.
The display lists each BASIC individually
with a corresponding on-road performance
percentile score. If a motor carrier
had some violations in a BASIC, the SMS
will “flag” it with a golden triangle with
an exclamation point inside, display in the
“BASIC status” column for that BASIC. The
flagging symbol will appear if a motor carrier
exceeds the threshold or a motor carrier
had a serious violation in that BASIC
within 12 months of the calculation. Then
FMCSA may subject that carrier to more
monitoring or an intervention. The public
cannot view the “cargo- related” BASIC and
“crash indicator” measure, but the motor
carrier to which the information refers and
law enforcement can view those categories.
Interventions and
Safety Determinations
Interventions under the CSA program can
range from something as minor as a warning
letter to a suspension of a motor carrier’s
authority to operate. Other potential
interventions include a targeted roadside
inspection, a focused compliance review, a
comprehensive onsite compliance review,
and potentially, an out- of- service order.
As mentioned, motor carriers with
scores exceeding the thresholds outlined
in this article will have a yellow triangle
with an exclamation point inside as part of
that BASIC record. The CSA refers to this
as “flagging.” The motor carrier will then
automatically receive a warning letter outlining
the carrier’s score, what it means,
and how the carrier can correct the identified
problems.
However, the method by which the
FMCSA will determine each motor carrier’s
safety fitness rating must go through
the federal rulemaking process. Currently,
motor carriers receive BASIC scores as
described in the previous pages. Next, they
will receive safety fitness ratings. We do
not know yet how the FMCSA will determine
those ratings, nor do we know what
level of enforcement, if any, the FMCSA will
assign to rating classifications. Currently,
the FMCSA website and the CSA operational
model diagram in this article use
the terms “marginal” and “unfit” in relation
to safety evaluations, from which we
may infer that those terms could become
safety fitness determination terms. After
the FMCSA moves through the federal
rulemaking process, if it decides to use
those terms in safety fitness determination
labels for motor carriers, you can bet
that the plaintiffs’ bar will waste no time or
effort exploiting those terms against motor
carriers in litigation.
For The Defense ■ December 2011 ■ 75