ADS Logistics Supply Chain Management Blog

Next Phase of CSA 2010 Announced

The next step in the rollout of CSA 2010 is underway. Carriers can now see how they are being scored in the pending Safety Measurement System. Also as planned, CSA 2010 will stick to its schedule to implement the program state-by-state throughout 2011. Once all the states are up to speed on implementating CSA 2010, the new method for determining safety fitness will be put into effect. All of this is part of CSA 2010’s mission to increase truck driving safety and decrease trucking accidents and trucking-related fatalities. This next phase will hopefully be a major step to ultimately completing these goals.

“This early look gives motor carriers an opportunity to understand and address their safety compliance issues right away," the FMCSA said in an official announcement. The early warnings give carriers an opportunity to assess concerns before they get penalized under the new system. Not everyone is familiar yet with the new standards so this sort of “dry run” is great for carriers who may be committing violations without knowing it. Those who are not yet familiar with the new standards are urged by the FMCSA to visit their website to learn more about how they will be scored according to the seven Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories, or BASICs. Additional information on CSA 2010 can be found here on the ADS Logistics Blog.

“Taking heed of industry concerns about its approach to measuring exposure in two of the BASICs, Unsafe Driving and the Crash Indicator, the FMCSA is changing from a calculation based just on the number of power units to one based on a combination of power units and vehicle miles traveled,” said by Oliver B. Patton, Washington Editor for Trucking Info. His complete article on the new phase of CSA 2010 can be found here. This small change in these 2 categories will make it easier for larger carriers because they are no longer going to be scored based solely on how many power units they have, which has hurt some larger carriers in the past. In the old system larger carriers were view as more dangerous because they had more accidents. This is only because they have more trucks and therefore more chances for an accident. With CSA 2010, that miles traveled are taken into account, their score in those two categories will come down and the scores of smaller carriers go up.

In its announcement yesterday, the agency took note of a preliminary report that researchers at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute have found that while most of the BASICs are good indicators of future crash risk, two of them are not. UMTRI is analyzing the data from the agency's 30-month field test of CSA 2010. Its final report is due by the end of December. The field test is working with small test groups within certain states to see if any improvements will need to be made to CSA 2010 or the BASIC categories. As of Mid-June, over 11,000 carriers have visited the CSA 2010 website to see their preliminary score. This is good news however, the several hundred thousand that haven’t may be in for a surprise come December, when the system goes live. Be prepared, and get your preliminary score today! Also subscribe to the ADS blog to stay on top of all the important CSA 2010 changes that will be happening in the future.

CSA 2010 Scorecard Has Been Revised

Vigillo has updated their CSA 2010 Scorecard. The changes will be effective immediately and will be taken into account even for companies that want to preview their score before the August 16th deadline. The 16th was going to be the original viewing date that the FMCSA had set, but due to the changes in the scoring companies can see their score earlier than expected. The scorecard is the main method of how the FMCSA is going to rate companies’ safety levels when CSA 2010 is put into full effect.

The way the scorecard works is that each company will be given a color coded rating that pertains to each of the 7 BASIC categories: driver fitness, unsafe driving, fatigued driving, controlled substance and alcohol, crash indicator, vehicle maintenance, and improper landing and cargo securing. The fleets will be given a score for each category and their score will determine whether or not intervention will occur. Here is the way companies will be rated:

•    RED – Deficient (90% to 100%)
•    YELLOW – Warning (75% to 90%)
•    GREY – Under Threshold (0% to 75%)

Also, you can view a sample of this driver scorecard, offered by Vigillo to see if intervention will be required.

There are a few changes made, but the scoring will still be strict as the CSA 2010 is cracking down on driver-related violations. For example, under that CSA 2010 Severity and Point System Safety Rating for Truck Drivers, a driver caught with a leaky tire will receive a rating of 8, which is only two points under a DUI.

Other Examples of changes to the Scorecard are:

•31 new violation codes not in the previous methodology

•300 violations removed

•260 weight severity changes

•88 violation description changes

•335 violation code changes

Specific examples of how these new changes will take effect include cargo securement. Violations in the old methodology weighted cargo securement at 1 point, where with the changes such a violation is now weighted at 5 points.

Speeding violations are now tiered based on the number of miles over the limit. Previously a speeding violation was ranked at 5 points, regardless of speed. The new methodology gives 1 point for 1-5 miles over the limited, 4 points for 6-10 miles over, 7 points for 11-14 miles over, and 10 points for 15 or more miles over, and 10 points for any speeding in a construction zone. 18 of the possible 21 intervention thresholds, depending on carrier type, have been modified.

As you can see the changes to the Scorecard have created stricter guidelines toward the drivers, since 4 or 5 (depending on what type of carrier and trucker you are) of the violations are driver-related. However, the new CSA 2010 Scorecard changes do not necessarily mean that drivers will now be more likely to fall over the intervention threshold. In one testing example, a fleet had two BASICs over the intervention threshold (Drug & Alcohol & Vehicle Maintenance). Under the new methodology it had 0 BASICs over the threshold.  In fact, this carrier’s Drug & Alcohol BASIC went from 91.9 to 5.9 under the new methodology.

Vigillo says that they will continue to analyze more real numbers and will be posting them on the Vigillo website. Stay tuned to this blog by subscribing in the tab on the right or check back with Vigillio frequently to keep on top of any future changes.
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Catch the FMCSA Road Show!

The FMCSA Road Show is an annual series of events held across the United States and in parts of Canada. The Road Show has been put on by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for over 20 years. The events are held between from the beginning of January  to the end of November so there are plenty of chances to attend.  What makes it even easier to catch events is that the locations at which they are held spread from California to Florida. Each city puts its own unique style, but the core messages stay the same throughout the road show. View the complete FMCSA Road Show schedule here.

One of the most important topics this year is Hours of Service. There are information sessions on this topic at several locations: Arlington, VA; Dallas, TX; Los Angeles, CA; Davenport, IA; and Louisville, KY. The FMCSA regards hours of service as an important issue this coming year due to the new CSA 2010 standards coming out, so they wanted to give drivers ample opportunities to learn about the changes. 

There are some other issues that are stressed throughout the Road Show and many of them have to do with driver safety. With most of the penalties issued by the CSA 2010 being driver related, the focus of the FMCSA Road Show this year is definitely geared toward drivers. For example, the "Click It or Ticket" campaign will be featured for about two weeks.

However, if you should happen to miss this or any other talk, you'll find that the FMCSA website is a great resource to keep you up to speed. Most of the talks are actually archived and posted online. Also, a lot of the speeches made are available for printing in a PDF format. This is great for the road show because even if you can’t make it to all the speeches you would like, you can still see them or at least read about them. Whether you attend in person or are logging on through the Internet, you'll find that the FMCSA Road Show will offer many benefits!

CSA 2010 Now CSA 2011

A report came out late last month about the delayed implementation of the CSA 2010. The new safety ranking system that began to be implemented in April 2010 and was scheduled to be fully installed by this July is now being delayed until the spring or possibly summer of 2011. The announcement was presented by Anne Ferro, Administrator for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to the House of Representatives as well as two other committees specializing in highway transportation. The six-part report explains the CSA 2010, its goals, how it will improve off of SafeStat, how it will be tested, and how it will be implemented.

Before the CSA 2010 could be implemented, it had to be tested. The test came in the form of a nine-state field test in which the CSA and SafeStat, the system the CSA would replace, will be compared side by side. The test started in only four states: Colorado, Georgia, Missouri, and New Jersey. Each state was divided into two groups; one group was assessed by the CSA 2010 and the other by SafeStat. In the spring and fall of 2009, the Agency added five more States to the test – Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, and Montana. However, for these five states the CSA 2010 interventions were applied to all motor carriers instead of just half. Ferro states that:
“Since the test began, the Agency has sent out more than 5,500 warning letters to motor carriers in the test, and the letter has proven effective. Approximately fifty percent of all carriers receiving a warning letter have logged onto the FMCSA website to review information on their deficient BASIC.  In addition, FMCSA has received letters of response from some of these carriers in which they thank the Agency for bringing to their attention information on the deficient BASIC, and describe their corrective action to address the safety problem.”

CSA 2010 is effective according to other investigations as well. Off-site investigations proved to be 25 percent more efficient, while on-site focused investigations were 45 percent more efficient, and on-site comprehensive investigations were 30 percent more efficient.

The nine-state field test is the main reason why the full implementation of the CSA 2010 will be delayed. FMCSA is using feedback from its partners, stakeholders, the public, the nine-state field test, and written letters to the CSA 2010 public docket, to fully optimize the new policy for all parties. “FMCSA will roll out CSA 2010 in the fall of 2010 instead of the summer of 2010 as earlier reported.  This relatively minor movement in our rollout timeline will enable the Agency to be more responsive to the feedback, as well as the lessons learned from our field test.” In the fall and winter of 2010, the FMCSA will be taking 3 major steps towards the complete installation of CSA 2010. First, SafeStat will be replaced with the Safety Measurement System (SMS). Second, warning letters will be sent to carriers nationwide. Third, a revised nationwide Inspection Selection System for roadside inspectors that is based on SMS rather than SafeStat will be implemented. An Operational Model test concluded in June and consequently the nine test states will soon complete all CSA 2010 interventions. CSA implementation will then continue into 2011 for the remaining 41 states.

Results of Early CSA 2010 Testing

The results from the early CSA 2010 testing opened quite a few eyes when the data first started to surface. The early reports showed that out of the 1,500 carriers who were tested; 69% of them will face some sort of federal intervention. Warning letters will be issued during the Fall and Winter of 2010. Roadside inspections will also start around the same time. All of this is in an attempt to lower the number of violations in future years.

To rate fleets, CSA 2010 will use 7 different criteria known as the BASICs. The 7 are:

• driver fitness
• unsafe driving
• fatigued driving
• controlled substance/alcohol
• crash indicator
• vehicle maintenance
• improper landing/cargo securing

The fleets are given a score based for each category and their score will determine whether or not intervention will occur. Out of the 1,500 carriers who were rated, 396 had one score above the intervention threshold, 288 had two, 163 had three, 76 had four, 34 had five, 9 had six, and 4 were above threshold in all seven. (more info at FleetOwner.com) The 4 that were over threshold in all seven of the BASIC categories were all in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) largest fleet. The FMCSA’s largest fleet contains carriers with a peer group rating of 500 power units or more. Drew Anderson, Director of Sales at Vigillo, (the risk management company that created the CSA 2010 scorecard) “I don’t believe that larger fleets are less safe. I think that statistic points out the inequity of [FMCSA’s] peer group rankings based only on the number of power units.” He continued, “I think once they introduce miles driven into the (rankings), the number of larger carriers (above the intervention thresholds) will go down.”

CSA 2010 compared to SafeStat

Under the current system, SafeStat, only 1.3 percent of the same 1,500 fleets will undergo intervention. That is only 20 fleets compared to the 1035 fleets that will require intervention within the CSA 2010’s standards. By Spring 2011, the CSA 2010 will be fully implemented which will impact over 750,000 companies. (additional details: TransportTopics.com). Although the CSA 2010 will not be in effect until the middle of next year, companies have been previewing their own data since April 12th and will continue to preview it until November 30th. (see the CSA 2010 Rough Timeline). The CSA 2010 was originally scheduled to take full effect in December 2010, but it was delayed so more data could be gathered. Once the full implementation is complete intervention will begin. The before-mentioned warning letters and road side inspections will be accompanied by on and off-site investigations, safety plans, and out-of-service orders.

Consequences of CSA 2010

    The actions brought about by the CSA 2010 should vastly decrease each fleets score and make for much safer driving. About 80 percent of all violations are “driver controlled” such as moving violations and improper vehicle maintenance. The tighter guidelines should bring down the number of violations altogether, but it will also decrease the number of driver-related infringements. Another surprising statistic that has come to light as the result of these early reports is that 53 percent of all speeding tickets result in a warning and not a citation. This is good news for drivers, however it makes it more difficult for the CSA to account for all moving violations. This could mean that there are possibly more infractions than are reported; a scary thought considering the already elevated scores some fleets were given by the CSA 2010.

How CDL Traffic Violations Affect Truckers

How can a city generate income when low on funds...target commercial truck drivers of course! Everyone knows that traffic tickets, whether written for commercial drivers or regular drivers generate income for the county the ticket is written in. Commercial drivers, in particular, are the easiest to write multiple tickets on for various reasons. Here are just some of the reasons that truck drivers can get pulled over and fined:

Serious Trucker Traffic Violations:

 

• Speeding 15 miles or more over speed limit
• Reckless driving    
• Improper or erratic lane changes
• Following the vehicle ahead too closely    
• Offenses tied to a fatal accident    
• Driving a CMV without a CDL or wrong type of endorsement     
• Driving a CMV without a CDL in your possession (producing it at a later date will nullify the offense)    
• Violating a Driver or Vehicle out-of-service order

NON-CMV violations can also affect your Commercial Driving Status:

•     2 convictions within 3 years is a 60-day suspension
•     A 3rd conviction is a 120-day suspension
•     Non-CMV convictions will count towards suspension of your CDL if it results in suspension of your Non-CMV License

Penalties for Violating Out-of-service orders:

•     1st conviction starts with a minimum 90-day suspension
•     A 2nd conviction within 10 years brings a minimum 1-year suspension
•     3rd and subsequent convictions increase suspension to a minimum of 3 years

All violations of railroad/highway grade crossing laws carry mandatory suspensions:

 

• 1st conviction minimum 60-day suspension
• 2nd conviction minimum 120-day suspension
• 3rd and subsequent convictions minimum 1-year suspension

If a CDL holder is convicted of a "law related to motor vehicle traffic control" other than parking violations, including violations that occur outside of work when driving a personal vehicle, you must notify your employer! Additionally, you must report a loss of driving privileges or suspension of CDL to your employer by the end of the next business day. It is important that you drive safely and professionally as your CDL is literally your meal ticket.  You should fight every erroneous violation and keep your record (MVR & CSA 2010) free of negative Safety Rating statistics which follow a driver from company to company.

Posted by Kevin Mullen, Director: Safety

2 New Reports about the Supply Chain Industry

Two very interesting reports came out in the past few days...

Wednesday, The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) released an analysis of commercial vehicle crashes that found the majority (87%) occurred within the first eight (8) hours of driving. This is important in that it further discredits supposed highway safety groups such as CRASH, which have repeatedly sued the FMCSA over 2007 changes to the hours-of-service regulations permitting drivers one additional hour of driving time.  Only 12% of crashes occurred in the 9th to 11th driving hours. Prior to 2007 drivers were permitted to drive only 10 hours.

Coupled with measurable and historic decreases in truck-involved fatalities during the same period, it would behoove CRASH to focus on other behaviors (such as distracted driving) by passenger car drivers who, incidentally, cause anywhere from 50-70% of truck-involved crashes, according to studies by the FMCSA and AAA.
 
Lawsuits by CRASH and associated groups have cost millions of dollars that could well be better spent on other initiatives more likely to reduce crashes.

Additionally, in a recent Commercial Carrier Journal webinar, FTR Associates President Eric Starks released their Driver Supply Update for May.  FTR forecasts a 200,000 driver shortage by the end of 2011.  FTR cites a lack of hiring and training personnel due to carrier cut backs during the recession.  Anecdotally, we have sufficient hiring and training staff but are finding a shortage of qualified drivers.
 
The impact of CSA 2010 was not figured into FTR’s dire forecast, however it will only exacerbate the problem.  Starks’ assessment that “we could be 400,000 drivers short of what we need” with CSA 2010 driver defections spells trouble for already tightening capacity should signal shippers that rate decreases squeezed from carriers during the recession will be erased and reversed in the not-too-distant future.

Posted by Kevin Mullen, Director- Safety: ADS Logistics

How Will CSA 2010 Affect Driver Safety and Compliance?

Safety and compliance are becoming increasingly more important to carriers and drivers every day for a multitude of reasons.

For instance, carriers have long-known that good safety and compliance numbers (insurance losses and SafeStat for example) translate into better insurance rates, a better competitive position and increased profits.

Drivers know that a bad safety record can cost them their job and make finding another more difficult.

With the onset of CSA 2010 the stakes are even greater.

Carriers can now find themselves the subject of targeted enforcement both on the road (increased inspections) and on-site (Compliance Review) if their scores in any of the seven (7) CSA 2010 BASICS exceed FMCSA-designated thresholds.

Drivers will now have three (3) years of their compliance history with the DOT available to current and prospective carriers.  Non-compliant drivers will find their continued employment with their current carrier in jeopardy and prospective carriers reluctant to bring them and their points on board.  Future incarnations of CSA 2010 are reported to include direct intervention with drivers whose safety performance scores exceed as yet undetermined thresholds.

The true reward for safe and compliant operations however is even more important and much more personal.  Carriers need to ensure their #1 customer, their internal customer, the driver, completes his/her duties every day without being injured or worse, killed.  We all owe this basic right to our employees.

Likewise, everyone with whom we share the roads, even those drivers who unknowingly and even intentionally put themselves in harm's way by cutting in front of a truck or riding in a “No Zone”- everyone, has a basic right to return to their families without being injured or killed.

Safety and compliance, in the final analysis, are personal.  We can’t put profits (or pay checks) above human suffering and lives.

Safety… is no accident.

Posted by Kevin Mullen- Director: Safety, ADS Logistics Co, LLC

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The Difference Between CSA 2010 and SafeStat

This much is certain: CSA 2010 is happening and it does have the potential to be a game changer for our industry.  That said, should implementation so impact the industry as to affect the economy, (severe capacity issues) the DOT would certainly be pressured to adjust the program.  It is suspected that some of these concerns just may be behind the delays recently announced.

CSA 2010 factors all violations on roadside inspections, unlike SafeStat, which only looked at out-of-service violations.  This is a major change because a small percentage of inspections result in out-of-service violations and therefore a small percentage of our violations (approximately 10%) are out-of-service violations.  A ten-fold increase in the number of violations being factored (into CSA 2010 scores) is a game changer.

That said, carriers’ violations will be “normalized” by the number of drivers or trucks (not miles) they operate.  This is an important distinction for Area Transportation because we do not run over the road and thus our miles are less than many other carriers our size.

Finally, carriers are grouped by size and scored against their peers.  Area falls into the 51 – 500 truck group.  At 286 trucks as reported on our last biennial update we fall squarely in the middle of our group and will be scored against substantially larger carriers.  This should also work to our advantage.

CSA 2010 is a major shift for the DOT, long perceived as a “paper tiger”.  With the exception of the ISS system which uses inspection data to rate carriers (Pass, Optional, Inspect) at scales, the DOT historically reviewed paperwork (logs, maintenance records, etc.) during Compliance Reviews.  SafeStat scores had to be deficient (> 75) in 3 categories in order to even make it onto a list for a Compliance Review.  CSA 2010 will use more of the available on-the-road performance data to identify carriers with unsafe behaviors resulting in quicker interventions.

Carriers who breach those (as yet unidentified) thresholds will first receive warning letters identifying the problem areas.  If the carriers’ performance doesn’t improve it could be flagged for targeted inspections or an on-site targeted investigation focused on the specific area of deficiency.

CSA 2010 has the potential to be a game changer and we must tighten up all facets of our operations; compliance, maintenance, and dispatch, if we want to remain a premier carrier.  Better controls on Independent Contractor operations will challenge us as well as all other carriers.

Posted by Kevin Mullen: Director- Safety

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FAQ's About CSA 2010

Since we began discussing CSA 2010 back in January, there have been several common questions that have come up again and again. Thankfully, the CSA 2010 website has a plethora of information on the topic. Below are some of the most frequently asked questions and the CSA 2010 official answer.

Q. Why does FMCSA’s new CSA 2010 program emphasize
driver safety enforcement?
A. Studies have shown that unsafe driver behavior, both on the
part of CMV drivers and other drivers, is a major contributor
to CMV-related crashes. Some studies indicate that a small
segment of the CMV driver population is involved in a
disproportionately large number of crashes. As a result,
during the CSA 2010 Operational Model Test, FMCSA is
expanding its approach to identifying and addressing unsafe
drivers during interventions with motor carriers.

Q. Can you describe the CSA 2010 driver safety enforcement
process?
A. The driver safety enforcement process provides FMCSA with
the tools to identify CMV drivers with safety performance
problems and to verify and address the issues.  The new tools
enable Safety Investigators (SIs) to identify drivers with poor
safety histories who work for carriers that have been identified
as requiring a CSA 2010 investigation.  If the investigation
results verify the driver violation(s), FMCSA takes an
enforcement action against that driver, such as a Notice of
Violation (NOV) or a Notice of Claim (NOC).

Q. What kinds of driver safety performance data is CSA 2010
looking at?
A. The new program focuses on driver enforcement for serious
rule violations, such as:

•Driving while disqualified
•Driving without a valid commercial driver’s license
•Making a false entry on a medical certificate
•Committing numerous Hours-of-Service violations

Q. Do tickets or warnings that drivers receive while
operating their personal vehicles impact the new SMS?
A. No. Tickets or warnings that drivers receive while operating
their personal cars are State citations and do not count in
the new measurement system. SMS only uses violations
of FMCSA's regulations, and those regulations only apply
to people driving large CMVs. In measuring on-road safety
performance, SMS uses all safety-based violations
documented at roadside inspections as well as State-
reported crashes.

Q. Will CSA 2010 assign safety ratings to individual CMV
drivers? I heard that CSA 2010 is designed to rate CMV
drivers and to put many of them out of work this summer.
A. No. Under CSA 2010, individual CMV drivers will not be
assigned safety ratings or Safety Fitness Determinations
(SFDs). Consistent with the current safety rating regulations
(49 CFR part 385), individual drivers who operate
independently as a “motor carrier” (i.e. have their own USDOT
number, operating authority, and insurance) will continue to
be rated as a motor carrier, as they are today, following an
onsite investigation at their place of business. CSA 2010 is
designed to meet one overriding objective: to increase safety
on the Nation’s roads. Therefore, it is, by design, a positive
program for drivers and carriers with strong safety
performance records. CSA 2010 sends a strong message that
drivers and carriers with poor safety performance histories
need to improve.  

Q. What is the Pre-Employment Screening Program (PSP)
and when does it start? 
A. PSP is a new FMCSA program mandated by Congress that is
designed to assist the motor carrier industry in assessing
individual operators’ crash and serious safety violation history
as a pre-employment condition. The program is voluntary. 
It is not part of CSA 2010. The system is expected to launch
in 2010. For more information about PSP, visit FMCSA's PSP
website.

Q. What is the detailed process for drivers to contest
information contained in their FMCSA driver records?
A. Drivers should use FMCSA’s DataQs system to challenge data
in FMCSA databases. To do this, drivers can go to the DataQs
registration page, select “Register Online” as a general public user, and create a DataQs account profile. Once registered, drivers
can challenge their data by following detailed instructions in
the help menu. The Agency is in the process of improving the
DataQs Website to make the process of challenging data more
apparent to drivers.

We hope this helps answer any questions you may be having about CSA 2010. If you need more help, visit the CSA 2010 website or send an email to us and we will get to work researching the answer for you.