What is the Price of Non-Compliance with the FMCSA?
Posted on Wed, Feb 17, 2010 @ 08:52 PM
written by Kevin Mullen, Director-Safety
It is becoming increasingly clear, under strong pressure from Congress, and to some extent from so-called “highway safety advocates” like Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways (CRASH), that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is ratcheting up motor carrier regulation. CSA 2010 is just their latest initiative to identify and address unsafe carriers and now, drivers.
In just the past few years the FMCSA has:
- repealed its longstanding policy against requiring carriers to provide GPS data for use in compliance reviews
- twice revised the Hours of Service regulations
- banned texting by drivers
- tweaked and tightened various other regulations on a regular basis
The goal is both clear and simple: the FMCSA intends to make non-compliance more expensive and less desirable than compliance and ultimately remove unsafe carriers and drivers from the nations’ roads.
CSA 2010 was designed to better identify and increase interventions with unsafe carriers and-- for the first time in FMCSA history-- unsafe drivers. While there have been wildly disparate numbers tossed around, it is clear that some carriers and drivers who don’t embrace safety and compliance will be forced out of the industry by CSA 2010. CSA 2010 is widely believed to be a game changer for the trucking industry.
Unlike the current SafeStat system, CSA 2010 will include all violations discovered on roadside inspections. Carriers and drivers must now address even minor compliance issues.
Carriers would do well to put policies and procedures into effect now, as today’s inspections will impact their CSA 2010 scores later this year. Keep in mind too, that violations incurred by independent contractors (owner operators) leased to carriers will also impact the carrier's score. CSA 2010 scores, like SafeStat, will be public information. Current and prospective insurance companies, customers, the media and yes, plaintiff attorneys will be able to access your scores. Also, as with SafeStat, carriers with poor scores can expect to be inspected more. There is and will be a price to pay for non-compliance.
Aside from the regulatory and compliance issues associated with roadside inspections, there are also the purely economic ones. Cash-strapped states are looking for every revenue dollar they can find, and violations that might have resulted in a warning just a year ago now routinely result in a citation and accompanying fine. Again, there will be a steep price to pay for non-compliance.
Lastly (and arguably most importantly) because violations are in fact defects, they have the potential to impact safety; the safety of our drivers as well as the public with whom we share the roads. Our industry has a moral obligation to provide our drivers with safe equipment and a safe working environment. We must also be able to operate profitably without endangering the public. They have a right to safe passage on our roadways too. There is a human price to be paid for non-compliance.
ADS LOGISTICS CO, LLC Area Transportation is committed to the highest level of safety and compliance. Our motto is “Safety, Service, Professionalism”. Safety is first because without safety there is no service.