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SPECIAL REPORT: CSA 2010 motor carrier preview data now available

Motor carrier officials who are curious about the data the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has collected on their company now have access to preview those records.

FMCSA opened up access today to motor carrier officials to preview the company’s CSA 2010 data. All that’s required to get into the system is the U.S. DOT number and a personal identification number, or PIN, assigned to the motor carrier by FMCSA.

The preview period will last until Nov. 30, when FMCSA will begin enforcement action on motor carriers found to be in subpar compliance.

During the preview period, motor carrier officials are encouraged to take a long, hard look at the data, and “immediately address any safety problems.”

FMCSA will calculate safety performance of motor carriers – which includes owner-operators running under their own authority – based on seven Behavioral Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories. Those seven categories, dubbed BASICs, and the federal regulations they relate to are:

Unsafe driving (Parts 392 and 397); Fatigued driving (Parts 392 and 395); Driver fitness (Parts 383 and 391); Controlled substances/alcohol (Parts 382 and 392); Vehicle Maintenance (Parts 393 and 396); Cargo related (Parts 392, 393, 397 and hazmat); and Crash indicator.
Eventually, motor carriers will be given percentile rankings in each of the basics. But right now FMCSA is working on refinements to the CSA 2010 measurement system, so those percentile rankings – the number used by FMCSA enforcement officials to determine enforcement on a motor carrier for poor performance – will not be available.

For the time being, the preview screen will show how many inspections resulted in violations in each of the BASICs. Users can drill down through the available screens and see what inspections resulted in violations.

Inspection and crash reports are the only data entered into the CSA 2010 database. All violations – regardless of whether a citation was issued – included on inspection reports will be entered into the system. Citations and warnings issued to CDL holders while operating the personal vehicles will not be part of the CSA 2010 data.

The OOIDA Business Services Department strongly encourages all motor carriers – even owner-operators running under their own authority – to take advantage of the preview period and compare data entered into the CSA 2010 system with inspection and crash reports on file.

On each of the BASIC screens there is a button to “Verify your data.” Users can click on that button to challenge any incorrect inspection or crash report data through FMCSA’s Data Q system.

Motor carrier officials interested in previewing their company’s data should visit the CSA 2010 Web site login page. On that page, users will be prompted to enter a U.S. DOT number and PIN. Motor carrier officials who do not have a PIN or who have forgotten it can click here to clear that up. To request a copy of your PIN, you’ll need to select the last option on the page, “I want to request a copy of a document.”

For more information on CSA 2010, visit www.ooida.com and click on the CSA 2010 button on the lower right-hand side of the screen.

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