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DataQs, the online system for correcting CSA scoring, has the reputation of being cumbersome and unpredictable, but there’s a way for safety managers to get what they need from it.
Call it the ABCs of DataQs.
• Act quickly and consistently to fix incorrect information.
• Be specific and factual when you present your case for the fix.
• Contact the DataQs liaison in the states and establish a relationship.
A trio of experts laid out these fundamentals in a recent DataQs webinar hosted by the Truckload Carriers Association. On hand were Ron Cordova, a retired New Mexico Motor Transportation Police officer; Allan Hicks, vice president of safety, compliance and human resources for B.R. Williams Trucking, and Steve Bryan, CEO of Vigillo, the CSA service provider.
Act Quickly
Cordova and Hicks made the case for quick, consistent action to correct mistakes in CSA data.
Cordova counseled safety managers to move on a mistake within a week – “So it’s fresh on the mind of the inspector and he can move quickly.”
Hicks, providing the carrier perspective, said he reviews his company’s data every day. He goes to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Compass Portal, which with a single password and ID gives him access to a variety of federal truck safety databases, including DataQs.
A quick survey of the carriers attending the webinar indicated that close to 60% check their roadside inspection reports every day, and more than 30% do it at least once a week.
“It’s important that you get the process started as soon as possible,” Hicks said. If there are questions, he starts with the driver, and does not hesitate to call in his CSA service provider.
Be Specific and Factual
It is equally important that the request for a correction be factual and succinct.
“Homework is key,” said Cordova. Be sure to look up the applicable federal regulation, he said.
“Get the information from the regulations into the DataQs request to help the reviewer understand what the regulation says and what you are challenging.”
And don’t be distracted by unrelated information. “Do not attempt to provide a long dissertation concerning a violation.”
For example, if you are challenging a finding that the driver’s log is not current, explain exactly why the log was written the way it was, and why it is correct. It might help to have the driver photograph the log with his phone and email the photo so it can be part of the DataQs submission.
And think of the process in a strategic way. When state officials see that a particular officer is repeatedly being challenged on the same issue, it gives them a data trail that can guide improvements.
“You help us, we help you,” Cordova said.
It helps, for example, to understand how an inspector works. Suppose a driver is cited for having a cut in a brake service line, and for inoperative pushrods in the brakes.
It is normal for the inspector to flag the pushrods because they were not working, but clearly the cut line is the source of the problem.
“It’s worth a (DataQs) challenge,” Cordova said, “because if the line were not cut the brakes would be operative.”
Hicks said there’s an additional benefit from frequently checking your data through the Compass Portal: it gets your drivers’ attention when they realize you are keeping close tabs.
The flip side is that this can help with driver retention, he said. Fixing a CSA error through DataQs tells the driver that the company is paying attention on his behalf.
“It gives him a reason to stay,” he said. Plus, it gives the company feedback to improve training.
One frequent DataQs complaint is that it’s difficult to get the CSA record corrected after a court has dismissed a citation.
The problem arises, Cordova said, because of the disconnect between two different types of legal proceedings. The court action is criminal, while CSA and DataQs are administrative.
It’s a tough situation for the carrier because many jurisdictions are reluctant to overturn a violation that a court has dismissed. It’s best to take the same approach you take in a regular DataQs correction: be quick, specific, concise and factual.
Contact State Officials
Steve Bryan of Vigillo added the third fundamental: that while CSA is a federal program it is administered to some extent by 50 separate entities. Most people don’t look at DataQs as a state-specific system, but that’s what it is, Bryan said.
Vigillo’s data shows that the companies that are most successful in their DataQs challenges are the ones that know how each state handles the citations.
California, Kansas and Florida, for instance, are among those that often respond positively to DataQs challenges, while New Mexico, Missouri and Michigan are less responsive.
At the same time, some states have a tendency to make the same kind of mistake, such as assigning the inspection to the wrong carrier. Oddly, the same state may be better at assigning a crash to the right carrier.
In Bryan’s experience, the solution is to contact the state and get to know the people. From his customers he hears stories of two companies having completely opposite experiences in the same state.
“Getting a personal relationship developed with state people is key,” he said.
The best way to do that? Reach out to the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, the enforcement-industry group that sets enforcement policy for North America, he said.
Cordova suggested joining CVSA as an associate member, but said in any event the group’s web site lists key state contacts.
Hicks added that he’s had success going directly to the source. His company was getting an unusual number of citations at a particular roadside inspection station, so he went there, met the personnel to learn how they were working, and got the situation turned around.
At the same time, it’s important not to waste energy where there’s little chance of success, Bryan said. If you fail to get a correction it makes sense to appeal if you have new information, but don’t pursue it just because it’s wrong.
“At the end of the day, the better strategy may be to look for other CSA points you can reduce,” he said.
Joe White
CEO-CostDown Consulting
Increasingly, trucking company owners and CEOs are establishing truck driver pay-for-performance (P4P) programs comprised of defined performance goals and bonus pay when goals are met.
However, P4P is part, and only part, of a bigger program called ‘performance management’ and truck drivers are part, and only part, of a trucking company’s total employees. When a performance management program (PMP) is incomplete in terms of content, employee scope or both; a trucking company has a much greater chance of failure.
The four cornerstones of a successful PMP are:
• Value-focused Job Descriptions
• Performance Goals
• Financial Rewards based on Goal Achievement
• Best Activities Training
Since truck driver pay-for-performance has received most of the recent press, we’ll instead explore the profitability opportunity trucking companies can receive from a PMP for management personnel using a VP of Sales position as our example employee.
A traditional job description for a VP of Sales has as its main focus revenue growth (after all, the word ‘sales’ is in his/her title). But is that the best focus? Is revenue growth the greatest value opportunity of the VP of Sales position?
Consider this…
Freight networks are dynamic and full of costly inefficiencies such as empty lanes, underrated freight and frequent delays. Additionally, a network’s customer portfolio can be dangerously over weighted allowing a handful of large shippers to dictate unprofitable pricing and operating conditions. The geographic reach of the network is also important as it affects home time, hiring regions and driver productivity.
Revenue growth by itself will not fix these issues. Unfortunately, the top sales employee in many trucking companies is often not assigned specific responsibility and goals for addressing similar network cost concerns even though that position has the greatest influence with the customer base.
An effective PMP begins with developing job descriptions that clearly define the responsibilities that provide the greatest value for specific positions within the organization. Even a job title by itself can suggest (and possibly misdirect) a focus of responsibility. If our VP of Sales was instead titled VP of Network Optimization and assigned responsibility for addressing specific network issues and revenue growth, might not he/she add more value?
Our retitled VP of Network Optimization’s revised job description and performance goals could include eliminating deadhead miles (sales for empty lanes), reducing driver detention, improving customer balance, increasing revenue, etc… Once value-based job descriptions and responsibilities are defined, the trucking company owner or CEO would then assign performance targets for those responsibilities and define the pay-for-performance bonus opportunity.
The final cornerstone of an effective PMP is ‘best activities’. A common industry example can be found on the driver side where many trucking companies have no idling policies and teach fuel-sipping driving techniques to support MPG goals.
A best activities example for our VP of Network Optimization might include working with the finance department to identify costliest detention points and developing cost summary business cases to bring to the customers. Another example could be securing Driver Manager approval before bidding on new traffic lanes to ensure network fit.
The goal of a PMP is to provide significant bottom line opportunity by narrowing the performance gap between current and optimal employee performance. This is just as important for the executive group as it is for truck drivers. By redirecting a department head’s responsibilities to increase the value he/she adds to the bottom line you are in effect redirecting the efforts of all the employees assigned to that executive. That provides a powerful opportunity for improved profitability.
PMPs should be developed for many middle managers also; especially those that have a significant influence on cost and profitability. The terminal manager and driver manager employee groups are of particular importance due to their influence on driver performance. Any employee that manages 20 – 50 drivers and makes literally hundreds of decisions a week that impact variable costs and profitability should be on a well-designed performance management program.
A PMP that lacks content will lack results. You can establish a 2,300 miles/week performance goal for drivers and offer quarterly bonuses when met but without driver training and coaching on how to improve productivity (best practices), results will fall short of expectations.
Likewise, a PMP that lacks employee scope will also lack results. Truck drivers may have very specific performance goals but if driver managers are not provided their own PMP with goals and financial incentives aligned with driver performance success, results will fall short of expectations.
Perhaps the most fundamental success factor of any organization is that the higher the employee performance, the more likely it is that the company will succeed. This holds true regardless of the size or type of an operation. Trucking companies that place serious effort into optimizing employee performance through use of a well-designed performance management program will be the most likely to succeed. Those that don’t – won’t.
About CostDown Consulting:
CostDown Consulting provides trucking companies with performance management, driver retention, driver manager training and operations audit services.
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