What is a Compliance, Safety, and Accountability (CSA) BASIC Score?

Kathy Close

A CSA BASIC (Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Category) score is a percentile ranking used to compare a motor carrier against its peers to assist in identify high-risk carriers.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) generates CSA BASIC scores for the following seven categories:

• Unsafe Driving: Dangerous or careless operation of commercial motor vehicles (CMVs).
• Hours of Service Compliance: Driving CMVs when ill, fatigued, or in violation of the hours-of-service rules.
• Driver Fitness: Operation of CMVs by drivers who are unfit to operate a CMV due to lack of training, experience, or medical qualification.
• Controlled Substances and Alcohol: Operation of a CMV while impaired due to alcohol, illegal drugs, and misuse of prescription medications or over-the-counter medications.
• Vehicle Maintenance: CMV failure due to improper or inadequate maintenance or inadequate cargo securement.
• Hazardous Materials (HM) Compliance: Unsafe marking, handling, or transportation of hazardous materials in an amount requiring a placard.
• Crash-Related: Histories or patterns of CMV crashes, including frequency and severity.

How is a CSA BASIC score derived?

The FMCSA uses a motor carrier’s safety data that is transmitted by state and federal enforcement to the Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS). The past two years’ worth of roadside inspection and crash reports contain critical data elements used in CSA’s elaborate algorithms.

The algorithms provide carriers with a “measure” for each BASIC, taking into consideration:

• The severity of a roadside inspection violation or crash,
• How recent the event took place, and
• The carrier’s level of exposure (i.e., vehicle miles traveled, the average number of power units, number of inspections)

This BASIC measure is then compared against similar motor carriers for the percentile ranking. The rank is on a scale of 1-100, with 100 being the worst-performing. This percentile ranking is the carrier’s BASIC score.

How is the percentile ranking used?

Those motor carriers that exceed a predetermined threshold for an individual BASIC score are subject to an intervention by the FMCSA.

Interventions include:

• Warning letters advising of apparent safety problems and the potential consequences.
• Targeted roadside inspections to verify that the warning letters are being taken seriously.
• Offsite investigations that involve the collection and reviewing of documents at an FMCSA location.
• Focused onsite investigations at the motor carrier’s place of business, focusing on a specific safety problem.
• Comprehensive onsite investigations that occur at the motor carrier’s place of business.
• Cooperative safety plans developed and followed voluntarily by a motor carrier to address safety problems.
• Notices of violation to put a carrier on notice of specific regulatory violations that need to be corrected “or else.”
• Settlement agreements to contractually bind a motor carrier to take actions that improve safety.
• Notices of claims to levy a fine and compel compliance in the case of “severe” or repeat violations.

The intervention taken by the FMCSA is not sequential. If a carrier has multiple BASICs exceeding the thresholds and/or scores close to 100 percent, the agency will probably go straight to an investigation. A carrier can only be placed out of service based on the results of a comprehensive investigation since it contains elements of a compliance review.

How Can I Lower My CSA BASIC Scores?

The data used in the CSA formulas are only used for 24 months. As a result, you can only lower your CSA scores over time, by accumulating recent, violation-free inspections, and by avoiding crashes.

To improve your performance data, you should:

• Examine the violations that are scored in each BASIC,
• Look for trends (e.g., same driver or location), and
• Find a root cause for the safety event.

You should use this information to come up with a safety plan to avoid future violations and crashes. If the safety performance does not improve, you’ll have to re-evaluate its findings (find the real root cause) and apply another remedy until the issue is resolved.

To view your CSA scores and data, you must log into the CSA Safety Measurement System website. You can only access the carrier view of the SMS via an FMCSA Portal account. You also need a Login.gov username and password, since an account is required to securely log into any federal website such as the Portal and SMS.

The public view of the SMS does not require any type of logging into the database and can be accessed directly from the SMS website. This view allows carriers, customers, insurance providers, potential employees access, and any other member of the public access to the carrier’s raw data. However, they will not see a property-carrier’s BASIC scores. Passenger-carrier BASIC scores are visible in the public view with the exception of the Crash Indicator and Hazardous Materials Compliance BASICs.

Drivers’ names will not appear on roadside inspection or crash reports for property or passenger carriers.

ATRI: VALUE OF RISK AND SAFETY PER ANNUAL OPERATING EXPENSE

Doug Marcello

WHY IT MATTERS:  The value of safety and risk is not theoretical.  ATRI’s
Annual Operational Cost of Trucking Study quantifies its value and importance to the bottom line.  And with anticipated premium increases, it is now more vital than ever to reduce risk so that an insurance captive is a financially viable alternative for your company.

THE BIG PICTURE:  I recently wrote that safety was an investment, not a cost.  Management and operations should not think of it as a burden, but as a protection of the bottom line.

This value is brought home by ATRI’s Annual Operational Cost of Trucking Study for 2024.  Get a copy at An Analysis of the Operational Costs of Trucking: 2024 Update (truckingresearch.org)

Insurance and risk are major expenses.  The report quantifies the amount and demonstrates the crucial need to act to minimize this exposure.

THE NUMBERS:  For those in your organization that thrive on the quantifiable—you know, “if you can’t count it, it doesn’t exist—here are some data points for them.  And these do not include PD coverage.

–AVERAGE MARGINAL COST OF INSURANCE PREMIUM:  $.099 per mile or $3.99 per hour.

Think about it:  Your insurance costs you ten cent for every mile you run.  Four dollars for every hour your truck operates.

Consider that in relation to your rates.  And your bottom line.

The bad news—in 2014 premiums were $.071/mile and $2.86/hour.  That’s an increase of almost three cents per mile and almost $1.20/hour.

I became an attorney to avoid math, so check me. And I defer to the mathematically inclined to do the percentages.

These costs per mile vary per region of the country:

-Midwest: $0.083

-Northeast: $0.092

-Southeast:  $0.104

-Southwest:  $0.097

-West:  $0.105

And LTL’s—average cost at $0.045/mile.

-INCREASE-2022-2023:  Insurance premiums increased 12.5% in 2023 from the prior year.  ATRI did the math, so it is correct.

The only item to increase more was tolls (21.4%).  Wages “only” increased 7.6% and benefits only 2.7%.

Worse news—the “word” is that last year’s premium increase percentage will pale in comparison to this year.  I’m hearing increases of 15%-25% this year.

-TOTAL COST OF RISK:  Premiums are just the beginning.  If you’ve read my articles or heard me talk, it is the Total Cost of Risk that matters.

More importantly, it was a key element of the ATRI study on Impact of Rising Insurance Costs on the Trucking Industry  The Impact of Rising Insurance Costs on the Trucking Industry (truckingresearch.org)

“Total Cost of Risk”?  Premium plus deductible/retention plus cost of risk reduction technology.

ATRI analyzed the first two—premium plus the out-of-pocket deductible/retention amount.  The overall industry average out-of-pocket expense per mile was $0.036 in 2023 (or $1.44 per hour). That would make a total (premiums + out-of-pocket expenses) of $0.135 per mile or $5.43 per hour.

What it found per the combined premium plus out-of-pocket expenses based on fleet size, was as follows:

-Less than 5 trucks:  $0.175/mile

-5-25 trucks:  $0.204/mile

-26-100 trucks:  $0.171/mile

-101-250 trucks: $0.136/mile

-251-1,000 trucks:  $0.132/mile

-More than 1,000:  $0.110/mile

ACTION:  Inactivity is not an option.  You must attack the problem as you would other costs. You’ve read and heard me before:

-Proactively prepare to avoid exposure—avoid “Death by Dogma”;

-Attack the “Dark Period” when billboard attorneys gin up damages;

-Respond immediately—prepare today for accident response

-Litigate aggressively and be prepared to go to trial.

BOTTOM LINE:  It’s the bottom line.  A bottom line impacted by insurance premiums and out-of-pocket payments.  Further proof that safety is not an expense as much as an investment.

How Will AI Impact the Trucking Industry?

Michael McCareins

Artificial intelligence is becoming an increasingly popular global topic. From February 2022 to February 2024, Google searches for “AI” rose by a staggering 1000%, highlighting a common interest in just how impactful AI can become and what the implications might be.

The trucking industry is not exempt from those impacts. Self-driving cars have arrived and are here to stay. Therefore, you might think it’s only a matter of time before the arrival of self-driving trucks. If so, when might we see self-driving trucks on the road, and will truckers eventually be replaced by AI?

We’ll touch on these questions throughout this article, but it’s important to understand that there are other questions to ask and topics to consider beyond self-driving trucks when it comes to AI in trucking—especially considering AI is already impacting the trucking industry in a variety of ways.

Trucking business owners and anyone entering the industry should have an idea of the implications of AI in trucking. By knowing all of the AI-powered tools, how they’ve affected the trucking industry, and how they might be enhanced over time, you’ll likely be able to discover new ways to increase efficiency in your role.

What Is Artificial Intelligence?

Any machinery or software, such as a computer system, that is able to mimic human intelligence processes is considered artificial intelligence. Some of the most widely utilized examples of AI in society include the autocorrect feature on phones, navigation systems that can make real-time updates, voice-activated systems, and facial recognition.

While an AI-driven system like ChatGPT might make one assume these high-powered AI tools have suddenly advanced out of nowhere, it’s instead been a gradual progression and enhancement of these tools over time. This will continue to be the case moving forward.

AI Trucking Examples: How AI Is Currently Impacting the Trucking Industry

Artificial intelligence could have a massive impact on the trucking industry in the following years and decades, but it’s useful to understand that AI-powered tools have long been available in trucking. These tools have collectively made a major impact on how processes throughout the supply chain work. Below are a few examples.

AI Route Planning

In trucking, AI route planning occurs when a machine learning system relies on real-time data from GPS devices, traffic cameras, user-submitted traffic reports, and more to deduce the most efficient route for a truck or other delivery vehicle. Obviously, AI for route planning is utilized outside of the trucking realm as well. The vast majority of people use AI route optimization to find the quickest way to their destinations thanks to machines that can understand real-time data and output the most efficient solution based on said data.

Driver Assistance and Accident Prevention Systems

Automated driver assistance systems (ADAS) rely on both sensor technologies and AI processing algorithms to gauge the existing setting that a vehicle finds itself in. ADAS have become the norm in trucking, and the impact it’s made has been nothing short of lifesaving. ADAS systems have reduced vehicle accidents by 44%.

For instance, ADAS-powered systems detect blind spots and alert drivers to potentially unseen vehicles in their peripherals. This is hugely beneficial for truckers specifically, given that truck blind spots can extend up to 30 feet behind the trailer.

Other life-saving assistance features for truck drivers include automatic emergency braking and collision avoidance systems (CAS), which flash alerts to truckers before impending collisions. Even if a collision does unfortunately occur, the second or two of warning can save lives.

Driver Monitoring Systems

Driver monitoring systems (DMS) are specifically designed to detect distracted or tired drivers before an accident happens.

In trucking, one of the biggest challenges is preventing tired drivers from being behind the wheel. Truckers are in high demand, meaning existing truckers are forced to work longer hours, increasing the risk of accidents caused by drowsy truckers.

Driver monitoring systems often come in the form of sensors—such as wearable devices that detect signs of fatigue and alert drivers when it’s time to take a break. In some cases, these sensors can even track eye movements and other human cognitive states.

If a sensor detects fatigue, the application can take its intervention one step further thanks to AI. The system will suggest nearby rest stops or safe areas where a trucker can pull over, even suggesting nearby hotels or places to stay.

Predictive Maintenance

Predictive maintenance takes preventative maintenance one step further. While preventative maintenance involves simply performing routine maintenance check-ups to prevent future vehicle issues, predictive maintenance combines historical data with real-time monitoring to detect patterns that might suggest a piece of equipment might break or fail.

Given that equipment repairs and maintenance are some of the costliest expenses for owner-operators, this not only leads to safer vehicles, but also saves money.

Increased Data Consumption

Computer systems being able to consume large quantities of data isn’t an artificial intelligence process in itself, but trucking businesses have leveraged AI to take this data and turn it into actionable insights.

For instance, after inputting fuel consumption data, an AI-driven system can correspond said fuel data with vehicle types and even driver habits, revealing the efficiency of specific vehicles or truck drivers on their routes. This type of performance data can teach drivers how and where to improve; and on a larger scale, it can uncover significant cost-saving measures for trucking businesses.

Virtual Reality Systems for Driver Training

Virtual reality isn’t explicitly AI, but AI algorithms are required to create virtual reality environments.

In trucking, virtual reality is used for driver training. The combination of VR and AI allows drivers-in-training to experience simulations in the first person, preparing them for realistic, challenging situations behind the wheel. This can include configuring narrow turns, poor road conditions, severe weather conditions, or mountainous terrain.

Efficiency and Cost-Saving Measures

All of these above examples of AI in the trucking industry provide opportunities for trucking business owners to implement efficient and cost-saving measures in their business.

Even something as simple as route planning and real-time navigation is powered by AI. Imagine how difficult it would be to run a trucking business without a digitized map! Training methods for commercial truck drivers would look drastically different; VR (backed by AI algorithms) creates simulations that have become a significant chunk of the education required to become a driver. Predictive maintenance prevents trucking business owners from having to spend tens of thousands of dollars on broken equipment. Computers can analyze huge swaths of data and produce new data that can eventually prompt far more cost-efficient processes.

Owner-operators might be unaware of AI’s full presence and impact in the industry, but without it, their day-to-day life would look drastically different—and their pockets far emptier.

How Might AI Impact the Trucking Industry in the Future?

Now that you have an idea of how artificial intelligence is impacting the trucking industry right now, let’s look toward the future.

Increased Safety and Accident Prevention Measures

As technologies continue advancing, AI capabilities will become even more powerful.

Consider this: an emerging AI platform can scan drivers’ micro-muscle movements, which are reflective of brain activity that determines cognitive states, revealing how focused they are on the road. While this mechanism is only the result of a small startup company, it’s fair to assume that inventions like these will increasingly tap into mainstream business as years pass.

Additional Costs for Trucking Businesses

As AI technologies are introduced, owner-operators will need to keep up. Implementing these devices, training employees on how to use them, and managing them over time will become just another cost of starting a trucking business.

Ever-Changing Job Responsibilities and Day-to-Days of a Trucker

It’s no secret that experienced truck drivers have had a hard time keeping up with all of the emerging technologies. And for some, the constant technological oversight—such as electronic logging devices (ELDs) that monitor essentially every movement from within the cabin—has proven aggravating. These ELDs and AI-powered surveillance devices have made many truckers believe that they aren’t trusted by their employers, despite being in place to increase safety and efficiency.

Potential for Newfound Legal Implications

As automation progresses, the government will have to keep up by implementing rules and regulations for trucking businesses to adhere to.

New laws regulating AI are important. However, as it stands, the U.S. doesn’t have a federal law surrounding the use of AI. Artificial intelligence legislation is widely different on a state-by-state basis. Meanwhile, in 2023 the EU invoked the AI Act, which became the world’s first comprehensive AI law. In short, this act ensures any new use of AI does not pose a systemic risk.

The lack of wide-scale regulations involving AI could prove difficult for owner-operators to navigate. But if, or when, any government restrictions or laws on AI are passed, it will be critical for trucking business owners to gain an understanding of how it could affect their businesses, along with implementing this information into their new driver training.

Different Job Opportunities

Will trucking jobs be replaced by robots? This is a tricky question when it comes to AI.

There are plenty of unknowns pertaining to how AI will affect specific trucking roles in the future. But we do know one thing: jobs in trucking will look different because of artificial intelligence. We already have examples of this throughout the vast majority of professions. Many positions in the trucking industry require workers to input and analyze data produced by AI before using problem-solving skills to come up with takeaways from the data. As trucking industry employees gain experience with doing so, it can eventually qualify them for positions such as data analysts and logistics managers. In fact, data analysts across all industries are expected to increase by 25% through 2029.

Furthermore, drivers will be required to know how to interact with new AI inventions to keep up. There might even be blended roles—positions where tasks are commonly completed by AI-powered systems but need human oversight.

That brings us to the most intriguing dilemma surrounding AI in trucking: the emergence of autonomous semi trucks.

Self-Driving Trucks: Possible or Not?

So, will AI replace truck drivers? It’s a legitimate question. You see self-driving personal vehicles on the road, so it’s inevitable that self-driving trucks are in the works. But when?

We could be only a few years away. In early 2024, one self-driving trucking firm announced they had finalized the design of a self-driving trucking system that could be ready for use by 2027.

However, reports show that we won’t see self-driving trucks on the road en masse for several years, if not decades. A more realistic short-term scenario is hybrid trucks, where autonomous trucks are monitored through the presence of a human. Sure, the job responsibilities might look different, but human oversight would still be required.

While yes, there is a future where AI could replace truck drivers, these autonomous vehicles will still require human supervision and control as they are first introduced. We’re not close to a world where driverless semi-trucks can be trusted on the road.

Implications of AI in Trucking: Weighing the Pros and the Cons

There are undoubtedly both benefits and potential pitfalls of AI’s integration in the trucking industry.

Pros of AI in Trucking

The benefits of AI in trucking are significant. We’ve already seen proven positive results of AI’s integration into the trucking industry via driver assistance and specific accident prevention features reducing the number of trucking-related accidents.

Virtual reality wouldn’t be possible without AI, and it’s been a huge help for helping new drivers learn how to navigate tricky situations such as driving in mountainous terrain, driving in tough weather conditions, and making narrow turns.

AI route planning, which is the result of GPS systems using real-time data to inform drivers of the quickest routes, ensures optimal efficiency for trucking businesses when their drivers are on the road. This is just one example of AI in trucking acting as a cost-saving measure. Predictive maintenance features also prevent major, unexpected truck system failures, alerting drivers of dormant issues before the problem turns even more costly and a truck breaks down while on the road.

Finally, while self-driving trucks do pose a threat to the driver workforce (a significant con in itself), the possibility of fully autonomous semi-trucks does offer a glimpse into a future where trucking businesses don’t have to devote as much of their budget to hiring drivers. There’s also a national truck driver shortage, so these automated trucks could be a positive from the trucking business owner point of view. And from drivers’ perspective, even driverless semis would still require human supervision and intervention, possibly creating an entirely different sector of jobs.

Cons of AI in Trucking

The most newsworthy and potentially impactful con of AI in trucking is the possibility of the possibility of truck drivers being replaced by AI. In the U.S. alone, this puts the 3.5 million people who make a living driving trucks at odds. However, since we’re by all accounts several years away from this posing a real threat to the workforce, there isn’t a whole lot of data surrounding what this might exactly mean for the workforce.

On a smaller scale, the downsides of AIs integration in the trucking industry include the possibility of overreliance, misuse, or failed oversight of AI-powered safety features. There are potential legal ramifications for trucking companies who don’t do their due diligence. And to implement all of these features can prove costly for new or small owner-operators who are operating on a tight budget.

As for truck drivers, job responsibilities and required skill sets are also ever changing thanks to the introduction of advanced technology. This can be difficult for more experienced drivers who never had to worry about knowing how AI-powered systems and devices operate when they first began their careers.

In-Summary: How Will AI Impact Trucking?

The question, “how will AI impact trucking,” is one that we already know much of the answer to because its impact has already been felt. Many drivers may not realize just how much of their experience when operating a vehicle has already been altered by AI. Predictive maintenance, accident prevention measures such as lane change assist, and AI route planning all play massive roles for standard motor vehicle drivers and truck drivers alike.

That said, there’s a long way to go for AI in trucking. Semi-trucks are getting more autonomous by the year, and a future of completely self-driving trucks is very much something the entire industry needs to prepare for. However, we’re yet to fully understand what the ramifications of the future might be.

Trucking Attorneys Need to Get Aggressive, Expert Says

Plaintiff Lawyers Put Transportation Industry in Crosshairs of ‘Destructive Machine’

Eric Miller

INDIANAPOLIS — Litigation psychologist Bill Kanasky has a few rather frank words of advice for truckers and their attorneys facing potential nuclear verdicts: Get in the game early, get more aggressive and prepare your defense witnesses so that they don’t say something dumb in depositions.

Truckers should know that plaintiff attorneys in trucking-involved crashes are the “bad guys who exploit the system” and will strike hard and fast in a lawsuit, according to Kanasky, a longtime observer of courtroom tactics as senior vice president of litigation psychology at Courtroom Sciences Inc.

“The transportation industry is in the crosshairs of the plaintiffs’ bar, a very well coordinated, oiled, highly effective destructive machine,” he said.

“The odds are they’re planning that the defense won’t be ready,” Kanasky told a large group of executives attending a June 2 session at the Truckload Carriers Association’s Safety and Security Meeting. “The trucking industry needs a major, major change in philosophy to get more aggressive. Your world is changing.”

As for plaintiff attorneys, Kanasky said they have been very open, publicly stating that their objectives are to go after the big money in lawsuits.

“That’s how arrogant they are,” he said. “The first step to getting nuclear verdicts or nuclear settlements is attacking your witnesses, your corporate reps, your safety directors, your heads of HR, your drivers, ripping them to shreds. That’s in a deposition, it’s on video and an incredible amount of economic leverage going forth. That’s the first step.”

Then they do a lot of testing of their cases with mock juries to figure out if they have a winner, Kanasky said.

“They figure it out before your legal team figures it out,” he said. “Then we’re in the first quarter of the football game and the score is 21-0. If you learn one thing, learn this: You’ve got to win the battle in these depositions.”

If not, then plaintiff attorneys will seek excessive demands, he added.

“They have figured out everything about the case, and you don’t have a clue about it,” Kanasky said. “Some of them think why take the settlement money — go to the courtroom, get a massive nuclear verdict.”

Such legal moves by plaintiff attorneys have been called the “reptile method,” a tactic that attempts to convince juries that in accidents with trucks, they need to send messages with large verdict awards.

Truckers commonly express concerns about lawyers on billboards trying to solicit clients involved in accidents with large trucks. But Kanasky says they’re not the worst problems. They tend to move on after getting quick settlements that are much smaller than those the more serious plaintiff attorneys are looking for.

“They’re beatable. You just have to know how to play the game,” he said. “What they do is increase the number of claims, but they don’t increase nuclear verdicts.”

Kanasky said bad depositions are preventable, but there are a number of reasons that truckers get into trouble during depositions that can virtually guarantee a nuclear verdict. Some of them include:

• Problem witnesses who are unable to answer the difficult questions that plaintiff attorneys use to lead them down a dangerous path
• An ineffective witness testimony strategy when a trucking witness is argumentative and tries to win the deposition
• An emotional witness who gets easily upset during questioning
• A witness who has a “cognitive breakdown”

How to mount an effective DataQs challenge

Todd Dills & Max Heine

Clark Freight Lines, with 180 trucks, used to routinely file lots of DataQs RDRs (Requests for Data Review) but met with little success, said Vice President Danny Schnautz. He gave the example of a violation for an air leak that wasn’t in fact a safety violation.

“What we found out was it made the police department really mad,” he said, particularly when the challenge was filed with little in the way of hard evidence. “Now we don’t dispute it unless we have real proof.”

Depending on what the violation is, and how attentive to the allegation any individual operator was during the inspection, such well-backed cases might be few and far between. Even photographic proof, sometimes, doesn’t do the trick if it’s less than conclusive, Schnautz said.

He and others bring plenty of advice to the table about pursuing RDRs.

Navigating the system itself can be one challenge, but the most common hurdle is gathering enough evidence to make a persuasive case.

Focus on evidence and facts

As Schnautz suggests, setting up a successful DataQ begins at the scene of the crash or routine roadside or weigh station inspection. “I’ve worked with thousands of DataQs,” said Chris Turner, CVSA’s director of crash and data programs and a former Kansas Highway Patrol officer. “The best thing you can do as a carrier is to make sure your DataQ is legitimate.” Before ever filing, have the evidence on hand to communicate “not just where you feel something is wrong. Make sure you have an underlying set of facts that this is wrong.”

In Eagle Express owner Leander Richmond’s case detailed in the first part of this series, he came armed with the set of facts that accompanied his driver being pulled over and inspected, where a violation of the federal handheld-cell-use regulation was noted in an inspection report. He pointed to the language of that regulation, also adopted in Michigan state code (where his driver had been stopped), to show the rule as written was not violated by his driver.

Be savvy with your attitude

Eagle Express owner Leander Richmond eventually had to bring to enforcement’s attention the language of the federal handheld-cell-use regulation to finally convince them that his driver had not violated the law.Turner, formerly a trooper and leader with the Kansas Highway Patrol’s truck-enforcement unit, urged those receiving a violation to “ask the officer to explain it” at roadside. Too often, when drivers are stopped they “freeze up a little bit.” He encourages fleet managers to train drivers to really engage with the officer about his thinking when violations are written in the first place.

Understanding the officer’s rationale, if it turns out to be in contradiction with whatever regulation he/she believes you’re violating, will give you part of what you need in any eventual challenge.

An officer’s writeup might be clearly incorrect, but in RDR filing “you don’t necessarily want to tell the officer they’re wrong because it’s not going to be received that well,” said Christopher Haney, director of safety and human resources for Payne Trucking, a 130-truck fleet based in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Instead, focus on “the regulatory perspective.” Make sure you or your drivers know enough to be able to collect the evidence to show where an officer “may have misunderstood the situation.”

Document the scene and equipment

“After a crash,” Turner added, “make sure everybody’s OK, then take the time to walk from one side of the scene to the other and snap photographs and take pictures of any violation – you want as many of the violations to be [marked] post-crash as possible.” Equipment problems that resulted from the crash “won’t be counted in your [carrier] SMS or [driver] PSP” profiles, where violations records are kept and made available to the public and prospective employers.

Carriers and drivers who are diligent during roadside stops and post-crash inspections “have a way higher success rate” than others, Turner said.

In one case for Payne Trucking, the company had a crash reported to its profile because the officer recorded the car in the collision as requiring a tow-away from the scene. (Accidents are recordable and become associated with a carrier’s record if there’s a fatality, an injury, or vehicle damage sufficient to require a tow-away.) However, a dashcam in the Payne truck “showed the officer getting into the car and driving it around … to where the truck picked it up.” The evidence effectively removed the crash from the carrier’s profile.

Haney echoes Turner when it comes to post-crash inspections, too, and the need for on-scene diligence for any driver. A driver’s notes and pictures about post-accident damage can mitigate against an inspector’s failure or error in designating violations as caused by the accident, a problem Haney says has gotten less prevalent in recent years.

“If they don’t identify on the inspection that these were post-accident damage, then it gets counted on the CSA BASIC,” he said. Such errors must be challenged, he said. In some cases, “this determines whether or not you get insurance next year.”

Another source of on-the-scene facts can be notes made by the inspecting officer, Haney said, which many truckers and carriers don’t realize they can request. Those notes can provide helpful information, such as giving insight to the officer’s rationale behind a violation.

Preparing to file a DataQ

If you’ve never filed an RDR, you’ll need a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration portal login set up if you’re a carrier with authority to use to access the system. If you’re a driver or leased owner-op, establish a login directly within the DataQs system itself, via DataQs.FMCSA.DOT.gov. There you’ll see the login module and the “My DataQs” section, where you start any review request.

“Make sure you get all your ducks in a row before you submit the DataQ,” said Trooper Jeremy Disbrow of Arizona. He said the fairly intuitive system guides you through the process to attach evidence, whether photos or electronic-log data downloads or other supporting documents.

Before starting, though, make certain you have what an FMCSA spokesman, speaking on background, referred to as the “report number” for the record you’re challenging. That should be shown in the CSA Safety Measurement System profile for your business or the Pre-Employment Screening Program report if you’re a driver or leased operator.

A police accident report, for instance, will likely have a different report number, the spokesperson said, so be sure to use the right one. If you provide the right record number and the inspection and violation are already within the system, DataQs will pre-populate much of the other information that the agency normally requests — the inspection report number, the issuing state and date of inspection.

Be thorough and professional in filing

In your RDR, use language that shows intent to “be thoughtful, clear and concise in describing what the error is believed to be,” said the FMCSA spokesman, keeping in mind there are hardworking folks in the various state jurisdictions and in FMCSA itself on the other side of the computer “reading, reviewing and, ultimately, making a decision … The FMCSA team strives to conduct themselves with courtesy, professionalism and respect – and such mutuality is appreciated.”

By submitting all required and otherwise pertinent information up front, said Disbrow, “it helps us get through more quickly” once the request makes it way to the appropriate state jurisdiction, if need be. “Usually, doing a back-and-forth over the span of weeks is what delays that process when we have to keep requesting documents.”

Don’t forget the final step in the process. Too many filers “do not carefully read and follow the instructions on the DataQs website,” said the agency spokesman. “Occasionally, we will learn about requests being automatically closed or otherwise rejected for the simple reason that the requestor failed to click ‘submit.’”

After you’ve filed

Expect to wait a few weeks, or longer if you’re asked to submit other documents. The time to close reviews averages around two weeks, federal DataQs data shows.

If your request is denied, don’t be afraid to appeal, said CVSA’s Turner. While there’s not an actual “appeal” button in the system, Turner advises to use the “reply again” function to “ask for an appeal to a secondary level or for a state training officer to look at it. They can usually look at it and say, ‘Yeah, that’s right,’ or not.”

Some states, like Minnesota and Arizona, have appeals review boards they convene for intractable disputes, but most don’t. When requesting an appeal above the first level, Turner notes the possibility of asking for review of any officer-shot video or inspection notes if it conceivably would back your argument. 

Don’t neglect adjudicated citations

In 2014, FMCSA announced this policy for dealing with inspection-report-noted violations with associated citations adjudicated in a court of law. With the exception of a conviction of a lesser charge or the levy of punitive fines and court costs, adjudication of a citation can result in removal of the associated violation from carriers’ Safety Measure System profiles and drivers’ Pre-Employment Screening Program reports. The SMS record can be a key element of a carrier’s ability to do business with freight partners and obtain affordable insurance. Hiring carriers rely on drivers’ PSP reports in vetting backgrounds before a hiring decision is made.

Perhaps the simplest route toward success in a violation challenge is when you’ve received a not-guilty verdict on in the court system for something associated with the citation/ticket. In 2014, FMCSA introduced a policy to remove violations from its system or reduce severity weighting if a ticket was thrown out by the court or if the cited driver was convicted of a lesser charge.

While this can prove to be low-hanging fruit, it can take a lot of time. The agency will ask for the inspection report number, the issuing state and date of inspection. For the citation, then, it wants the citation/ticket number and associated violation codes on the inspection report. Copies of court documentation, too, are required, and copies of both the ticket and inspection report are recommended.

As illustrated in the graphic from Part 3 of this package, violation challenges associated with citation adjudication are more likely than any other category to be successful, so don’t neglect to file a DataQ after a favorable court resolution of a ticket.

In some cases, this isn’t an option. Inspection-reported-noted violations that accompany written warnings, such as for speeding, can’t be taken to court – and therefore adjudicated – because no citation was issued.

Why FMCSA keeps revoking ELDs, and how to tell if yours is next

Alex Lockie

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration recently revoked three electronic logging devices in a two-week span (One Plus ELD, ELD ONE and Nationwide ELD). Now, an ELD service provider is speaking up about what he feels has changed — and possible signs your ELD could be next on the chopping block.

Mike Riegel, who owns Blue Ink Tech (provider of the BIT ELD), recently wrote this story outlining how the FMCSA goes about reviewing and revoking ELDs. Riegel believes the agency is currently “cracking down on ELD providers who sell products that don’t 100% align with the ELD mandate,” and notes that any time a driver is transferring their hours data to an inspector, the inspector is checking that not just the driver, but the ELD itself, is compliant.

If the inspection does find issues with the ELD provider’s data, that provider gets an email like the one below, received by Riegel.

Messages like this from the FMCSA go out to ELD providers citing issues in the technical parameters, and requesting fixes.Courtesy of Mike Riegel

It’s important to note that Blue Ink Tech itself isn’t at risk of falling out of compliance and having its ELD revoked. “When an ELD data transfer is found to have errors, the FMCSA technical team will highlight the errors and request a plan of action to fix the issues within 72 hours,” Riegel wrote. “If there is no reply to the email, it is likely that more attempts will be made to get a plan of action, and if nothing comes back the provider will be revoked.”

But if the ELD provider does get back with a plan of action, he added he feels “the FMCSA will be pretty lenient and allow the provider the time they need to take the corrective action.”

Riegel provided context for the email above in response to Overdrive queries. It directly followed a roadside inspection of “one of our ELD customers,” he said. “It looks like their system is getting more advanced at picking out items that do not align 100% with the mandate. Our issues were small, and about the length of notations for [records of duty status] and the resolution of the GPS data while on Personal Conveyance. I think this advancement of finding issues during roadside inspections could be why the FMCSA is able to crack down on more of the ELD providers that are not following the mandate.”

The FMCSA wouldn’t say outright if there’s any new crackdown underway, or some new methodology, but didn’t deny it either.

“FMCSA has been actively monitoring compliance of ELDs since the implementation of the rule,” said an FMCSA spokesperson. “Our investigative process has certainly evolved, resulting in more efficient and sophisticated methods of identifying ELD vendor compliance issues, as well as ELD misuse.”

Riegel is also correct that roadside stops play a role in finding issues with ELDs, but FMCSA Compliance Investigations staff’s in-person carrier audits and other reviews “also play a vitally important role in identifying potential ELD issues,” the FMCSA spokesperson added.

How to tell if your ELD will be revoked

The FMCSA’s complete technical standards, with which ELD providers must comply, are laid out in voluminous detail in regulation. The revocation process is laid out there, too, and it includes required notice by the agency to the provider, a time frame for response, and consequences that follow. You can find that process in the “Removal of Listed Certification” section at the previous link. For an owner-operator, determining whether or not a provider is 100% complying with technical standards might seem an impenetrable task, but Riegel laid out what he felt could be common signs that an ELD isn’t long meant for the FMCSA’s certified-device registry.

His first recommendation boils down to this: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

If your ELD allows you to edit automatically recorded drive time, that’s never going to be compliant. “A common example of drive time editing is when a driver forgets to indicate Personal Use before moving their truck to a different parking spot. If you are able to edit that Driving status to PC or Off Duty, or if you are able to delete the status altogether, this should be cause for concern,” he wrote.

During the early days of the ELD mandate, the prior Automatic Onboard Recording Device standard did allow for editing automatically recorded drive time, though not by the driver. Under the AOBRD standard, those “back office” or administrator-account edits weren’t visible to roadside inspectors, either. The AOBRD grandfather period ended in late 2019, however, and under the current ELD standard, such drive-time edits are impossible. All edits otherwise, too, are visible at roadside with data transfer.

Other issues center around customer service and staying updated, in Riegel’s view. Poor technical support and customer issue resolution? Don’t expect that provider to be very responsive with timely communication to the FMCSA, either, in the event their compliance checks flag an issue. The ELD isn’t compatible with other APIs? Could be another bad sign that the ELD doesn’t play well with others, or might not be keeping up with the latest updates, wrote Riegel.

He also felt that “white-labeling,” when one company sells an ELD supported by another company’s technology, held potential to create barriers to timely updates. There’s nothing illegal about the practice of white labeling, of course. But if for instance the FMCSA reaches out to the original provider with an email like the one shown above, he felt the white-label version might miss the necessary updates to the original — opportunity for it, thus, to pop out of compliance.

Finally, he advised, it’s good practice to occasionally check in at the provider’s website for updates and timeliness. The FMCSA frequently reaches out to ELD providers to make updates. If the website feels like the lights are on but nobody’s home, it could be a sign that noncompliance looms just behind the next update.