The CSA Safety Measurement System (SMS) Website has been updated with the September 26, 2014 snapshot. Starting with this snapshot and then all subsequent snapshots, the SMS integrates the results of adjudicated citations associated with inspections conducted on or after August 23, 2014 that have been processed through DataQs. Check your safety assessment now at: http://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/sms.
For more information on the adjudicated citations policy, check out a factsheet, a glossary of key terms and, most recently posted to the CSA Website, a presentation from the August webinars on the adjudicated citations policy and SMS display changes.
NOTE TO CARRIERS: There are two ways to access and view all of your safety data, including any results of adjudicated citations for inspections conducted on or after August 23, 2014 that have been processed through DataQs. Log into your Portal account (https://portal.fmcsa.dot.gov/login) or log into the SMS website with your FMCSA-issued U.S. DOT Number Personal Identification Number (PIN) (NOT a Docket Number PIN). If you do not know or have forgotten your PIN, you can request one via http://safer.fmcsa.dot.gov/ and follow the instructions on the page.
Enhancements to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability public Safety Measurement System website have gone live.
The agency said the design changes are intended to provide more intuitive navigation, and user-friendly features and descriptions to clarify SMS’s role as FMCSA’s prioritization tool for interventions. They also will consolidate agency safety information so users do not have to go to multiple sites, and provide improved access to detailed information and new performance-monitoring tools.
SMS uses data collected from roadside inspections, state-reported crashes and investigations to quantify the relative safety performance of motor carriers. The agency uses the data to prioritize high-risk motor carriers, allocate its investigative resources and identify motor carriers for other actions such as a warning letter.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Dan Murray
(651) 641-6162
July 31, 2014
The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), the trucking industry’s not-for-profit research organization, today released its newest study, Evaluating the Impact of Commercial Motor Vehicle Enforcement Disparities on Carrier Safety Performance. According to Steve Niswander, Vice President, Safety Policy & Regulatory Relations of Groendyke Transportation and ATRI Research Advisory Committee (RAC) Chairman, “This assessment was ranked as the number one research issue for the industry during our annual RAC meeting in 2013 and its impact on the industry should be significant.”
This landmark analysis documents the necessity for some flexibility in developing enforcement strategies specific to a state’s needs, but also confirms that state enforcement disparities create uneven safety playing fields for carriers that have different operating patterns and mileage exposure in the lower 48 states.
Furthermore, the different priorities and violation issuance rates across states dramatically undermine the uniformity of CSA – a supposedly standardized safety assessment program. By simply crossing into an adjoining state, carrier BASIC scores can change markedly. For example, ATRI’s model calculated one carrier’s Hours-of-Service percentile decreasing by 4.2 points, but their Vehicle Maintenance percentile increasing by 12.2 points if state violation rates were normalized. Finally, based on two nationally recognized violation lists most closely associated with future crash risk, ATRI’s research documents considerable variability in state emphasis on those violations that generate the greatest safety benefit.
ATRI’s research findings generate from four specific tasks:
State Data Metrics Compendium which compares and contrasts several dozen safety and operational metrics for the lower 48 states.
Relating Violations to Crash Risk Analysis reveals that while certain violations have a stronger relationship to crash risk, these violations may not be equitably emphasized across states.
State Enforcement Objective Case Studies evaluate the impact of six specific state enforcement priorities on actual safety outcomes.
Carrier Case Studies quantify the impact of state enforcement disparities on specific motor carrier safety measures within the Safety Measurement System (SMS), based on an ATRI-developed model that assesses the impact that standardizing state enforcement activities would have on SMS scores across seven carriers.
“ATRI’s study unequivocally quantifies what we know is a serious defect in the CSA scoring system – that carrier safety performance as represented by BASIC scores can be dramatically impacted by the states in which a carrier operates based on nothing more than the states’ varying enforcement priorities. Until these disparities are rectified, peer-based comparisons within CSA’s scoring system will continue to be flawed and of little value as a tool for monitoring carrier and driver safety performance unless accounted for properly,” commented Brett Sant, Knight Transportation’s Vice President of Safety and Risk Management and a member of ATRI’s Research Advisory Committee.
A copy of the study results is available here.
ATRI is the trucking industry’s 501(c)(3) not-for-profit research organization. It is engaged in critical research relating to freight transportation’s essential role in maintaining a safe, secure and efficient transportation system.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announces a package of enhancements to the Safety Measurement System (SMS) website. SMS is an automated system that quantifies the on-road safety performance of commercial truck and bus companies that is used to identify and prioritize high-risk carriers for enforcement interventions, including increased roadside inspections and compliance reviews.
The enhancements provide clearer descriptions and easier, more intuitive navigation features. The enhancements were derived from feedback solicited from motor carriers, law enforcement personnel, industry representatives and other stakeholders who were given an opportunity to critique various website enhancement proposals.
The changes to the SMS website do not alter the SMS methodology or affect a carrier’s safety rating, which is subject to 49 CFR part 385, Safety Fitness Procedures. The enhancements are a continuation of FMCSA’s efforts, first announced in April 2010, to provide the motor carrier industry and other safety stakeholders with more comprehensive, informative, and regularly updated safety performance data.
FMCSA will implement the SMS website enhancements by August 4, 2014. To assist users in adapting to the SMS website enhancements, FMCSA will hold three educational webinars, with two on August 20, 2014 (10:00-11:30 a.m. and 2:00-3:30 p.m.), and a third to be held on August 21, 2014 (2:00-3:30 p.m.). Webinar participants will be able to ask questions and receive real-time responses. Additionally during the webinars, FMCSA staff will discuss and answer questions on the Agency’s new adjudicated citations policy, which takes effect August 23, 2014. A full copy of the Federal Register notice is available here.
To register for one of the upcoming three educational webinars, visit:
http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/sites/fmcsa.dot.gov/files/docs/SMS_Display_Changes-New_Adjudicated_Citations_Policy_Webinar_2014.pdf
Overview of FMCSA’s Safety Measurement System Display Enhancements and New Adjudicated Citations Policy: Industry Webinar Briefing
The FMCSA National Training Center (NTC) is pleased to offer this webinar to inform Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) public and industry partners of the final enhancements to the display of information on the Safety Measurement System (SMS) public website (http://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/sms) and outline changes to the Agency’s Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS) being implemented to improve uniformity in inspection violation data. The webinar will be offered three times in August.
SMS Display Enhancements: FMCSA completed these changes to the design of the SMS public website after careful review and consideration of the comments received in response to the November 2013 Federal Register Notice announcing the preview of the proposed display changes. These enhancements do not modify or change the SMS Methodology.
Changes to MCMIS: FMCSA announced in a June 2014 Federal Register Notice (79 FRN 32491 at https://federalregister.gov/a/2014-13022) that it would proceed with a new policy to reflect the results of adjudicated citations related to roadside inspection violation. This announcement followed a December 2013 Federal Register Notice initially proposing the policy, which has received widespread support in the commercial motor vehicle industry. The policy only applies to inspections conducted on or after August 23, 2014, and is not implemented retroactively.
Target Audience: Public users of safety data, Motor Carriers and other Industry Safety Stakeholders
Webinar Dates and Registration
The webinar will be presented 3 times in August:
• Wednesday, August 20, 2014, 10:00–11:30 a.m. Eastern Time
• Wednesday, August 20, 2014, 2:00–3:30 p.m. Eastern Time
• Thursday, August 21, 2014, 2:00–3:30 p.m. Eastern Time
Links to registration can be found online at:
http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/sites/fmcsa.dot.gov/files/docs/SMS_Display_Changes-New_Adjudicated_Citations_Policy_Webinar_2014.pdf
Contacts for Registration Questions
For any general questions regarding these webinars, contact Kirse Kelly (kirse.kelly@dot.gov or 703-235-1324).
If you put off registration until the day of the session and need assistance right before the webinar, please contact another member of the FMCSA NTC Webinar Team:
• Beyonca Jones (beyonca.jones@chitraproductions.com or 703-235-0501)
• JT Threlfall (james.threlfall.ctr@dot.gov or 703-235-0504)
• Rena Baker (rena.baker.ctr@dot.gov or 703-235-1335)
