The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Compliance Safety Accountability (CSA) Program kicked off on Monday. The centerpiece of the program, the Safety Measurement System (SMS), is geared toward improving commercial bus and truck safety and will analyze all safety-based violations from inspections and crash data to determine a motor carrier’s on-road performance. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement that the CSA Program “will help us more easily identify unsafe commercial truck and bus companies.”
The SMS uses seven safety improvement categories called BASICs to review a driver’s on-road performance. The BASICs are unsafe driving, fatigued driving, driver fitness, controlled substances/alcohol, vehicle maintenance, cargo-related and crash indicators. In the past, just four categories were examined. Violators will face early warning letters, targeted roadside inspections and compliance reviews. For more, visit www.csa.fmcsa.dot.gov.