An initial batch of 23,000 Compliance, Safety, Accountability program warning letters are now being dispatched by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to fleets as the agency commences interventions in its new program.
Boyd Stephenson, manager of safety and security for American Trucking Associations, confirmed that over the next few months, a total of at least 50,000 warning letters will be distributed.
The warning letters are served to carriers admonishing them that their performance earned “alert” status by descending below agreeable levels on at least one of CSA’s Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories, also known as BASICs.
Those Basics, namely unsafe or fatigued driving, establish the statistical core of CSA’s safety measurement system, which distributes a percentage ranking on each BASIC and sets up boundaries. Warning letters are sent when one oversteps the boundary levels.
John Van Steenburg, director of FMCSA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance, writes in these alert letters: “A review of [carrier name] safety data shows a lack of compliance with motor carrier safety regulations and suggests that your safety performance has fallen to an unacceptable level.”
Candice Tolliver, the agency’s spokeswoman, declared that over the next two months both trucking and bus firms can expect the letters, however she couldn’t say accurately the number of letters that went to truck fleets.
Based on FMCSA statistics that counted 650,000 carriers, nearly 8% of carriers will be given warning letters.
Executive director of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, Stephen Keppler, explained warning letters are a crucial step because they quadrupled the number of carriers confronting active FMCSA intervention. The agency intervened against just 2% of carriers under the former SafeStat system.
Keppler admits that since there is no prior point of comparison to show whether advancement was taking place, judging the industry safety levels based on the number of warning letters proved to be challenging.
If carriers performance doesn't improve warning letters can be followed by off-site or on-site investigations. There is no time limit place with regard to answering the letters. Development of a cooperative safety plan, imposition of civil penalties, suspension or revocation of vehicle registration, or revocation of operating authority were incorporated in the agency's enforcement options.
“Just because you get a warning letter doesn’t mean you are a bad carrier,” Keppler explained, remarking that the agency’s tightest concentration will be on 7,900 highest-risk carriers with the dreadful safety performance.
Keppler said, “The important thing is that folks who get these things pay attention.” He added that he was comforted to see more than half of the carriers who were given warnings during the CSA pilot test period took effective corrective action.
Joe Rajkovacz's, director of regulatory affairs for the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, message is for the members not to freak out if they are in alert status. He explained that the letters were an expected step, based on the progressive enforcement of CSA.
Stephenson of ATA said, FMCSA adopted the moderate approach to forwarding the letters because “the agency was concerned about overwhelming both the industry and their [own] staff by sending them out all at once.”
Fleets getting the letters are prone to heightened roadside inspections. The agency included a “tip sheet” on its website that offers recommendations on the move the fleet must undertake after a letter arrives, this is to assist fleets improve compliance.
It is recommended to fleets for them to conduct a thorough analysis of their safety data and take necessary undertakings to improve compliance.
Those undertakings include inspecting data for accuracy, adjusting any errors, have knowledge of the Safety Measurement System used to compute the scores, and utilizing a detailed analysis to boost compliance.
For the moment, a new report has drawn attention to FMCSA’s plan to intensely optimize financing and staffing for CSA.
The Government Accountability Office's Feb. 25 report declared the agency requisitioned $78 million in its CSA budget for fiscal 2012, against with $9.5 million it spent in fiscal 2010.
The information was demanded by the Republican and Democratic chairmen of the congressional transportation appropriations subcommittees in conjunction with their ranking minority members, who showed interest regarding past funding levels.
All in all, FMCSA seriously thinks about having 696 employees working full time on the program, the report stated. Comparing it to the 2009 program where 45 people are involved, and just five full-time employees on board.