The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is developing a new operational model through its Comprehensive Safety Analysis (CSA) 2010 initiative. The goal of CSA 2010 is to develop and implement more effective and efficient ways for FMCSA, its state partners, and industry to reduce commercial motor vehicle crashes, fatalities, and injuries. CSA 2010 will help FMCSA and its state partners contact more carriers and drivers, use improved data to better identify high risk carriers and drivers, and apply a wider range of interventions to correct high risk behavior.
There are concerns, however, for the industry as noted recently by the American Trucking Associations, Inc. 1) The recordable crash data does not identify whether the motor carrier is accountable for the crash; in turn, under the new CSMS methodology, the recordable crash data may identify a carrier for intervention without any determination of accountability. 2) Currently, the proposed CSA2010 methodology uses a carrier's number of units rather than the number of miles traveled, which can skew the measure of exposure. 3) All recorded moving violations, even those resulting in only warnings, are factored into the methodology; warnings lack due process to be challenged, yet the total score (including simple warnings) can affect a carrier's overall score in determining whether intervention is necessary.
With guidance and suggestions from the American Trucking Associations, Inc.'s, the U. S. Department of Transportation is continuing to analyze the Operational Model Test as the deployment date later this year approaches.
