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FMCSA Creating Two Year Pilot Program Allowing Removal of Certain Crashes from CSA Scores
In an announcement on July 12, 2016, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) outlined plans for a program that would allow motor carriers to remove certain non-preventable crashes from the motor carriers’ Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) public profile. Since its inception, the CSA has been routinely criticized by motor carriers for incorrectly classifying a motor carrier’s safety risk based on crash data. Under current standards, the FMCSA lists and considers all reportable crashes of a motor carrier, including those crashes for which a driver or carrier was not at fault.
Under the new pilot program, the FMCSA would provide for a crash-accountability review process. After a crash, a motor carrier would have the opportunity to submit documentation to the FMCSA showing that the driver or motor carrier was not at fault. If the FMCSA agrees, then the crash listing would be removed from the public CSA website. If the crash is deemed preventable, then the crash listing would remain on the public CSA website, and would include an explanation that the “FMCSA reviewed this crash and determined that it was preventable.”
“Our members in and of themselves are never afraid to be judged,” said David Heller, director of safety and policy for the Truckload Carriers Association. “They just want to be judged correctly.” The FMCSA is seeking public comment on the new program through September 12 and is requesting input on the types of documentation that would be helpful to review in making a preventable/non-preventable determination. For more information on CSA scores and a motor carrier’s compliance under FMCSA regulations, please contact David Senter.
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