Tag: BASICS: Page 2

Lawsuit against CSA could see decision within 6 months, attorney says

Henry Seaton expects a decision in the next six months — meanwhile, two reports from House committees on the CSA SMS are expected before the end of the year.

November 8, 2013

How to prepare for a safety audit

Safety consultant Leon Feazell detailed audit prep procedures and processes with recommendations for small carriers at the Great American Trucking Show.

August 23, 2013

Roadside inspection data drivers driver-audit selection during carrier reviews.

FMCSA’s enforcement authority growth spurt

With the Unified Registration System at final rule status and in implementation phase, some watchers see a future powerful tool for FMCSA in its efforts to target noncompliant carriers.

August 23, 2013

CSA system update: New hours violations encoded

New violations added to the CSA Safety Measurement System include codification of the hours of service break requirement at a 7-point severity weight value.

August 12, 2013

Download the updated table of all violations listed by BASIC/severity weightings via this link. For Overdrive’s CSA’s Data Trail series of in-depth reports on the CSA program, follow this link.

Losing the golden triangle: More proof shippers (mis)use CSA

A small fleet owner on CSA: “We lost our triangle, and it is incredible how much difference it has made. Many of our old customers … called as soon as we lost the triangle.”

July 29, 2013

“We lost our triangle, and it is incredible how much difference it has made. Many of our old customers told me they checked every month to see of they could use us again, and called as soon as we lost the triangle.” –small fleet owner J. Webb Kline on shedding his fleet’s Hours BASIC score under CSA

Crashes and interventions: Crackdown!

FMCSA is putting extra muscle into shutting down truck and bus fleets. Often lacking robust back-office resources to deal with interventions, small carriers can be considered most vulnerable.

May 10, 2013

Following the raft of warning letters that went out in 2011, FMCSA has sent out far fewer letters, which representatives say is an indication that the letters prompted the desired compliance improvements. Onsite investigations resulting from carriers’ lack of improvements, however, are moving away from full compliance reviews or comprehensive investigations to focused looks at compliance problems as indicated by a carrier’s CSA BASIC scores. Such focused attention allowed the agency to get their hands into the inner workings of about 10 percent more businesses in 2012.

Watch those post-crash-inspection violations

They shouldn’t be assigned severity weights to contribute to a carrier’s ranking in any CSA BASIC if the violation was a result of the crash.

May 6, 2013

Crashes and interventions: CSA’s crash flaw

Independent owner-operators have the lowest rate of truck-involved crashes but are far more likely to be put out of service than drivers for carriers with 500 or more trucks, which have a higher crash rate.

May 6, 2013

Click through the chart above for a larger view. SOURCE: RigDig Business Intelligence (rigdig.com/bi) and Overdrive analysis of federally recordable truck-involved crash data for years 2010-12. Carriers represented include the total registered population with at least one inspection over the course of those years and with some version of for-hire operating authority.

CSA priorities include addressing concerns of small carriers, crash accountability, agency says

FMCSA also announced plans to launch a new version of the DataQs website for challenging inspection violations and crash assignments as early as the coming weekend.

April 22, 2013

Driver screening — KY inspection station photo

CSA: Law enforcement/ driver perspective alignment

Though drivers’ No. 1 named CSA problem in recent polling is the deterioration in driver/officer relationships, an interview with CVSA’s Stephen Keppler shows some concurrence on the system’s problems.

April 22, 2013

In January, Overdrive polled readers on some of the biggest problems with CSA.

Inconsistent enforcement: CSA’s heat index

State inspection intensity ratings range from Maryland, where 32 inspections per lane-mile of National Highway System were conducted during CSA’s first two year, to Idaho, where only two inspections per lane-mile were done.

March 25, 2013

CSA’s heat index

Inconsistent enforcement: CSA vs. the independent

In the two years since CSA’s advent, the smallest carriers have had a much greater chance of getting inspected and put out of service than drivers and trucks of the largest carriers.

March 14, 2013

brake adjustment inspection

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