The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on Friday revealed the latest modifications to its Compliance, Safety, Accountability program, including previously announced changes regarding the scoring of cargo securement violations and the creation of a hazardous materials BASIC. Other changes include renaming the Fatigued Driving BASIC and removing points for speeding violations of 5 mph or less. The agency will also create an advisory panel of industry representatives to address CSA issues.
The changes are the latest round of improvements to the CSA program following public input, FMCSA said.
Specifically, as described by the agency, the SMS improvements include:
Strengthening the Vehicle Maintenance BASIC by incorporating cargo/load securement violations from today’s Cargo-Related BASIC Moving cargo/load securement violations into the Vehicle Maintenance BASIC. Including the load securement violations in the new Vehicle Maintenance BASIC will remove the bias in the current Cargo-Related BASIC that has resulted in identifying a disproportionately large number of carriers that haul open trailers (e.g., flatbeds) for interventions.
Changing the Cargo-Related BASIC to the HM Compliance BASIC to better identify HM-related safety and compliance problems. The HM Compliance BASIC will be available only to logged-in motor carriers and enforcement personnel beginning in December. Further examination of this BASIC will take place over the next year before it becomes available to the public.Better aligning the SMS with Intermodal Equipment Provider (IEP) regulations.
SMS will be updated to include violations that should be found and addressed during drivers’ pre-trip inspection on intermodal equipment.
Aligning violations that are included in the SMS with Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance inspection levels by eliminating vehicle violations derived from driver-only inspections and driver violations from vehicle-only inspections. All violations from roadside inspections will continue to be on a carrier’s inspection report; however, only violations that fall within the scope of the specific inspections performed will be used in the SMS.