• The CSA program is the DOT’s primary tool for identifying high-risk carriers and prioritizing them for enforcement.
• There are a variety of enforcement tools the DOT utilizes to determine if a driver or carrier is out of compliance, including inspections, audits, and investigations.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and its state partners have a variety of enforcement tools at their disposal. Key among them are:

• Roadside inspections of CMVs in operation, and
• Audits and investigations performed either off-site or at the business locations of those subject to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) (including motor carriers, intermodal equipment providers, etc.).

How are drivers and carriers chosen for enforcement?

Because the Department of Transportation (DOT) does not have enough resources to examine every commercial motor vehicle (CMV) or motor carrier in operation, they must prioritize their investigations. The primary means used to prioritize enforcement is the Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program, which uses a variety of data from roadside inspections, investigations, and crashes to identify the carriers and drivers who have the most compliance problems.

Motor carriers and drivers may also be prioritized for enforcement if:

• Violations are observed on the road,
• There’s a significant crash, or
• There’s a valid complaint about a driver or carrier (from a member of the public, from a driver, from an enforcement official, etc.).

Enforcement tools

Once a driver, motor carrier, or other entity is targeted for enforcement, the DOT must decide which type of enforcement tool is appropriate. These tools include the following:

• Roadside inspections occurring on the roadside, at fixed or portable scales, waysides, ports of entry, rest areas, or other locations along the nation’s roadways.
• Safety audits, which entail examination of a motor carrier’s operations to provide educational and technical assistance on safety and the operational requirements of the FMCSRs and applicable Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMRs). Safety audits are also used to gather critical safety data needed to assess the carrier’s safety performance and basic safety management controls. Safety audits do not result in safety ratings.
• Warning letters sent to drivers or motor carriers, alerting them to a non-compliance issue and pointing them to resources that can help them get back on track.
• Targeted roadside inspections that focus on a specific problem area, such as hours of service. Motor carriers that suddenly feel “picked on” due to an increase in roadside inspections may be the subject of a targeted roadside inspection effort.
• Off-site investigations performed at the DOT’s offices instead of at the carrier’s business location. These types of audits involve the carrier sending compliance documentation (such as driver files or hours-of-service records) to the DOT electronically for auditing.
• Focused on-site investigations at a motor carrier’s location, geared toward a specific problem area such as driver qualification or vehicle compliance.
• Roadability reviews, which are audits of intermodal equipment providers (IEPs) to verify compliance with applicable FMCSRs.
• Comprehensive investigations, also known as compliance reviews. These are usually multi-day audits that result in a safety rating for the motor carrier. They may be conducted on-site or off-site.
• Cooperative safety plans are an option if an investigation reveals safety problems which the motor carrier expresses a willingness to fix. These are structured improvement plans developed and implemented voluntarily by motor carriers to address safety problems, often used as a “last resort” before the carrier is fined. When it agrees to a cooperative safety plan, the FMCSA will monitor the motor carrier’s safety performance and resort to other penalties or enforcement actions if the carrier’s performance does not improve.
• Notices of violation, which are formal written notices informing motor carriers that they are non-compliant and must take immediate corrective action or face a fine or other penalty. After receiving such a notice, the driver or motor carrier would have to provide evidence of corrective action or could try to challenge the identified safety violations.
• Notices of claim, which are formal written notices that assess a monetary penalty (fine) for violations.
• Settlement agreements, whose purpose is to contractually bind the motor carrier to take actions to improve safety. The motor carrier is given the opportunity to enter into the settlement agreement to avoid fines or suspension of operations. The settlement agreement identifies the consequences to the motor carrier if it does not take the agreed-upon action and return to compliance. The agreement would allow the carrier to avoid significant penalties by committing to major safety improvements, for example, with the understanding that failure to comply with the terms of the settlement agreement would result in the immediate imposition of the maximum penalty that would otherwise have been levied.
• Out-of-service orders that instruct a carrier or driver to stop all CMV operations immediately. These are generally issued only after a comprehensive audit or when an imminent hazard is identified.

Note also that state licensing agencies have tools at their disposal to remove driving privileges from individual drivers who have been convicted of certain violations. Refer to Commercial drivers’ licenses and Driver qualifications.