Compliance review

Scope

Carriers that are subject to compliance reviews include new entrant motor carriers and carriers with poor Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) scores.

Regulatory citations

• 49 CFR Part 385 — Safety fitness procedures
• 49 CFR 391.41 — Physical qualifications for drivers
• 49 CFR Part 385 Appendix A — Explanation of safety audit evaluation criteria
• 49 CFR Part 385 Appendix B — Explanation of safety rating process
• 49 CFR 390.29 — Location of records or documents
• 49 CFR Part 395 — Hours of service of drivers

Key definitions

• Acute regulations: Noncompliance with a single acute regulation is considered a serious violation. Noncompliance is so severe that it requires immediate corrective actions by a motor carrier.
• BASIC (Behavioral Analysis and Safety Improvement Category): A BASIC is one of seven categories by which a carrier will be measured within the Safety Management System based on a percentile ranking of carriers within their peer group based on a similar number of inspections. A carrier’s measurement for each BASIC category depends on the number of adverse safety events (violations related to that BASIC or crashes), the severity of violations or crashes, and when the adverse safety events occurred (more recent events are weighted more heavily). A percentile score of zero is the best and a percentile rank of 100 indicates the worst performance. The seven BASICs are Unsafe Driving, Hours-of-Service, Driver Fitness, Controlled Substances and Alcohol, Vehicle Maintenance, Hazardous Materials, and Crash Indicator.
• Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA): An FMCSA initiative to improve large truck and bus safety and ultimately reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities that are related to commercial motor vehicles.
• Critical regulations: Regulations identified as those where noncompliance relates to a breakdown in a carrier’s management controls where a pattern of noncompliance has been identified.
• DataQs system: Carriers can request corrections to their data concerning crashes, inspections, violations, and other information by using the DataQs system.
• Factor: Acute and critical regulations come from the various parts of the FMCSRs and the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMRs) and are grouped into five regulatory areas called factors. The carrier’s accident rate is used for the sixth factor.
• High-risk carrier: To narrow the list of carriers targeted for compliance reviews or audits, and to expedite the investigation of the highest risk carriers, the FMCSA redefined what it means to be a “high-risk” carrier. Passenger carriers are “High Risk” if they have two or more of the following BASICs, most closely correlated with crash risk, at or above the 90th percentile for 1 month and they have not received an investigation in the previous 12 months: Unsafe Driving, Crash Indicator; HOS Compliance, and Vehicle Maintenance. Non-passenger carriers are considered “High Risk” if they have two or more of these BASICs at or above the 90th percentile for 2 consecutive months and they have not received an investigation in the previous 18 months.
• Intervention threshold: The percentile at which a carrier is said to have an “alert” status in that BASIC, and the FMCSA intervenes with the carrier. The interventions are designed to motivate the carrier to improve unsafe behavior. Interventions start with warning letters but may escalate to offsite investigations, focused or comprehensive investigations, or the intervention can be as severe as an Operations Out-of-Service (OOS) order.
• New motor carrier entrants: Newly-registered carriers will be subject to an 18-month safety-monitoring period. During this safety-monitoring period, the carrier will receive a safety audit and have their roadside crash and inspection information closely evaluated.
• Reg-flag violation: When investigating a motor carrier, a Safety Investigator (SI) looks at driver history for egregious violations of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs). These sixteen violations are sometimes referred to as Red Flag Violations and are always investigated as part of a carrier investigation.
• Safety Fitness Standard: The safety-management controls a carrier has in place to reduce the risk associated with CDL violations, lack of financial responsibility, using unqualified drivers, improper use and driving of CMVs, use of unsafe vehicles, lack of accident registers and reports, use of fatigued drivers, inadequate maintenance and repair processes, transportation of and violations associated with hazardous materials, motor vehicle accidents and hazardous materials incidents.
• Safety Event Group (formerly known as Peer Groups): Based on the total number of inspections with a violation in the BASIC (crashes in the Crash BASIC), or the number of driver or vehicle inspections the carrier has undergone (depending on the BASIC). The carriers in these groups will be the ones against which your measures in each BASIC will be ranked to derive your percentile score. The higher the percentile score, the worse the carrier or driver looks when compared to the peers.
• Safety rating: A company’s safety rating is based on the results of a compliance review. The safety ratings are:
  • Satisfactory: A motor carrier has — in place and functioning — adequate safety management controls to meet the safety fitness standard. Safety management controls are adequate if they are appropriate for the size and type of operation of the motor carrier.
  • Conditional: A motor carrier does not have adequate safety management controls in place to ensure compliance with the safety fitness standard.
  • Unsatisfactory: A motor carrier does not have adequate safety management controls in place to ensure compliance with the safety fitness standard. The carrier may be ordered to shut down its operations.
• Safety Measurement System (SMS): Within the Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) Operational Model, the Safety Measurement System (SMS) quantifies the on-road safety performance of carriers and drivers to identify candidates for interventions, determine the specific safety problems that a carrier or driver exhibits, and to monitor whether safety problems are improving or worsening. SMS has replaced SafeStat in the new Operational Model. SMS uses a motor carrier’s data from roadside inspections, including all safety-based violations, State-reported crashes, and the Federal motor carrier census to quantify performance in seven Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs).

Summary of requirements

New entrant. Before a motor carrier of property or passengers domiciled in the United States or Canada begins interstate operations, it must register with the FMCSA and receive a USDOT number.

Once a motor carrier receives a USDOT number, it is subject to monitoring by the FMCSA for the next 18 months.

The FMCSA monitoring includes a compliance review that will be conducted on the new entrant, once it has been in operation for enough time to have sufficient records to allow FMCSA to evaluate the adequacy of its basic safety management controls.

All records and documents required for the compliance review must be made available for inspection upon request by an individual certified under FMCSA regulations to perform safety audits.

Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA). A motor carrier’s safety fitness is assessed under a FMCSA program called Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA).

FMCSA uses CSA’s Safety Measurement System (SMS) to quantify motor carrier safety performance. Every month, SMS measures the previous 24 months of roadside violation and crash data performance and calculates a score in seven categories of safety behaviors — Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs).

Poor BASICs scores can result a carrier being considered high risk and subject to a compliance review.

Compliance review. When a carrier is selected for a compliance review (audit), the carrier is notified by the FMCSA that the audit will take place in a certain number of days. Usually, a carrier is given at least 48 hours advance notice. The 48-hour time frame does not include Saturdays, Sundays, or federal holidays.

In that 48-hour time frame, the carrier is expected to produce all paperwork requested by the FMCSA. This is a requirement of Sec. 390.29 of the FMCSRs.

Records a carrier will need to produce include:

• Proof of financial responsibility;
• Driver qualification files (including all required forms);
• Drug and alcohol testing records (if applicable);
• Records of duty status and supporting documents;
• Driver vehicle inspection reports and maintenance records;
• Hazardous materials records (if applicable); and
• An accident register, and copies of all accident reports required by state or other governmental entities or insurers.

• Factor 1 General: Parts 387 and 390;
• Factor 2 Driver: Parts 382, 383, and 391;
• Factor 3 Operational: Parts 392 and 395;
• Factor 4 Vehicle: Parts 393 and 396;
• Factor 5 Hazmat: Parts 397, 171, 177, and 180; and
• Factor 6 Accident Factor: Recordable Rate.

Acute regulations. Noncompliance with a single acute regulation is considered a serious violation. Noncompliance is so severe that it requires immediate corrective actions by a motor carrier. For each instance of noncompliance with an acute regulation during a compliance review, 1.5 points will be assessed to that safety rating factor.

Critical regulations. Critical regulations are identified as those where noncompliance relates to a breakdown in a carrier’s management controls. For each pattern of noncompliance with a critical regulation during a compliance review, one point will be assessed to that safety rating factor.

Exception. For each pattern of noncompliance with a critical regulation relative to Part 395, Hours of Service of Drivers, two points will be assessed.

A pattern of noncompliance is considered more than one violation. When a number of documents are reviewed, the number of violations required to meet a pattern of noncompliance is equal to at least ten percent of those examined.

Safety rating. Each safety factor is then rated as follows:

• Satisfactory: If the acute and/or critical = 0 points.
• Conditional: If the acute and/or critical = 1 point.
• Unsatisfactory: If the acute and/or critical = 2 or more points.