CSA: Know the BASICs. Driver Handbook Introduction Approximately 3 million roadside inspections and almost 300,000 commercial motor vehicle (CMV) crashes are entered U.S. Department of Transportation's Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS) each year by law enforcement. Roadside inspections may take place at a weigh station, or occur as a result of a moving violation, or occur as part of a crash investigation, ‘These safety-related events tell the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) a lot about the industry—including you and your carrier. In fact, the FMCSA ust to analyze both carriers and drivers as a part ofits Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) enforcement program. be addressed by carriers and drivers before those problems lead to tragedies on the highway. CSA Overview Safety Eval which carriers a are performing more unsafely than others; and ion — enforcem persuade unsafe carriers and di performance, n by the FMCSA to 8 t0 improve their safetyFMCSA uses a cartier’s and driver’s safety data to identify unsafe carriers and drivers—those thought to be more likely to be in a crash. ‘That is the whole concept behind CSA: past behavior is a key indicator of future performance. Getting to Know the BASICs Under CSA, the FMCSA collects data on the safety performance of carriers and drivers, ig information about their safety ities —such as roadside inspec investigations—and crash reports entered into MCMIS by enforcement personnel, ‘This data is then placed into Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICS) for analysis and evaluation, These seven compliance categories—in which carriers and their drivers are judged—(and associated safety regulations) include: © Unsafe Driving (Parts 392, 397 and traffic laws) Hours-of-Service Compliance (Parts 392 and 395) Driver Fitness (Parts 383 and 391 Controlled Substances and Alcohol (Parts 382 and 392) Vehicle Maintenance (Parts 393, 396 and 393 Subpart 1) Hazardous Materials Compliance (hazmat regulations) Crash Indicator (Part 390) account of each BASIC and what areless operation driver violations "y may appear on your vehicle record or MVR). ‘The following are some typical unsafe driving violations recorded during roadside inspection: * §392.2-SLLS2: State/local laws — speeding 6-10 miles per hour over the speed limit + §392 1g to use a seat be operating a CMV © §$392.2C: Failing to obey traffic control device ° §392.2-SLL! te/local laws — speeding 11-14 miles per hour over the speed limit ‘What you can do to keep your Unsafe Driving BASIC score low: Y Avoid driving violations—especially ones with a high severity weight Practice defensive driving—keep yourself fresh and alert 10 prevent poor driving decisions Y Take advantage of any training programs or refreshers your carrier offers [Hours-of-Service Compliance BASIC ] olves the ope the hours-of-s © §395.8(a)-ELD/Non- iver’s record of duty © $395.22(a): Operating with a device not regi FMCSA © §$395.24(e)(2): Driver fa tus —3— (Rev. 5/18)‘What you can do to keep your Driver Fitness BASIC. score iow: V Be properly licensed for the vehicle(s) you operate Y Always have a valid license of the correct class with the necessary endorsements for the type of vehicle and type of the violation “severity weight” is increased by 2. ‘What you ean do to keep your Hours-of-Service Compliance BASIC score low: W Understand when and how to complete a record of duty status, and how to use the electronic device provided by the carrier W Know and follow the Hours-of-Service regulations and understand any exception(s) use W Keep your log accurate, cortfied for the most recent 24-hour period, and up to date at all times (even electronic logs) Y Don't drive if you're il, fatigued, out of hours, or if you've received an out-of-service order Driver Fitness BASIC | ‘The Driver Fitness BASIC tracks the operation of CMs by de: fer uses or is in possession of drugs ssession/use/under influence of aleohol — wo duly lating an out-of-service order pursuant to of course, seriois but they ate not tracked in the SMS, ‘What you can do to keep your Controlled Substances and Alcohol BASIC low: V- Don’t operate a CMV under the influence of aleohol or drugs gal, preseri medications —4— (Rev. 5/18) —5—[Vehicle Ma Maintenance B Hazardous Materials Compliance BASIC © Fleet maintenance/mechanical defects, and © Non-hazardous materials cargo securement. vehicle defects are some of the typical violations ‘Tire — other tread depth less than 2/32 of i lamp/roto-chamber type brake(s) out of and/or grease leak the following are some of the ty is recorded during roadsi ince BASIC addresses the unsafe of hazmat in any amount ‘The Hazardous Materials Com, ‘marking, handling or transpor requiring a placard. If you haul hazmat, you are responsible for ensuring that any hazmat you transport is properly packaged, labeled and documented before itis loaded on your CMV. You also need to make sure the hazmat is properly secured and that hazmat is stored properly in the cab of your vehicle. ‘The following are some typical hazmat roadside inspect ‘ions recorded during, io shipping papers (carrier) + §177.8172.504(a): Vehicle not placarded as required + §172,602(a): Emergency response infon nissing of the seven BASICs BASIC, the violation “severity weight” is increased by 2. ‘What you can do to keep your Hazardous Materials Compliance BASIC score low: Y Know and follow the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) Inspect your hazmat loads, and take action when you identify a mi ‘your company’s pk ‘when transporting hazmat cies, procedures and security plan CSA is designed to prevent crashes, so monitoring crash events part of the Safety Measurement $:frequency and severity, of past crashes to determine the Ii of another. And, unlike the other BASICs, which each rel ‘category of behavior, the Crash Indi of the more extreme consequences of (or crash) is an occurrence ray in interstate or intrastate injury requiring immediate medical treatment away from the scene; or * One of more motor vehicles incurring disabling damage requiring towing. As you can see by the det ‘What you can do to keep your Crash Indicator BASIC score iow: v Aw being involved in a crash by doing all ofthese: ively the traffic rules and safety regulations ons of other motorists ig offered by your carrier — enforcement program is a data gat that seeks to identify safety problems early so that they can be addressed before they lead to tragedies on the highway. carriers and drivers are not performing up to safety standards, Let's take a closer look at these components. (Data Collection ‘The FMCSA collects data on both the carrier and driver using roadside inspection and crash reports (ie., safety events) law enforcement. Monthly, the most tracted from MCMIS by FMCSA and analyzed in the ing a complex set of algorithms. A carrier's BASIC scores are posted within a couple of weeks of this “data grab” from MCMIS. ‘The SMS uses the past: © 24 months of Only inspections completed by an FMCSA-trained officer are i the SMS data, How will you know if this is the case? The officer should have given you an official report that you sent back to your employer. The state uploads the this insp, MCMIS where the FMCSA gather monthly, A routine tafe sop that doesnot result & level of ide inspection and corresponding report will not be calculated in the SMS Methodology. Roadside Inspections : In order to be counted toward CSA, a violation: 1. Merely needs to appear on a roadsid 2. Must be included in the list of violations (ie., severity weight tables) assembled by FMCSA for a specific BASIC. i ind individual driver data, nspection report, anda crash based on statistics. If the in an out-of-service order, a value of 2 is added to the base severity weight. 7 NOTE: Certain techni ions are only scored agai carrier based o1 al analysis by the FMCSA on thelr impact on the likelihood of a driver being in a crash. Violations and crashes are also assessed weight is based on when an event took place, assessed 10 more recent events. According have done more recently increases your eurrent ri crash. Older safety events are not weighted as ‘your safety performance in your more recent scores should improve. You are viewed as less of a perceived risk based on your current behavior. e weight. The time tha greater value ale, what you ime weights for safety data are diff the past 6 months =3 than 6 months up to 12 months = 2 * Older than 12 months up 10°24 months = 1 NOTE: Data older than 24 months is t used in any calculations. * Older than 24 months up to 36 months = 1 NOTE: Data older than 36 me = Crash Data All state-reported crashes—whether preventable or to MCMIS and eventually scored in the SM: same accidents that bor saleulations. ‘not used in tare entered crashes are the register. to the roadside inspection data, types of crashes are assessed. verity weight (value): towed from the scene due to disabling damage = 1 or injury = 2 —10— NOTE: If hazardous materials are released due to the crash, other than motor fuel, the values listed above are increased by 1 BASIC Scores After the FMCSA has taken into account all the variables, the output is a BASIC Measure. The BASIC Measure is compared peers (a safety event group). The safety event group has si exposure. In the case of the carter, this would be either the number of inspections or number of trucks/vehicle miles traveled in a year depending on the BASIC. ‘The carvier or driver, as the case may be, is assigned a percentile ranking of 1 to 100. Unlike scoring on 100 is the worst you can rank. The lower the BASIC score, the better. The BASIC scores are what the FMCSA monitors. is seven BASIC scores appear ifety Measurement System ( For you as a driver, the SMS does not display a driver’s personal. BASIC scores, No one outside of enforcement may access a driver's CSA. BASIC scores—not ev —n-performed poorly with the current or former carrier will be on the top of the list. Your safety history is not transferred between canes (Le. caters remain with you for your personal BASIC scores for 36 months Only the passage of time or a successful DataQs challenge will remove a violation or crash from your record. How does a driver know what is being said ab the SMS? A driver may find his or her Pre-emy Program (PSP) driver report use jim or her in yyment Screening rashes, Note that PSP includes an additional 2 years of ry that does not appear and is not scored in the SMS. |DataQs ‘DataQs is an FMCSA website port ask the FMCSA to act issued the driver) subi eae Interventions BASIC scores determine if some type of FMCSA intervention is for BASIC scores, and once a carrier's, threshold, an intervention becomes likely. the cartier’s place of {ety problem, ms at the carrier's place business, focusing on a part + Comprehensive on-site inv of business, + Cooperative safety plans developed and followed ly by a carrier to address safety problems. © Settlement agreements to contractually bind a ake actions to improve safety. rossly violated the FMCSA ion or Notice of Claim will be Conclusion ‘The FMCSA's Comy ince, Safety, Accountability program gives stry the opportunity to have their performance comparison is intended to improve safety-related behaviors so we can all be safer he road, —13—Frequently Asked Questions Question: Are carriers and drivers evaluated the same way? Answert No. All carriers are automatically evaluated every month by their BASIC scores. This is not true of drivers. Driver BASIC scores are c -d monthly, but there is no automatic safety evaluation ‘component for drivers. The way the driver evaluation system works (which is subject to change in the future) is whenever a carrier undergoes an intervention, part of the intervention process involves a check of all the carrier's drivers’ BASIC scores. Drivers with a high BASIC score may be intervened with directly at that point, depending on the driver's violation history with any and all carriers driver was employed with over the last three years. lations and crashes stay with a driver who changes employers? Answer: Yes. If a violation is determined to be one the driver was enforcement personne! mi access a driver’s roadside “ariving position in order for a cartier to access the Que: (Psp) Answer: The PSP in assessing individual driver's crash data and serious safety violation history as a pre-employment c It cannot be used to request information on existing driving personnel, The program is voluntary and is not part of the Compliance, Safety, Accountability program. : What is the Pre-Employment Sereening Program a4 Question: What if a driver wants to challenge information or her PSP record? Answer: To begin, keep in mind that traffic citations that are tossed out in court are ly removed from FMCSA’s PSP data, In order to have a removed from the PSP record, a cartier or driver must file a request for data review (RDR) in the FMCSA DataQs system. When an RDR is nugh the DataQs system and the request is granted, the enforcement agency responsible for the data makes Question: Can a driver’s license be taken away due to having a high BASIC score? pended based on program is run by the FMCSA licenses and CDI.s), and it tracks roadside inspection violations and DOT recordable crashes, and then generates a score based on peeris left up to the carrier, Also, driver BASIC scores are not available to thr the FMCSA has are the ones that trigger cartier interventions, which are investigations, ‘Question: What are the intervention thresholds for drivers? it addresses carriers. Whi based on the SMS, drivers are only investigated during a carrier investigation. Therefore, no intervention thresholds are in place for drivers. (Question: If a law enforcement officer finds a headlight out on a CMY, but the driver repairs it in front of the officer, will it still be written up on the roadside inspection report (and become part of the SMS)? iver has completed the repair. NOTES =