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Ever since the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) created an updated Comprehensive Safety Analysis (CSA) program, small fleets and owner-operators have had to drastically change the way that they conduct business.
The new CSA requirements, which were put into effect in 2010, are infamous in the world of trucking and transportation for its strict nature. According to Overdrive Online, the CSA mandates increased scrutiny in regards to log book precision, equipment condition, and medical certificates. Additionally, it is much harsher on drivers for receiving speed violations—or even warnings, for that matter.
The new policies the industry. Safestat, the predecessor of the 2010 CSA legislation, demanded far less from drivers, limiting relevant factors to tickets, out-of-service violations, and crashes. The new regulations, however, introduced a set of BASICs (Behavioral Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories) that, when violated, result in intervention from the FMCSA.
The stringent 2010 policies unleashed repercussions throughout the industry that were felt immediately. Larger trucking and transporting companies were forced to impose harsh punishments for what were previously considered minor penalties, consequently leading to a far higher rate of the imposition of probationary periods and, unfortunately, outright terminations.
None, however, have felt the consequences stronger than independently contracted, owner-operators.
Those in the small fleet faction of the industry are outraged, as they believe that they are disproportionately harmed by the 2010 mandates.
Here’s why:
Small fleet and owner-operators are hurting because they now have a public Safety Measurement System profile/record. For drivers employed by large companies this is less of an issue, for as long as they abide by their companies (albeit more rigid) policies, they do not need to worry a great deal about how their SMS record looks, assuming they can avoid getting heavily penalized. Independently contracted drivers, on the other hand, see the SMS profile as a major stumbling block, as they do not have a large organization with whom to bear the brunt. This, in turn, accentuates negative marks on the records of owner-operators, disproportionately harming their careers and making future contracting very difficult.
A 2013-2014 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report revealed that small fleets are astronomically more likely to receive an Unsafe Driving BASIC score than large fleets, according to an Overdrive article. Furthermore, the GAO discovered that much of the data used to factor the scores in the Unsafe Driving BASICs are self-reported, and are misleading or simply not true. Additionally, it has been found that there has not been a strong link connecting highly penalized drivers and rate of crashes. So, small fleet drivers are quite upset, as the system seems to be illogically punishing them, and ultimately failing in its mission to increase safety in the industry.
Small fleet drivers and owner-operators have done much to voice their issues to bureaucrats and politicians. Officials have made efforts to try and ameliorate the situation, although they have not addressed the biggest point of concern in the eyes of the negatively affected population—the public CSA SMS scores. An Overdrive poll reveals that drivers overwhelmingly believe that the CSA’s top problem is the unreliable system of scoring the safety of very small fleets.
Opponents of the 2010 CSA regulations are still avidly advocating the removal of the public SMS scores. With luck, politicians will be able to change the FMCSA’s safety demands and make the market more owner-operator-friendly.
