CSA Scores Removed After Obama Signs Highway Bill

U.S. Department of Transportation

Trucking industry leaders praised the recent removal of the Compliance, Safety, Accountability scores from public view, and a private firm offering similar data upgraded its system to help the industry stay informed about those safety metrics for carriers.

CSA scores were taken down from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s website and smartphone app shortly after President Obama signed into law a five-year highway bill, known as the FAST Act, on Dec. 4. Under the new law, the agency has to oversee an extensive review of the scores and prepare for members of Congress an overhaul strategy for the CSA program.

For years, industry leaders publicly voiced opposition to CSA’s scores, claiming they misrepresented most carriers’ safety records.

American Trucking Associations’ leadership had strongly pushed for an overhaul of the program. ATA President Bill Graves said the law “takes critical steps to improve trucking safety and efficiency” by reforming CSA and other programs at FMCSA.

Dave Osiecki, ATA’s chief of national advocacy, added that fixing the way CSA’s “flawed scores” are gathered positions FMCSA on a path toward achieving “accuracy in regulatory oversight.”

Under the five-year, $305 billion FAST Act, FMCSA is tasked with overseeing the National Research Council’s review focusing on the accuracy of the safety scores in assessing crash preventability. After the review, the agency will have to tell Congress how it will reform CSA to ensure its scores provide a better reflection of carriers’ records.

In a statement on its website, FMCSA noted that CSA scores are no longer public but information on carriers “remains available, and [law] enforcement users and motor carriers can view safety data.” The agency also noted the scores would be publicly available as soon as possible.

Reforms were pushed by policymakers on Capitol Hill who were convinced by recent audits the Government Accountability Office prepared that found problems in CSA’s methodology.

“Inaccurate CSA scores, publicly available online, have cost companies contracts and raised insurance rates,” said Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), chairwoman of the trucking panel in the Senate and sponsor of legislation calling for reforms throughout FMCSA. Aspects of her bill were included in the highway law.

FMCSA created the CSA program to mark companies’ safety records during inspections. The program relied on an intricate formula that calculated the aggregate scores companies received. The calculations’ results were used to determine the companies most likely to be involved in crashes.

With access to CSA scores temporarily unavailable for public view, companies may turn to Portland, Oregon-based Vigillo for similar data and applications.

The firm keeps a database of carrier CSA scores separate from FMCSA’s. Its recently upgraded “Carrier Select” data platform is accessible for carriers looking for CSA scores. The company also offers software that allows for the calculation of safety performance scores.

“Vigillo is uniquely positioned to fill the void left by the removal of public CSA scores,” Vigillo CEO Steven Bryan said in a statement shortly after the agency took down the scores. “The communication of critical safety data between motor carriers and brokers and shippers continues without interruption.”

Proponents of CSA, such as the Obama administration, argued that the program offered reliable, crash-preventing information. A few transportation groups rejected the scores’ public removal.

Reforms to CSA were one of several provisions aimed at overhauling FMCSA.

Overall, the FAST Act brought to an end more than 10 years of funding uncertainty for highway projects. It establishes a national freight program aimed at backing infrastructure projects that would improve the flow of commerce.

The FAST Act also requires FMCSA to use only science and data deemed reliable when crafting a rule and putting together a system for the public and the industry to request a review or repeal of its rules. Under the law, FMCSA would need to study the safety effects of truckers who commute more than 150 minutes to their jobs to find out how prevalent long commutes are in the industry.

Additionally, the agency will have to establish a pilot program meant to bring in younger veterans and reserve members to drive certain trucks across state lines. FMCSA also has to consolidate its grant programs to reduce administrative costs.