Red Flags Put Inspectors in Motion

September 15, 1999 7:54 AM, EDT

When federal regulators pay a visit to the companies they watch over, they often have an idea of what they’re looking for.

The safety specialists at the Office of Motor Carrier and Highway Safety usually target companies identified by the agency’s Safety Status Measurement computer program as among the least safe carriers (See "SafeStat Explained").

Often, too, OMCHS is prompted to conduct compliance reviews because of specific problems with a carrier, such as driver complaints, large numbers of out-of-service orders, a rash of accidents or one particularly bad crash. If a carrier has an excessive driver out-of-service rate, for example, inspectors are likely to focus on its drivers and their logbooks.

Compliance reviews can vary widely, taking from two days to several weeks, depending on the size of a company and the condition of its safety program. The audits usually involve one investigator, but sometimes a team of specialists will descend on the carrier’s main office to look into several areas.

For the full story, see the Sept. 13 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.