We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.
  • INDUSTRY PRESS ROOM
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • MEDIA FILE
  • Create Account
  • Sign In
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Free Newsletters
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC
    • Podcast
    • Webcasts
    • Blogs
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Global Logistics and Risk
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • Parcel Forum 2022
    • MODEX 2022
    • Upload Your Video
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC
    • Podcast
    • Webcasts
    • Blogs
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Global Logistics and Risk
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • Parcel Forum 2022
    • MODEX 2022
    • Upload Your Video
Home » Motor carrier safety grading system is sound but needs implementation changes, NAS says
newsworthy

Motor carrier safety grading system is sound but needs implementation changes, NAS says

June 27, 2017
DC Velocity Staff
No Comments

The system used by the federal government to identify and grade high-risk commercial motor carriers is "conceptually sound" but has flaws in its implementation, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) said today in releasing a long-awaited study of the controversial system.

NAS urged the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), which designed and implemented the existing "Safety Measurement System" (SMS), to spend the next two years developing a more "statistically principled" approach to evaluate carrier safety. Specifically, the agency should rely on a sophisticated empirical model called "item response theory" that has been used to, among other things, influence policy decisions in other areas, such as hospital rankings. Supporters of this measure, which include the American Trucking Associations (ATA) and the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), which represents property brokers, said the model replaces an approach based on ad-hoc subject-matter expertise with one that focuses on hard data.

If the model performs well in spotting motor carriers whose safety performance is suspect enough to require an FMCSA intervention, the agency should use it to replace SMS, according to the report, which was mandated by Congress in 2015 under a five-year transport-spending law and was nearly two years in the making. Under the original system developed in 2010, each carrier is measured under seven performance categories and assigned one of three safety ratings—satisfactory, conditional, and unsatisfactory—through the SMS. In January 2016, FMCSA proposed to change the three-tier model and create just an "unfit" rating. The rating is arrived at by analyzing five of seven performance criteria. FMCSA would then either conduct a full investigation of selected carriers or use a combination of on-road safety data and investigative information to come up with a fitness determination.

FMCSA said at the time that the proposal would allow it to maximize finite investigation and enforcement resources. However, critics attacked it as being based on the same flawed methodology that's been in place for years. The agency also drew fire for issuing a revamped proposal before the NAS study was completed. The proposal was withdrawn soon after President Trump took office. Most of the trucking industry wants the FMCSA to take responsibility for determining a motor carrier's safety with a simple "fit" or "unfit" rating.

Trucking companies claim the agency has instead foisted its obligation onto brokers and carriers, leaving them open to massive liability exposure should a carrier they select be involved in an accident.

As part of a recommended emphasis on analytics, NAS said that FMCSA should collaborate with states and other agencies to improve the collection of data on vehicle miles traveled and on crashes, data which are often missing or of unsatisfactory quality. For example, by including data on vehicle miles travelled by state and month, the SMS can account for varied weather conditions in different regions and their impact on driver and carrier performance.

FMCSA should also research ways to collect data on what NAS called "carrier characteristics," the report said. This includes driver turnover rates, type of cargo hauled, and the method and level of driver compensation. Well-compensated drivers and drivers who are not paid based on miles travelled, have fewer crashes, the report said. The additional data collection would require greater collaboration between FMCSA and the states to standardize the effort and to protect carrier-specific information, the report said.

FMCSA has 120 days to develop new methodology that incorporates the NAS findings.

NAS said it was unable to determine whether SMS rankings should be made public because it would require a formal evaluation to understand the consequences of such a step. Congress in 2015 ordered FMCSA to withdraw rankings from public view. However, lawmakers allowed the agency to keep the raw data used to compile the scores on its site. ATA said the data should remain private. TIA echoed that view, saying the information yielded by the new approach could lead to disastrous liability consequences for 3PLs, brokers, and shippers responsible for selecting motor carriers.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story misstated the amount of time FMCSA has to develop a new safety-determination methodology. DC Velocity regrets the error.

Transportation Trucking Regulation/Government
KEYWORDS National Academy of Sciences
  • Related Articles

    Truck safety consultant casts doubt on FMCSA's carrier-grading proposal

    FMCSA to scrap carrier safety proposal; will wait until NAS completes study

Recent Articles by DC Velocity Staff

Intermodal sector weathered a “challenging” year in 2022, IANA says

Nocturnal robots stock store shelves

From sea to … shining stars?

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Report Abusive Comment

Most Popular Articles

  • Schneider welcomes first battery-electric truck

  • Fred Smith is not worried about Amazon

  • Outlook 2023: What’s in store for logistics/supply chain?

  • Ports, maritime operators see tide turning as ocean freight tsunami subsides

  • RJW LOGISTICS GROUP EXPANDS RETAIL LOGISTICS OPERATION TO DALLAS

Now Playing on DCV-TV

D991bf51 52ad 4867 98ff b56f4fe5dd93

State of the Industry: Fluctuations & Normalcy

DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
In this second of a four-part State of the Industry video series, Greg Orr shares insights on the shifting fortunes of a cyclical truckload market and what passes for normalcy in this economy. The truckload market is famous for its boom-and-bust cycles. A downturn in the economy sends the market reeling with too...

FEATURED WHITE PAPERS

  • The five best applications for robotic lift trucks in warehouse environments

  • Fulfillment Facility Improved Efficiencies by 4x

  • 3PLs: Complete Orders Faster with Flexible Automation

  • Reusable Packaging for the New Wave of Supply Chain Automation

View More

Subscribe to DC Velocity Magazine

GET YOUR FREE SUBSCRIPTION
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • NEWSLETTERS
  • ADVERTISING
  • CUSTOMER CARE
  • CONTACT
  • ABOUT
  • STAFF
  • PRIVACY POLICY

Copyright ©2023. All Rights ReservedDesign, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing