Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
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JOURNAL T ATRI: CSA scoring measures ineffective Study assesses link between FMCSA program, safety results he American Transportation Research Institute last month released a report examining the relationship between motor carrier Compliance Safety Accountability scores and actual crash involvement and determining that two CSA scoring measures are failing to indicate a car- rier's crash risk accurately. ATRI analyzed the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's Safety Measurement System and crash data from a sample of 471,306 motor carriers with evidence of recent activity in the past 24 months, focusing on the five BASICs available to the gen- eral public. ATRI said the research expanded upon previous investigations by introduc- ing a sophisticated statistical analysis that provides more accurate and direct results. According to ATRI, the research finds a strong safety basis for the Unsafe Driving, Fatigued Driving and Vehicle Maintenance BASICs; partial support for the Controlled Substances and Alcohol BASIC; and no support for the Driver Fitness BASIC. the industry has always supported CSA where it does reduce crash risk, and ATRI's study validates that there are portions of CSA that are working as intended." Recognizing the flaws in current CSA profiles, ATRI said its report proposes an alternative method for communicating fleet safety informa- tion to the public in a way that more accurately reflects carrier safety performance. FMCSA, in response, said that based on its preliminary review of the report, "ATRI's find- ings in many ways confirm the effectiveness of the CSA program." The agency, how- ever, said it would conduct an in-depth review of the report and "carefully consider this information." A copy of ATRI's CSA report is avail- able at www.atri-online.org. In testimony before the House Transportation and Infrastructure scores and actual crash involve- ment determined that two of the program's scoring measures fail to indicate a carrier's crash risk accurately. ATRI's report comparing CSA "ATRI's research identifies a key weakness in FMCSA's Safety Measurement System," said Scott Mugno, vice president of safety for FedEx Ground, who testified on behalf of the American Trucking Associations at a congressional subcom- mittee on CSA in late September. "The conclusions in ATRI's study support what many motor carriers have found to be true in their operations – namely, that scores in the CSA's Driver Fitness BASIC do not bear a statistical cor- relation to crash risk," Mugno said. "However, Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, FMCSA Administrator Anne Ferro said CSA data and ratings have been validated by the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute. Carriers with the worst scores have crash rates that double those of the average company, Ferro said. Two House transportation subcommit- tee members asked the U.S. Department of Transportation's Office of Inspector General to report on the CSA program by Aug. 1, 2013. Rep. John J. Duncan Jr. (R-Tenn.), the Highways and Transit Subcommittee chairman, and subcom- mittee ranking member Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) referenced ongoing concerns regarding CSA data and methodology. – Dean Smallwood LEADING NEWS, TRUCKING MARKET CONDITIONS AND INDUSTRY ANALYSIS ATA'S GRAVES: TRUCKING AT A CROSSROADS n the opening address at the 2012 American Trucking Associations Management Conference & Exhibition, Bill Graves, ATA president and chief executive officer, said the indus- try is at a crossroads in regards to a number of looming legislative and regulatory burdens. Citing the American Transportation Research Institute's study on carrier concerns, Graves said the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's Compliance Safety Accountability program – No. 1 on ATRI's list – represents one of the biggest changes since deregulation. I "In 2013, will our industry support for a CSA program that accurately measures driver and carrier safety performance drive FMCSA to finally make the logical and necessary program changes, or will the current trend toward compliance not closely linked to safety outcomes continue? And will we end up with yet another reincarnation of the former SafeStat system?" Graves still believes CSA is ultimately the program that will make trucking safer, but said it must be managed in a way that instills confidence within the industry so that buy-in to the program will make trucking com- panies stronger and not penalize them on inaccurate data visible Continued on page 10 COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2012 9