ATA Applauds FMCSA's Plan to Continue Working on CSA 2010 Component

ARLINGTON, Va., Nov. 18, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Trucking Associations (ATA) applauds today's announcement by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to make improvements to the Cargo-Related BASIC component of CSA 2010.  ATA agrees with the Agency's decision to withhold Cargo-Related BASIC scores from public view when carrier scores are released to the public in early December, until the Agency can confirm that changes to that part of the system effectively and accurately identify unsafe carriers.

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"ATA continues to support the objectives of CSA 2010, FMCSA's safety monitoring and measurement program, and we are pleased with the Agency's decision to continue working on its Cargo-Related BASIC to get it right before it's made public," ATA President and CEO Bill Graves said.

The Cargo-Related BASIC measures a motor carrier's compliance with load securement procedures, and with a host of hazardous materials requirements.

ATA identified the Cargo-Related BASIC as a component of the CSA 2010 program that needed additional work and recently met with FMCSA to present evidence demonstrating that the scores in this category do not accurately reflect carrier safety performance.

ATA also agrees with the Agency's decision, announced today, to replace the term "deficient" with "alert" on its public website, and to include pop-up disclaimer language alerting users to the intent of the scores, and cautioning against misuse.

With today's announcement, FMCSA now plans to withhold scores in two – the Crash Indicator and the Cargo-Related BASICs – of the seven CSA 2010 categories when the Agency implements the next phase of the program in early December.

ATA supports CSA 2010's objectives of identifying potentially unsafe operators, changing their behavior, and removing the most egregious actors from the road.

The American Trucking Associations (www.truckline.com) is the largest national trade association for the trucking industry. Through a federation of other trucking groups, industry-related conferences, and its 50 affiliated state trucking associations, ATA represents more than 37,000 members covering every type of motor carrier in the United States. Follow ATA on Twitter @TruckingMatters (www.twitter.com/truckingmatters), or become a fan on Facebook (http://tinyurl.com/y4qwp6h).

SOURCE American Trucking Associations