ATA Calls on FMCSA to Make Needed Changes to CSA System

ARLINGTON, Va., March 21, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- American Trucking Associations President and CEO Bill Graves today reiterated ATA's support of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Compliance Safety Accountability motor carrier oversight program while calling on FMCSA to address a list of flaws in the system.

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"From the outset, ATA has been supportive of the objective of CSA - to reduce crashes and save lives by focusing on real-time, performance-based data. Also, we have been gratified with how willing the agency has been to make needed improvements to the program," Graves said. "However, the need to make additional enhancements to improve the reliability and accuracy of carriers' CSA scores becomes more acute as FMCSA moves toward linking them with motor carrier safety fitness determinations."

Along with its list of CSA concerns and a letter to FMCSA Administrator Anne Ferro, ATA sent its recently completed summary and critique of an evaluation report of FMCSA's CSA Operational Model Test.

"The evaluation has validated ATA's support for CSA by confirming that the program is more efficient and effective at getting carriers to improve their safety performance," Graves said. "However, the report also identified weaknesses in the accuracy and reliability of scores in certain categories. Yet, it appears that FMCSA may have understated these limitations."

In addition, in its review of FMCSA's evaluation, the American Transportation Research Institute identified several issues with the publication's statistical findings.  Specifically, ATRI corroborated the report's detailed comparison of above and below threshold carriers to those with insufficient data, but highlighted the report's omission of the more essential comparison of whether crash rates significantly differed between above and below-threshold carriers in each of the BASICs.

Despite the concerns, Graves said ATA was committed to working with FMCSA to further improve CSA.

"This is not a list of complaints, rather it's a list of possible solutions that we are eager to discuss with FMCSA," Graves said. "It is important, not only for FMCSA, but for our industry, to help this program reach its fullest potential in identifying unsafe carriers and compelling them to improve their performance."

To read ATA's letter and critique, click here, here and here.

American Trucking Associations is the largest national trade association for the trucking industry. Through a federation of 50 affiliated state trucking associations and industry-related conferences and councils, ATA is the voice of the industry America depends on most to move our nation's freight. Follow ATA on Twitter or on Facebook. Good stuff. Trucks Bring It!

SOURCE American Trucking Associations