Llame al (888) 572-7520 para hablar con un agente
Enviar mensaje a un agente
If you have not yet adjusted your compliance strategies to align with the changes in SMS, now is the right time to do so.
Last year, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced new updates to the Compliance, Safety, and Accountability (CSA) program. These changes significantly restructure the way carriers are evaluated concerning safety and compliance risks. The updates to the FMCSA’s Safety Measurement System (SMS) continue to be implemented, and while many fleets have already started adapting to comply with CSA, some are still somewhat uninformed. If you have not yet adjusted your compliance strategies to align with the changes in SMS, now is the right time to do so.
A Clearer Safety Measurement System
First, what is the SMS? The Safety Measurement System (SMS) is the system used by the FMCSA to track violations and determine the safety score of carriers. These recent FMCSA updates to the SMS were designed to create a clearer, fairer, and more effective system for identifying high-risk carriers.
The current SMS evaluates on-road performance by organizing data into seven safety improvement categories (BASICs), which have now been restructured into compliance categories with clearer definitions. This makes it easier for carriers to better understand how violations impact their scores.
Additionally, the FMCSA decided to group more than 2,000 types of violations into approximately 100 broader categories, with the aim of ensuring that multiple citations for the same underlying issue do not affect a carrier’s score, ensuring fairness and avoiding inconsistencies.
Severity Scale, Percentiles, and Violations
Another change the FMCSA has made to the SMS is the simplification of the severity scale, replacing the complex 1-to-10 classification with a weighting of 1 or 2. Out-of-service (OOS) violations and driver disqualifications are given a weighting of 2, while other violations are assigned a weighting of 1. This makes it easier to assess risk.
The FMCSA has also replaced the old incident groupings with proportional percentiles, allowing for a more accurate comparison of fleets based on the number of incidents. Intervention thresholds have been adjusted to better reflect accident risk, such as in the driver fitness category, where the threshold has increased from 80% to 90%.
Recent violations now carry more weight, allowing fleets with a strong compliance history to improve their scores more quickly. Additionally, adjustments to the utilization factor ensure a fairer evaluation, taking into account exposure to inspections and collisions, especially for fleets with high mileage.
Strategies for Incorporating New Measures into Your Fleet
These new measures have been implemented to facilitate compliance and provide greater transparency to carriers in the process. However, if you have not yet reviewed how your CSA scores have changed with the updates, it’s important to do so and begin taking the necessary steps to ensure compliance. According to a recent Fleet-Connection article, you can take the following steps to stay in compliance:
- Regularly review SMS scores.
- Update your violation management process to minimize risks.
- Provide drivers with information on key safety areas.
- Implement telematics and safety monitoring systems.
On the FMCSA Prioritization Preview website, carriers can log in, enter their DOT number, and see exactly how their new SMS scores are adjusted under the updated methodology.
U.S. labor market raises red flags on Wall Street
The U.S. labor market closed 2025 with clear signs of weakening, as evidenced by the latest employment data released in December. In the latest episode
DOT finds half of North Carolina CDLs were issued illegally
The DOT warns that half of North Carolina’s CDL licenses are irregular after a federal audit uncovered serious compliance failures. The findings directly affect truckers, fleets, and transportation companies, raising urgent questions about road safety, legal operations, and the future of the trucking industry.
California’s Unhealthy Air: Impacts on Trucking and Freight
Unhealthy Air Quality in California: What Repeated Pollution Alerts Mean for Trucking and Freight Operations
Global Road Freight on Track to Hit USD 5 Trillion by 2033
Global Road Freight on Track to Hit USD 5 Trillion by 2033 as e-commerce growth, supply chain restructuring, and technology adoption accelerate demand for road-based cargo transport worldwide.
California misses DOT deadline risking $160 million in federal funding
The state of California has reached the deadline set by the DOT to take action regarding the situation involving the number of non-domiciled CDLs issued
Health on Wheels: How to Prevent the Most Common Conditions on the Road
Health on wheels matters for anyone who spends long hours on the road. How to prevent the most common physical and mental conditions and maintain healthier routines while working behind the wheel.
Business hours: Monday to Friday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. California time