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The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA) Safety Measurement System (SMS) is an automated system that quantifies motor carrier on road safety performance by Behavioral Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs). FMCSA uses the SMS results and serious violations in these BASICs to prioritize its enforcement resources. Carriers with relatively high on-road violation or crash rates that exceed a CSA intervention threshold, noted by a symbol on the SMS website, will be identified and prioritized for interventions such as warning letters and investigations. FMCSA will monitor these motor carriers’ safety performances for improvement.
The SMS results displayed on the SMS website are not intended to imply any federal safety rating of the carrier pursuant to 49 USC 31144. Readers should not draw conclusions about a carrier's overall safety condition simply based on the data displayed in this system. Unless a motor carrier in the SMS has received an UNSATISFACTORY safety rating pursuant to 49 CFR Part 385, or has otherwise been ordered to discontinue operations by the FMCSA, it is authorized to operate on the nation's roadways.
FMCSA highly recommends that all motor carriers periodically review the SMS and, when necessary, initiate a data correction request through DataQs, an electronic data correcting system. The DataQs system is available online at http://dataqs.fmcsa.dot.gov.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration uses the Safety Measurement System (SMS) to:
SMS is organized into seven Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs). The BASICs sort the carrier's safety information into specific categories. Through studies, the Agency quantified the relationship between the different categories, violations and crash risks, as well as statistical analysis and input from enforcement subject matter experts.
The BASICs are defined as follows:
SMS gets a monthly snapshot of data from the FMCSA national database, the Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS). SMS pulls the previous 24 months of roadside inspection data from MCMIS and State-reported commercial motor vehicle (CMV) crashes; motor carrier registration/census data and results from Federal and State investigations conducted within the previous 12 months.
SMS results are updated monthly. A snapshot of the data is taken on the 3rd or 4th Friday of each month and then it takes approximately 10 days to process and validate the data. Once validated, the results are uploaded to the SMS Website. The table below lists a tentative schedule for future releases of SMS results:
The Safety Measurement System (SMS) quantifies the on-road safety performance of motor carriers to identify candidates for interventions and to monitor whether compliance problems are improving or worsening. SMS also uses investigation findings and provides alerts within each of seven Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs) where a serious violation has been discovered. SMS replaced the Safety Status (SafeStat) measurement system as FMCSA's tool to prioritize motor carriers for potential intervention. The differences between the two systems are shown in the table below:
Logging into the SMS provides additional functionality. Motor carriers that log in can view their Cargo-Related and Crash Indicator BASICs measurements and assigned percentiles. In addition to the publicly available BASICs, logged-in users can also view additional detailed information on roadside inspections and crashes that are not available to the general public, such as driver names and other carrier-specific details.
Motor carriers can log in to the SMS by one of two ways: 1.) Entering their USDOT Number and USDOT Number PIN via the SMS login page, or 2.) Logging into the FMCSA Portal and selecting the SMS link. You will then enter the SMS as a logged-in user.
If you do not know your PIN, click here and follow the link for requesting your USDOT Number PIN. (Note: entering the Docket Number PIN will not allow login.)
Access to the SMS login page and to the FMCSA Portal is available from the SMS home page, as shown below:
Yes. General public users can view SMS information for motor carriers, with the exception of the measurement and percentile results of the Cargo-Related and Crash Indicator BASICs. General public users can view the inspections, violations, and crashes that are used to calculate the BASIC measurements and percentile results. However, driver names and other carrier-specific details are available only to the individual carrier and enforcement staff.
The major sections displayed in the SMS for the selected motor carrier include the following:
The BASICs Overview presents results categorized by each of the seven BASICs.
The On-Road column lists the motor carrier's percentile for each BASIC. If the percentile is over the intervention threshold for the motor carrier, the percentile is presented with a gold outline around the percentile.
The Investigation column displays the “Serious Violation Found” icon for a BASIC if a serious violation was cited within 12 months of the SMS results date. The icon will be present regardless of whether corrective actions have occurred.
The BASICs Status column displays the symbol if either the On-road column's percentile is over the threshold or if the Investigation column displays the “Serious Violation Found” icon. This indicates that, based on the data,the motor carrier may be prioritized for further monitoring.
Note that for general public users, the Cargo-Related and Crash Indicator BASICs display the message “Not Available.” Motor carriers that log in can view the Cargo-Related and Crash Indicator BASICs, but only for their own USDOT Number. Within the BASICs details pages, inspection and violation listings are available to all users, regardless of logged-in status, but the measure, percentile, and other specifics of these two BASICs are available only to logged-in motor carriers.
Also, the Crash Indicator BASIC displays "Not Applicable" under the investigation column, because there are no violations associated with the Crash Indicator BASIC on FMCSA's list of Serious Violations.
BASIC Overview Panel
The details of each BASIC can be accessed by clicking on the BASIC's tab within the BASICs Overview. Note that a motor carrier's past performance can be accessed by selecting “History.”
The SMS calculates a measure for each BASIC as described in the SMS Methodology document. The measure is then used to assign a ranking, or percentile, for each motor carrier that has information that could be compared against other similar carriers. This percentile ranking allows the safety behavior of a carrier to be compared with the safety behavior of carriers with similar operations and numbers of safety events.
The percentile is computed on a 0-100 scale, with 100 indicating the worst performance and 0 indicating the best performance. The carrier in the group with the highest measure will be at the 100th percentile, while the carrier with the lowest measure in the group will be at the 0 percentile. All other carriers in the group will be between these two numbers based on their compliance records.
The intervention threshold percentiles for motor carriers are organized by BASIC and are set based on the BASIC's relationship to crash risk. The intervention thresholds are as follows:
Not having a percentile associated with a BASIC under the On-road Performance column may be a result of one of the following:
The following table outlines the different values displayed within the On-road Performance column for each BASIC:
Review the SMS Methodology document for additional details and examples of measurement calculations and percentile determinations.
The Summary of Activities presents the number of roadside inspections and crashes that have occurred during the 24-month timeframe that is used to calculate the SMS results for the motor carrier.
The Total Inspections count consists of all roadside inspections (Levels I through VI).
The Vehicle Inspection count consists of all Level I, II, V, and VI inspections. The vehicle out-of-service (OOS) rate is calculated as the number of vehicle inspections with at least one vehicle OOS violation divided by the total number of vehicle inspections.
The Driver Inspection count consists of all Level I, II, III, and VI inspections. The driver OOS rate is calculated as the number of driver inspections with at least one driver OOS violation divided by the total number of driver inspections.
The Hazardous Materials (HM) Inspection count consists of all Level I through VI inspections where hazardous material is present. The HM OOS rate is calculated as the number of HM inspections with at least one HM OOS violation divided by the total number of HM inspections.
The Total Crashes count consists of all FMCSA reportable crashes. The number of crashes that required at least one vehicle to be towed from the scene due to disabling damage is presented, as well as the number of crashes that resulted in an injury or fatality to a person involved in the crash.
The Recent Investigations list the five most recent investigations conducted by FMCSA or its State Partners. The listing is not limited to the 24-month timeframe that is used to calculate the SMS results for the motor carrier.
The Carrier Registration Information contains a summary of the registration information provided by the motor carrier to FMCSA. This information is current as of the SMS data snapshot date. If a motor carrier updates its registration information after the SMS data snapshot date, the changes will be reflected in the next monthly SMS results.
The most up-to-date registration information for a motor carrier can be obtained from FMCSA's SAFER system at http://safer.fmcsa.dot.gov.
The date of the last update to the registration information is also listed. Motor carriers are required to update this data at least every two years. A message is displayed if the registration data has not been updated within the two-year requirement period.
Instructions for updating motor carrier registration information are displayed by selecting the “Update Registration Information” button.
Selecting the “View Carrier Registration Details” button will display additional details of the motor carrier's registration information, including contact information, operation classification, and type of cargo carried.
Each BASIC's details page, except where noted, consists of five parts:
Each BASIC's Overall Status is determined by the results of the motor carrier's on-road performance over the previous 24 months and the investigation results over the previous 12 months. Overall Status will display the symbol if either the on-road performance's percentile is over the threshold or the investigation results show the discovery of a serious violation. This indicates that, based on the data, the motor carrier may be prioritized for further monitoring, which can include a warning letter, investigation, and identification for roadside inspection.
All inspection violations that pertain to a BASIC are assigned violation weights that reflect their association with crash occurrence and crash consequences. The violation weight helps differentiate the levels of crash risk associated with the various violations attributed to each BASIC. Violation weight is assigned on a 1-10 scale, where 1 represents the lowest crash risk and 10 represents the highest crash risk relative to the other violations in the BASIC. Also, an additional weight of 2 is applied to violations that result in out-of-service (OOS) orders.
Crashes are assigned severity weights according to their impact. Greater weight is attributed to crashes involving injuries, fatalities, and/or the release of hazardous materials than to crashes only resulting in a vehicle tow-away.
Because the weights reflect the relative importance of each violation within each particular BASIC, they cannot be compared meaningfully across the various BASICs. The SMS severity weights are subject to change, so please refer to the SMS Methodology and SMS Methodology Appendix A Violations List for further information.
Inspection violations corresponding to each BASIC are found in the SMS Methodology document, Tables 1 through 6 within Appendix A.
Any violation or crash that occurred within the previous 24 months of performance data is considered when determining the BASIC measure. However, inspections, violations, and crashes are time weighted when they are included in the SMS calculations. Events that have occurred within 6 months of the SMS run date receive the highest time weight, events greater than 6 months but less than or equal to 12 months are assigned less time weight, and events that occurred greater than 12 months from the SMS run date are assigned the smallest time weight. Details are explained in the SMS Methodology document.
Yes. All roadside safety inspection findings count in the SMS, regardless of whether or not the safety inspection report contains violations. A “clean inspection” results when a relevant roadside inspection resulted in no violations for a particular BASIC. Safety inspections with no violations can improve a carrier's SMS evaluation. For example, when a carrier has no BASIC violations related to the Fatigued Driving (Hours-of-Service), Driver Fitness, and/or Controlled Substances and Alcohol BASICs from a Driver Inspection (Level I, II, III or VI), this “clean inspection” will lower the associated BASIC measure. Similarly, when a carrier has no BASIC violations related to the Vehicle Maintenance and/or Cargo-Related BASICs from a Vehicle Inspection (Level I, II, V or VI), this “clean inspection” will lower the associated BASIC measure. The North American Standard Driver/Vehicle Inspection Levels are explained on this FMCSA web page: North American Standard Driver/Vehicle Inspection Levels.
Carriers and drivers should be aware that not every law enforcement stop is a safety inspection; law enforcement may stop a vehicle to conduct a pre-inspection screen to determine if a vehicle or driver warrants closer examination. A pre-inspection screen may take many forms and may include, but not necessarily be limited to, a cursory check of the vehicle. These cursory checks are commonly confused with a complete safety inspection. If a law enforcement officer conducts only a pre-inspection screen, then a safety inspection report will not be generated. If a driver feels that a safety inspection has been conducted, FMCSA encourages the driver or carrier to ask for a copy of the report to document the safety inspection.
One of the ways the SMS accounts for the differences between carriers and their operations is to place carriers in safety event groups based on the number of safety events (e.g., inspections, crashes) in which the carriers have been involved.
Safety event groups enable SMS to deal with the widely diverse motor carrier population, while ensuring that similarly situated carriers are treated with the same standards. Safety event groups do not compare carriers by the commodities they haul or their industry segment.
For a detailed description and examples of the safety event groups by for each BASIC, please refer to the SMS Methodology document.
The SMS uses segmentation within the Unsafe Driving and Crash Indicator BASICs to account for carrier differences by placing the carrier population into two groups based on the types of vehicles operated. Carriers are grouped by the following two vehicle types/operations:
The segmentation of motor carriers means that companies that have fundamentally different types of vehicles/operations are not compared to each other.
For a detailed description and examples of the safety event groupings by and for each BASIC, please refer to the SMS Methodology document.
Power units (PUs) are recorded in the motor carrier registration data (MCS-150) on file. Power units may include vehicle types such as trucks, tractors, hazardous-material tank trucks, motor coaches, and school buses.
The number of power units a carrier has is used in part to account for each motor carrier's level of on-road exposure when calculating the Unsafe Driving and Crash Indicator BASICs. SMS calculates the average number of PUs for each carrier by using (i) the carrier's current number of PUs, plus (ii) the number of PUs the carrier had 6 months ago, plus (iii) the number of PUs the carrier had 18 months ago divided by 3.
Please refer to the SMS Methodology document for additional information and an example of the average PU calculation.
FMCSA includes investigation findings (e.g., what FMCSA or State Partners find during a motor carrier investigation) when assessing BASIC performance. The Investigation Results Details tab provided in the SMS Website displays a “Serious Violation Found” icon when an investigation conducted within the previous 12 months resulted in the discovery of a serious violation within a BASIC. Serious violations include those that are determined as follows:
The “Serious Violation Found” icon will be displayed in the carrier's Investigation Results for the BASIC for 12 months following the date of the investigation. Select this link to view the list of serious violations.
All FMCSA-reportable crashes, regardless of the determination of fault or accountability, are included in the SMS. A crash is reported to FMCSA if it involves the following:
AND
The Carrier Safety Measurement System (CSMS ) Crash Indicator considers a carrier's accident involvement, regardless of responsibility or fault. State-reported crash data are used to calculate the Crash Indicator measure of relative crash involvement. State-reported crash data does not have information regarding fault. The CSMS algorithm, by design, ranks carriers in comparison to other carriers. All carriers are treated the same way. In the case of the Crash Indicator measure the carrier's crash rates are being compared to other carriers' crash rates regardless of fault or preventability of individual crashes. Therefore, there is no relative disadvantage to any particular carrier. To eliminate misinterpretation, a caveat is placed wherever CSMS Crash Indicator-related values are shown. The caveat states, " The Crash Indicator measure/percentile represents carrier accident involvement only and is not intended as a means to assess fault." When a Crash Indicator percentile is relatively high, it suggests that a further examination of causes is needed, and if correctable, action should be taken by the motor carrier. CSMS calculations are applied uniformly to all carriers and are adjusted for exposure. For a more detailed explanation of the calculation of the Crash Indicator and its components, please refer to the SMS Methodology document.
FMCSA provides roadside inspectors with data that identifies a carrier's specific compliance problems, by BASIC, based on the motor carrier's SMS results. Targeted roadside inspections occur at permanent and temporary roadside inspection locations.
The warning letter provides motor carriers with early notification of potential safety performance issues. Warning letters are based on roadside performance results collected during the previous 24 months. The warning letter is sent to the motor carrier's principal place of business and specifically identifies BASIC(s) that exceed the FMCSA's intervention threshold relative to the motor carrier's safety event grouping and outlines possible consequences of continued compliance problems. View a sample warning letter here.
Carriers do not need to respond in writing to FMCSA after receiving a warning letter. FMCSA does encourage motor carriers to log in to SMS to examine their data, focusing their attention first on the BASICs that are over or near the intervention threshold. Carriers should consider doing all of the following:
FMCSA provides safety investigators with data that identifies a carrier's specific compliance problems, by BASIC, based on the motor carrier's SMS results. Potential investigations include the following:
Focused Compliance Review — The Focused Compliance Review (CR) takes place at the motor carrier's place of business. It enables FMCSA and State enforcement personnel to focus on safety problems demonstrated by the motor carrier without spending time and resources reviewing areas of the motor carrier's operations where no safety problems have been identified. It involves reviewing records, interviewing personnel, analyzing practices, and identifying violations and taking appropriate follow-on action only on BASICs requiring investigation.
The Focused CR narrows the safety investigator's focus from the full CR concept of determining an overall assessment of a motor carrier's entire operation towards addressing demonstrated roadside safety deficiencies identified by the SMS, as well as addressing serious violations documented during previous investigations.
Compliance Review — The Compliance Review takes place at the carrier's place of business. It is used when the carrier exhibits broad, persistent, and potentially complex safety problems identified through the SMS, worsening multiple BASICs (three or more), or a fatal crash or a non-frivolous complaint. Compliance Reviews focus on a motor carrier's safety management practices, operational performance, and regulatory compliance.
The following items are possible follow-on actions from FMCSA investigations:
Learn more about the safety regulations your company has violated by reviewing the regulations and the corresponding areas in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs):
Review FMCSA's educational and technical assistance document, A Motor Carrier's Guide to Improving Highway Safety. This document contains useful information for both drivers and carriers.
NOTE: Please do not use this guide as a substitute for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs). You should consult the FMCSRs, which are updated quarterly online.
It is important for you to consider how safety will be achieved within your organization. Putting this in place begins with developing processes that incorporate safety into every aspect of your operation. Whether you are just starting out, or you have an established company, you should have safety-minded business practices. These will help make sure that you follow federal regulations. Having these in place can save lives and reduce injuries. They can also improve your company's bottom line by saving time and money on paying fines and responding to regulatory compliance issues. They can also reduce the financial cost of crashes.
To help identify areas that are causing your safety breakdowns, ask yourself these questions:
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES — Operational rules and processes for a motor carrier and its employees.
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES — Expectations and assignment of duties for a motor carrier and its employees.
QUALIFICATIONS AND HIRING — Finding and qualifying people for the defined roles and responsibilities.
Hiring
Qualifications
TRAINING AND COMMUNICATION — Ongoing process to ensure that a motor carrier and its employees have the proper skills and knowledge to complete their jobs.
Training
Communication
MONITORING AND TRACKING — Ensuring that a motor carrier and its employees are in compliance with policies and procedures and roles and responsibilities.
MEANINGFUL ACTION — Providing positive reinforcement for, or aiming at improving or correcting, employee behavior.
The Safety Improvement Resources (SIRs) is a compilation of articles, reports, and other tools designed to assist motor carriers with improving their current safety management practices. SIRs are searchable by resource number, BASIC, or safety management practice (SMP).
The Unsafe Driving BASIC includes operation of CMVs in a dangerous or careless manner. Example violations: speeding, reckless driving, improper lane change, and inattention. (FMCSR Parts 392 and 397). The following resources can assist motor carriers in ways by which to improve the Unsafe Driving BASIC measure:
The Fatigued Driving (HOS) BASIC includes operation of CMVs by drivers who are ill, fatigued, or in non-compliance with the Hours-of-Service (HOS) regulations. Example violations: exceeding HOS, maintaining an incomplete or inaccurate logbook, and operating a CMV while ill or fatigued. (FMCSR Parts 392 and 395). The following resources can assist motor carriers in ways by which to improve the Fatigued Driving (HOS) BASIC measure:
The Driver Fitness BASIC includes operation of CMVs by drivers who are unfit to operate a CMV due to lack of training, experience, or medical qualifications. Example violations: failing to have a valid and appropriate commercial driver's license and being medically unqualified to operate a CMV. (FMCSR Parts 383 and 391). The following resources can assist motor carriers in ways by which to improve the Driver Fitness BASIC measure:
The Controlled Substances and Alcohol BASIC includes operation of CMVs by drivers who are impaired due to alcohol, illegal drugs, and misuse of prescription or over-the-counter medications. Example violations: use or possession of controlled substances or alcohol. (FMCSR Parts 382 and 392). The following resources can assist motor carriers in ways by which to improve the Controlled Substances and Alcohol BASIC measure:
The Vehicle Maintenance BASIC includes failure to properly maintain a CMV. Example violations: brakes, lights, and other mechanical defects, and failure to make required repairs. (FMCSR Parts 393 and 396). The following resources can assist motor carriers in ways by which to improve the Vehicle Maintenance BASIC measure:
The Cargo-Related BASIC includes failure to properly prevent shifting loads, spilled or dropped cargo, and unsafe handling of hazardous materials on a CMV. Example violations: improper load securement, cargo retention, and hazardous material handling. (FMCSR Parts 392, 393, 397 and applicable DOT HM regulations). The following resources can assist motor carriers in ways by which to improve the Cargo-Related BASIC measure:
The following resources, Crash Countermeasures, can assist motor carriers in ways by which to improve the Crash Indicator BASIC measure:
Motor Carrier Management Related:
Driver Related:
Vehicle Related:
If you feel any of the data is erroneous, corrections can be requested through the DataQs process, by which you may submit a request for a data correction review. Through this process, data concerns are automatically forwarded to the appropriate office for resolution. Any user, including motor carriers, drivers, and the general public, can submit a request for a data correction review using the DataQs system.
The DataQs system is an electronic means of filing concerns about Federal and State data released to the public by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). DataQs is the best way to get the "data correction request" process initiated, as all changes to data must be made at the source (the agency that enters the data).
A motor carrier, driver, or other stakeholder can register for DataQs via the FMCSA Portal or through the DataQs system directly. Requests for data corrections require simple forms to be filled in with information from the relevant report, such as the report number, date and time of event, state, and an explanation for why the data should be changed. Documentation to support the Request for Data Correction Review (RDR) may also be submitted to the system. All information is routed to the organization responsible for the data. Electronic correspondence is used to communicate with the requestor when additional information is needed. DataQs is open to the public and the website provides an online help function to walk users through the process.
Here are some tips to assist you in filing DataQs RDRs:
Please Note: Carrier registration information (e.g., name, address, or power unit data) can be modified by updating the MCS-150 form.
There are several websites where you can find additional information on FMCSA and CSA. Specific links are highlighted below:
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)
Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA)
Safety Measurement System (SMS)
CSA Information for Drivers