What is Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA)?
Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA), is a safety initiative of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), together with State Partners and industry, to further reduce commercial motor vehicle (CMV) crashes, fatalities, and injuries on our nation's highways.
Through CSA, FMCSA collects data from 3.5 million roadside inspections and 100,000 crash reports across the country each year and uses all performance data, weighted by time and by relation to future crash risk and consequence, to identify unsafe behaviors and correct them through a new interventions process - before they result in crashes.
What does Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) Mean to Drivers and Carriers?
All citations written in those millions of annual inspections put points onto the SMS (Safety Management System) score of both driver and carrier. Those scores effectively become a safety rating by which both are judged for mandatory inspections (which lead to more SMS points and ultimate unsuitability for driving) and carriers are judged for possible DOT intervention and consequent penalties. This system is so difficult and demanding that all SMS points really must now be challenged (via the DataQ process), for the possibility of deserved relief from the citation as well as to eliminate any detrimental reporting errors. This appeal is critical to keeping driver and carrier in good standing with employers and shippers.
The Solution? Drivers Legal Plan.
The law firm of Drivers Legal Plan, in addition to legal representation in traditional court, now files an automatic and FREE DataQ Challenge for its defended member drivers. To have a knowledgeable transportation attorney handling this process is a distinct advantage, from the respect and attention of the hearing officer to the mastery of the due process itself. With all appropriate documentation from driver and carrier, Drivers Legal Plan representation ensures the best possible chance of removing damaging SMS points.
Call Drivers Legal Plan today to learn more about the advantages and benefits of this crucial CDL legal service, and how it can help your business survive in this challenging Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) environment.