Fmcsa Motor Carrier Safestat
Fmcsa Motor Carrier Safestat
Unsafe Trucking Companies – Online Resource for Drivers and Truck Accident Victims
At least 23 percent of trucks on the road today are out of service, and that number may only be the tip of the iceberg. In an effort to raise awareness on dangerous truck companies in America, an easy, step-by-step guide has been developed to allow drivers, truck accident victims and attorneys identify unsafe motor carriers.
SafeStat, short for Motor Carrier Safety Status Measurement System, is an automated data-driven system that calculates the safety fitness on motor carriers. The data is maintained and managed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), which sets laws governing the trucking industry. Information that is collected to rate these trucking companies includes accident reports, roadside vehicle inspections, driver violations and compliance reviews.
Who can use this report?
ANYONE with a computer and access to the Internet can sit down and discover almost anything they want to know about any trucking company across the country. Some examples of the types of people who may be interested in this information include:
-Drivers who can find which trucking companies to steer clear of on the roads
-A Truck accident victim, who can discover endless information about the driver and truck that caused their accident
What does this report show?
* Government safety rating
* Crash history with accident particulars such as fatalities, road conditions and police documentation
* Driver information including compliance, inspection and moving violation results, as well as out of service violations such as alcohol dependency and driving past regulated hours
* Truck maintenance
There are also scores for each trucking company in various categories, so a user can look for trends indicating deficient and unsafe carriers.
How can I access this report?
- Log onto http://safersys.org/ - This is the FMCSA Safety & Fitness Electronic Records System Web page. *Note when you access the site, there is a warning at the top, please note this warning is intended only to advise against distribution of their data. This site is for public use.
- Scroll down to “FMSCA Searches” and click on “SafeStat Online”
- Under the tab “Single Carrier Search” enter the truck company’s carrier name and/or USDOT ID #
- Click “Search” and a list of truck companies will appear
- Click on the carrier you are researching
- As you’ll see there are six tabs across the top of the results. Each tab contains data on specific accidents, fatalities or injuries, driver information, vehicle inspections and safety violations. There is also a “history” tab that shows trends in this data.
- If you are an accident victim, make sure to visit the Accident tab. This initial page shows the number of vehicles involved in crashes that resulted in injuries or fatalities. Click on the “View Detail Data” icon on bottom right-hand which leads to itemized vehicle crash history. The list is sorted by most recent date. Once you find your accident click on the number link at the far left of that row of data. This detailed report shows the police report number, road conditions, type of roadway, citations, and driver information.
- A three-year safety report can and should be ordered by anyone involved in a collision with a truck.
This resource will only be available and current through July 2010 when the FMCSA introduces a new system. Unfortunately the site has temporarily removed some of the summary data which includes safety rankings, but some of the detailed information is still accessible.
To learn more about Safestat and view a detailed presentation on how to read and utilize each tab within a carrier’s online profile, visit the Michigan Truck Accident Resource Center web page Finding the Dirt on Unsafe Trucking Companies.
Knowing a truck company’s regulatory history and compliance is one step we can take toward preventing accidents.
About the Author
Michigan Truck Accident Lawyer Steve Gursten is recognized as one of the nation’s top experts in serious truck accident injury cases. Steve has received the largest jury verdict for an automobile accident case in Michigan in four of the last seven years, including 2008, according to Michigan Lawyers Weekly. Recently, he was named a Michigan Lawyers Weekly Leader in the Law for his tireless efforts to hold trucking companies accountable for negligence.
Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010 (CSA2010)
For more than a year, the trucking industry has been anticipating the launch of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010 (CSA). The goal of this new national safety initiative for commercial motor vehicles is to reduce crashes and fatalities, and target safety issues in the trucking industry.
While the rate of commercial carrier fatal crashes has decreased since the 1970s, federal and state enforcement agencies recognize inadequacies in existing monitoring and intervention protocols. As a result, the CSA field test was launched in February 2008. From this field test, new safety interventions were applied to all hazmat and interstate motor carriers and feedback was used in developing the new standards.
The CSA, building on the FMCSA’s existing success, will offer a new safety measurement system and new measurement tools. With three major components, the CSA will focus on measuring safety performance, evaluating high risk behaviors and tailoring more effective interventions.
Commercial carriers will have to adapt their internal processes and develop new measurement technologies in order to meet the demands under these new guidelines. For example, the CSA calls for the replacement of the old SafeStat system with the Safety Measurement System (SMS). Under SMS, monthly safety fitness determinations will be made of each motor carrier. These determinations, based on Behavioral Analysis Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs), will weigh driver fitness, unsafe driving , fatigued driving, vehicle maintenance, alcohol or controlled substance use, crash history and cargo loading or securement . Problems in any of these areas could result in something as minor as a warning letter or as major as an “out of service” order.
While the American Trucking Association supports the CSA initiative, it also has concerns about how certain values or measures will impact its members. Unanticipated and unfair results could come from system oversights. In its present form, the CSA could potentially measure truck-involved crashesbefore actual cause determinations are made, and consider unadjudicated traffic warnings against a carrier’s overall SMS score.
When the CSA 2010 is launched in December, it will affect law enforcement, federal and state regulators and the transportation industry as a whole. The success of this new national safety program, if it holds true to the model, will not only save lives, but make America’s highways safer.
About the Author
Contact Truck Driver Negligence Lawsuit Attorney lawyers at Tyler & Peery to schedule you initial consultation. Talk with us about your personal injury, and let us develop a winning strategy for you. Call 866-798-0737 today or visit online.