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FMCSA’s Plan Addresses Recommendations on Prioritizing Safety Interventions but Lacks Implementation Details
The FAST Act requires FMCSA to create a corrective action plan to (1) respond to the deficiencies or opportunities identified in the NAS study, (2) identify the Agency’s plans for addressing such deficiencies or opportunities, and (3) provide a cost estimate with respect to changes in staffing, enforcement, and data collection the Agency must make to address those deficiencies and opportunities. The FAST Act also calls for FMCSA to develop an implementation plan that provides benchmarks (timeframes for taking specific actions); and recommends programmatic reforms, revisions to regulations, or proposals for legislation.
The Agency established the CSA program to reduce crashes of large trucks and buses, as well as related fatalities and injuries, by prioritizing higher risk carriers for safety interventions. FMCSA uses the SMS algorithm to identify carriers for intervention by computing percentile rankings for each carrier in seven areas, called Behavior Analysis Safety Improvement Categories (BASIC). FMCSA maintains the data it uses for SMS in its Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS). Carriers with percentile ranks above FMCSA thresholds may receive interventions, which range from warning letters to onsite investigations.