This week we would like to delve deeper into the new driver and carrier safety standards, known as CSA 2010.  CSA 2010, which stands for Comprehensive Safety Analysis, is receiving a great deal of attention by industry analysts and is very much on the minds of carriers and drivers alike.  If you are a shipper, you may not be interested in all of the details of the new regulations, but it will be helpful to have a basic understanding of the program and why it may affect the answer to your pressing question, “Will there be truck available today?”

 Basically, CSA 2010 will be rating the safety of both carriers and drivers.  This is different than the current federal safety program known as SafeStat, which provides safety rankings for carriers only.  There are differences in how safety will be measured, which we don’t need to detail here, but CSA 2010 will be using a seven category program, called BASICs (Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories), to rank a driver’s behavior that could lead to accidents.  Data and history of unsafe driving, fatigued driving, driver fitness, controlled substances and alcohol, vehicle maintenance, improper loading or securing cargo and crash history will be monitored through roadside inspections and other traffic enforcement processes.  The safety ranking of an individual driver will include 36 months of performance and will follow the driver, even if he or she moves to another carrier.  CSA 2010 has also implemented a carrier intervention program with increasing severity of intervention, ranging from warning letters to ultimately a determination of suspension of carrier authority.    

What will change for carriers once CSA 2010 is fully implemented (target date has been delayed to November 2010, with full implemention probably some time in 2011)?  If you read industry publications, carriers will have a much more difficult time recruiting drivers who can pass safety standards, and insurance companies will be increasing premiums for drivers and carriers.  This may very well be true for many motor carriers, but what about YOUR core carriers?

 Here’s the bottom line- qualified carriers have followed their own high standards of driver safety, which naturally include any government regulations, and surpass those standards by ensuring their drivers can safely and responsibly service their customers.  CSA 2010 will not catch these carriers by surprise, rather it will validate how they have been managing their fleets for many years.  To be sure, qualified carriers will feel pressure in growing their fleets, but CSA 2010 will force sub-par carriers and drivers to either improve or leave the market.  This is a good thing; good for our highway safety and good for our industry to promote safe practices. 

Now, when you ask yourself if you will have a truck today, maybe rethink the question and ask yourself, “Are my core carriers safe and conscientious?”  A very good question, particularly today when we all feel the effects when companies operate outside their industry’s safety standards.

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