The fact is this: Improving your CSA score can benefit you in many ways. Even more, it can benefit your truck drivers and other stakeholders who have an interest in seeing your fleet succeed. Since CSA scores are public information, motor carriers with higher scores will be preferred by clients who want to rest assured that their freight is in good hands.

Even more, fleets with better CSA scores suffer fewer DOT audits and roadside inspections. This directly translates into lower insurance premiums, which could mean thousands of dollars saved every year. And since potential recruits want to work for a company that has a good reputation, great CSA scores go a long way in ensuring you can find the best truck drivers for the job.

While staying compliant is important, the overriding factor in keeping CSA scores acceptable should be the safety of your truck drivers and others on the road, as well as providing a good working environment for your employees. Unfortunately, many motor carriers still aren’t even sure what goes into their CSA score. Smaller fleets may not feel the imperative to learn everything they need to learn about this important compliance and safety metric.

What is a CSA Score?

CSA was rolled out at the tail-end of 2010 as a way to introduce greater enforcement and compliance from information collected during roadside inspections. The Department of Transportation also wanted a way to identify “at risk” carriers, which CSA allows them to do. Scores are shown as a percentage, with the DOT choosing to investigate a motor carrier if their score falls to 80% or below.

A CSA score is a rating made up of any violations a motor carrier has racked up over a 24-month period. The rating system itself is made up of over 700 different violations, which all fit into seven different categories. These categories themselves are referred to as BASIC scores, which stands for Behavioral Analysis Safety Improvement Categories.

They are as follows:

• Unsafe Driving: Speeding, reckless driving, improper lane changes, and inattention or distraction.
• HOS Compliance: Hours of Service compliance and operating the vehicle while either ill or overly fatigued.
• Truck Driver Fitness: Failure to have a valid or appropriate CDL or being medically unqualified to operate the vehicle.
• Controlled Substances/Alcohol: Use or possession of controlled substances or alcohol.
• Vehicle Maintenance: Brakes, lights, or other mechanical defects or failures where a repair should have been completed.
• Cargo: Improper load securement, cargo retention, or hazardous material handling.
• Crash Indicators: Histories or patterns of high crashes, whether that be in frequency or severity.

Now that you are aware of what the CSA scores are made up of, we want to take you through key steps to improving them. Ensuring your CSA scores are in good shape could be the thing that makes or breaks your business. Even more, it could be the signal to proper operation and safe truck driving. What more could you ask for?

The guidelines we are going to outline for you over this two-Part series are designed to become a critical part of your motor carrier’s culture. These are not quick fixes. To ensure you get the most out of them, you must have buy-in from those within the organization who can directly impact. If you do not know your CSA score, make sure to visit the official website here and search by your carrier name or USDOT number. Be sure to join us next week as we dive into the steps required to get control over your CSA score.