• 02
  • February
    2011

That's the message the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is sending carriers (cross-country trucking companies) with a new safety-analysis system called CSA 2010. The system's aim is simple, says former FMCSA Administrator Annette Sandberg. By collecting and electronically storing data on drivers who've run up a bad safety record, the agency hopes to keep them off the road by alerting potential employers that they're among "the worst of the worst."

Until now, bad drivers could walk away from serious safety violations, such as drug or alcohol abuse or driving without a valid license, simply by changing employers. No more. The FMCSA's "Red List" - meant to raise a "red flag" about certain violations - alerts a carrier that not just the driver is under scrutiny but the carrier as well. Ignoring or protecting bad drivers could put the company in serious legal jeopardy, as well as the driving public.

Sandberg says CSA 2010 came about in response to cases such as the one where 40 percent of the carrier's violations were attributable to just two of its drivers. FMCSA filed charges against the individuals and the company alike, for falsifying business records. With the "more refined" data derived from the system's Pre-Employment Screening Program (PSP) reports, she says, the agency can target the responsible parties more effectively.

The picture won't change overnight, however. The PSP reports became available only this year, and before that, there was no way of knowing if a driver's previous history contained any red-flag violations. Nevertheless, under the threat of investigation, carriers are more likely to screen prospective drivers' records before putting them on the payroll and putting the trucking company on the hook for serious trucking accidents.

Could the red-flag designation turn into a witch hunt? Not likely, says former FMCSA Administrator John Hill. "As far as I know, there isn't any red-flag list that abides in a vault somewhere that they pull out when they go talk to a carrier." The list "just means you're going to be subject to more scrutiny in a compliance review. It helps investigators identify where the weak parts are in a carrier's performance."

Related Source:

Fed 'red list' tracks troublesome drivers, eyes employers