CSA - say what?

By now you already realize that CSA, (formerly CSA 2010) is online for the general public. Be sure to take a look at the 'public' site to see the information your customers, competitors, insurance agents, and brokers will see. We've spent time (way too much time) checking it out. You will need to be patient due to the high volume of on-lookers, which has created extremely slow site access.

It might be of interest to you, (or maybe not), that the acronym CSA no longer stands for Comprehensive Safety Analysis. You will now see, once you finally gain access to the site, the new title is; 'Compliance, Safety, Accountability.' You will also see that the term 'Deficient' no longer applies to any of your BASIC's, instead you will see 'Alert.' This term is the Feds attempt to soften the interpretation the public gleans from the site; and hopefully you won't have a broker or shipper denying you the load because you are 'deficient.' We'll see, no one really knows what the non-carrier public will read into the word 'alert.'

As of today, full state implementation of CSA may not happen before year end...we'll keep you posted as soon as we hear more.

Regardless of the terminology, it is of vital importance as a carrier to be mindful of your scores and to 'clean-up' any problem areas that the site 'alerts' you to. If you need help understanding how to do this, remember; "ONE CALL, we'll take care of you..."

FMCSA to Publish New Regs before Year End

The long awaited revisions to the hours-of-service rule and the EOBR requirements may be published by December 31, according to FMCSA Administrator Anne Ferro, as she addressed a freight transportation group in D.C. on December 1st.

According to Ferro, the HOS revisions were expected to be published this past October but remain under review by the White House Office of Management and Budget.
“We all know that rule is at OMB,” she said, “and that rule will be published as soon as OMB is finished with its review. We’re hoping, certainly by the end of this year, that’s our goal.”

Ferro said she couldn’t discuss what was in the rule, joking that the words “hours of service [are] about as much as I can say.”

In addition to the hours rule, Ferro said the agency would have its expanded electronic onboard recorder proposal “on the street at the end of this year.”

That rule, she said, “takes us beyond what we have today, which is a remedial EOBR rule that applies a requirement for EOBRs to carriers who have a higher violation rate in their hours-of-service noncompliance and driver-log noncompliance.”

FMCSA sent its EOBR proposal to OMB on Nov. 29. The new proposal “is combined with a supporting-documents rule because the two go hand in hand in terms of what technology does and what kind of record keeping is required,” she said.

The supporting-documents rule outlines the paperwork that truckers are required to retain to back up driver logs.

Ferro added that while finishing work on the combined EOBR-supporting documents rule by the end of the year “was already our goal,” a lawsuit brought by American Trucking Associations to force publication of a supporting documents rule “underscored the importance of our goal.”

A third rule Ferro said she expects to be published in the next four weeks is the second in a series of distracted-driving regulations.

“We put in place, in less than a year, a rule that bans texting by commercial vehicle operators that took effect Oct. 27,” she said, “and we do have a proposed rule at OMB that would restrict the use of cell phones by commercial vehicle operators.”

Update on CSA Program Nationwide Launch Date

On November 30, 2010 the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced yet another delay in the roll-out of the Compliance Safety Accountability, (CSA 2010) program. The following brief statement appeared on their website:

"The Compliance Safety Accountability (CSA) program’s national rollout will occur no earlier than December 12, 2010, despite reports to the contrary. We appreciate the continued support as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) moves forward towards implementing this important new safety enforcement and compliance program."

This statement implies that there may be further delays. Initially the rollout was scheduled for July 2010, then delayed until November, now December 12th. Last week three industry trade groups filed a motion asking the District of Columbia Court of Appeals to block the rollout until the FMCSA completes a rulemaking on the new program.