Trucking news and briefs for Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022:
If you've gotten an unexpected warning letter from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration based on your Unsafe Driving BASIC percentiles recently, that's no accident.
The FMCSA made something of an under-reported change with its November CSA Safety Measurement System update. The agency made it considerably more likely that carriers would receive such warning letters -- generally an official notice that a carrier is at risk for further intervention (focused audits or compliance reviews) without percentile improvement.
After the change, FMCSA is sending warning letters to any carrier with a percentile ranking of 50% in the Unsafe Driving BASIC, where moving-type violations contribute to scores. That's changed from the prior procedure of sending out warning letters only to carriers that "met the prioritization threshold for interventions or further monitoring," FMCSA said. Those thresholds are 50% for passenger carriers, 60% for hazmat carriers, and 65% for all other carriers. The agency explained its rationale for making the change as an attempt to help carriers "improve their safety performance and compliance sooner, and without further intervention."
FMCSA added that "percentile thresholds for prioritization are not changing." Carriers that have BASICs with an “Alert” symbol (gold triangle with an exclamation point) may still be prioritized for interventions or further monitoring, and warning-letter protocol isn't changed for other BASIC categories.
[Related: A 14-state speed trap: Where enforcement is most prominent]
Truck drivers can expect slower traffic and possible congestion on part of Interstate 35 in Oklahoma for the next several months.
