WASHINGTON — Major trucking companies and brokers who book their freight are pressuring the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to attach a safety rating to carriers operating without such a rating — a situation that exists for over 90% of the freight market.
The concern comes as FMCSA looks at developing a new way to verify when a motor carrier is fit to operate trucks in interstate commerce, known as a safety fitness determination (SFD). The agency issued a preliminary advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) in August to get public feedback on whether and how to revamp its current rating methodology.
FMCSA’s own statistics red-flags the problem. Of 690,091 interstate freight carriers eligible for an FMCSA safety rating in 2021, 646,777 — roughly 94% — did not have a rating, according to the agency’s most recent annual safety data, published in December 2022.
Source: FMCSA data snapshot as of January 28, 2022.
“A system that rates less than 10% of the eligible population is unacceptable,” wrote Lane Kidd, managing director of the Alliance for Driver Safety & Security, known as the Trucking Alliance, in comments responding to the proposed rulemaking. The group consists of nine of the country’s largest truckload carriers, including J.B. Hunt (NASDAQ: JBHT), Knight-Swift (NYSE: KNX) and Schneider National (NYSE: SNDR).
“These unrated carriers are treated disparately by brokers and shippers who must rely on other metrics to make important safety-based business decisions,” Kidd stated.
The Transportation Intermediaries Association, which represents truck brokers and 3PLs, agrees.
“TIA supports a speedy rulemaking because one of the most significant challenges for the third-party logistics industry is the manner in which motor carrier safety ratings are currently being used by personal injury lawyers, insurers, and the media, among others,” said TIA Vice President of Government Affairs Chris Burroughs in comments filed with the notice.
“The misuse of safety ratings, which manifests itself in nuclear verdicts, higher insurance rates, and reputational damage is especially acute in light of the fact that 90% of motor carriers are currently considered ‘unrated’.”
FMCSA admits to regulatory loopholes
FMCSA’s current SFD system is based on data collected during a compliance review investigation, conducted either on-site at the motor carrier’s place of business or remotely through a review of its records using a secure portal.
After analyzing six factors — which incorporate crash involvement and hours of service violations — a carrier is assigned one of three safety ratings: satisfactory, conditional or unsatisfactory.
But because of loopholes in the system, a carrier is not prohibited from operating with a conditional rating even though a review revealed a safety breakdown. For example, a carrier with a documented noncompliance in vehicle maintenance and controlled substances testing would receive a proposed conditional rating. If the proposed rating becomes final, it still allows the carrier to continue operating.
FMCSA also admits that the current SFD process strains agency staff, reaching only a small percentage of carriers. That leaves the majority without a rating at all, setting up the potential for a huge number of unsafe trucks operating on the highways at any time.
“Because the agency has resources to issue safety ratings to only a small percentage of motor carriers each year, a safety rating does not necessarily reflect the current safety posture of a motor carrier,” the agency acknowledged in the ANPRM.
Potential solutions lack consensus
Most groups representing carriers, shippers, brokers and safety advocates agreed that the current system was broken and needed to be made simpler and more clear, but differed on how to make that happen.
Solutions ranged from using a single “unfit” category, advocated by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance as well as proposed previously by FMCSA, to expanding to a five-point number system, supported by Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA).
“The current system is confusing and not intuitive,” commented Madan Gopal, staff safety strategy engineer for the Austin, Texas-based company, which is ramping up production of its long-delayed Semi electric truck.
“Also, the meanings of ‘unsatisfactory’ and ‘conditional’ may be confused with one another. A five-point system, with 1 assigned to ‘conditional’ and 5 assigned to ‘unfit-out of service’ may be more understandable.”
In between CVSA and Tesla is a call, by TIA, to move to a simple fit/unfit rating system.
“For many years, TIA has been a strong proponent of a “red light/green light” system for the use of motor carriers as a substitute for the current, confusing and conflicting” system, Burroughs asserted.
“Not providing a safety rating of some kind for every carrier would continue the confusion and ambiguity that exists in the current [process]. This important change is not only essential to eliminating unsafe motor carriers from the road but also eliminating confusion in the marketplace as to what the existing ratings mean.”
The National Industrial Transportation League, a shipper group supporting TIA, commented, “Think how many bad actors would be put out of business if shippers and 3PLs were told not to use them (unfit). A simple binary safety rating system that distinguishes a fit or unfit carrier will help clear up a great deal of confusion.”
But several carrier groups — the National Motor Freight Traffic Association, representing LTL carriers; the National Association of Small Trucking Companies, which represents small-business carriers; and the National Private Truck Council (NPTC) — believe FMCSA should retain its three-tier system.
Among reasons cited for keeping three categories versus a binary system, NPTC asserted that eliminating “conditional” as a rating would mean carriers currently holding that status “would be compelled to suspend operations until such time as the agency could conduct another compliance review and reconsider the safety fitness rating, whenever that might be,” the group stated.
“It essentially forces the company out of its trucking operations.”
Backcountry164
Is anyone complaining about this other than the people whose job it is to write these regulations??
Johny
Good luck with that, more than half of the cariers wll go out of Business, and rates for loads wil sky rocket and many loads will stay undelivered because of lack of truckers, not a sane trucker will accaept appointment based load or same day delivery , I dont think these people have idea how the trucking business works., forget about Amazon deliveryr USPS loads , Walmart, Budweiser, SVC , Wakefarn etc.
Thomas J Stiles
What you also don’t mention is that when a small outfit requests to be given a full inspection DOT refused to do so and unless they see something already wrong they pass you by to seek a carrier to get more tickets. And, in the past when I had a full inspection, I was refused a copy for the copy and told me to leave giving me a copy of a look see when they spent 45 minutes inspecting everything
Richard
I cannot understand why this is so troubling to everyone as a 23-year driver only nine verifiable my point should be simple the only unfit companies no matter how large or how small they all have one thing in common. The owner or owners are poor or they have less have not been able to buy the 60 70,000 SUV for the wife the sports car for the teenage daughter two brand new Harleys and yet cannot even pay their driver 1/4 of what he should actually be receiving through prepaid bills receiving cash for deliveries and then right the driver a check for his percentage while the owner received cash not only did the driver get screwed out of his percentage he had to pay the taxes that the owner got away with also by writing him a check for his share this leads to the owner not having to pay not just his share of personal taxes but making the drivers pay all shares of the taxes there are several small loopholes that outlaw trucking companies used on me then and now that way the owners can prosper while they go through drivers like dish rags if the driver complains if the driver tries to say well my truck is not satisfactory to me it might be to you but it is not to me then he is punished by being fired or given shawty loads or even worse in some cases his whole reputation destroyed that way anything he reveals about the owners holds no water the point is clear and I seen it after 23 years of driving it might have taken the little guy to get the job done back in the 1920s and 30s and 40s but if you want the job done correctly you want it done right you want to be safe and you want to be paid fairly then only answer is to allow the mega companies such a Swift to take in the smaller companies whether flatbed reafer dry van oversize etc etc the mega companies that have convinced outlaw drivers like myself who were only outlawing because we were allowed to get away with what we wanted so long as we allowed the owners to get what they wanted when I was younger I was lucky I wouldn’t work for no mega company because I couldn’t do what I wanted to without being watched or repercussions unfit trucking companies will allow their drivers such as myself to do that in exchange for well just running anyways or we’ll fix it when you get back or I’m not saying you can do it but so long as you get the job done etc etc I feel really weird in giving the answer to all our problems as far as safety and the true concern for the public but I had to grow up and I had to live long enough and not kill anybody long enough as I said very blessed and lucky after I work for a mega company and I kept myself straight the job was so easy and I received a compensation respect benefits that a man could be proud to take a wife and start a family or vice versa not saying we eliminate the small companies I’m saying we put them under the wings and under the charge of the mega carriers and let them be the all seeing eye and they must prove to the companies that have proved to drivers like myself that they as long as it is necessary to transport by commercial vehicle they are the way to ensure complete and total public safety. The monetary gain the start with one truck and 10 years later I have 30 trucks success stories etc etc trucking can no longer be a quick way that a smart crooked person can make a killing and then put all the blame on others and destroy their reputations they’re driving records if you really want to prove that public safety is the number one concern of the trucking industry you must remove anyone who is not willing to have a camera looking at them as they perform their job to have the right to say I’m not bringing you cash for a machine you sold and then you write me a check to be able to not be afraid to tell the truth like I have every driver in the world that holds the class a CDL who has a family who is blessed enough to survive as long as I did should be wanting to have more and more tests more and more challenges more and more eyeballs upon me that way I can shine that way my family will thrive that way your family will survive now yes there will be incidents in accidents with anything but I guarantee you if you remove the blankets that can be pulled over and then back again if you can eliminate the contracts that I got from my grandfather knowing someone if you can eliminate all that and put them who already have made their millions as the overseer has the one that you have to prove to not outsmart the other guy not beat the little guy you want to be the man you got to beat the man you have to get eliminate that it needs to be to wear every driver spends one part of his day with his family one part of his day doing his job and the other part of his day resting and with many options to further his monetary worth as a driver by taking another class by pissing in another glass by doing whatever it takes to see to it that the only way a person that does not hold a CDL makes more money on the load than the person who holds the CDL is to get rid of all that b******* that they’re allowed to do and until you do that which is so simple I just told you every carrier must fall under the wing of a mega carrier all freight will no longer come in contracts or bids or brokers just like the man who owned and started the Swift trucking company as he grew a newscaster asked him you’re growing so fast you make so much money compared to when you started it won’t be long you will be the best trucking company in the US what do you think about that you know what his reply was anybody that’s ever worked for Swift will continue to tell you he replied by saying I’m not going to be the biggest for the best trucking company in the United States I’m going to be the only trucking company in the United States and there is your answer and not pumping up Swift because only their flatbed division is actually worthy of how a driver should be treated but companies like them companies like Jordan carriers out of Natchez Mississippi them boys right there only care about one thing the safety of the public and their drivers and I can tell you from personal experience that’s all they study is safety of the public in their drivers if you’re not a safe driver if you’re not a compliant driver you will not drive for Jordan carriers and if you have drove for them for five 10 15 years and made them tons of money if you one time slip up and fall uncompliant they do not say well he’s been with us 10 years they say goodbye and we will do everything we can to help you get help but you cannot operate one of our vehicles with our name on the side of it any longer anymore ever again and that is what this whole conversation this whole waste of data is about but we all know that’ll never happen because there’s always somebody whose grandpa or daddy or uncle or wife’s brother has a job because of who they know not what they show you want to be safe when you’re driving on the road you don’t need 14 different trucking alliance and compliance companies you don’t need no FMCSA Tia GTA pia etc etc you don’t need all that b******* those are just things created entities created to funnel money and give my wife’s brother a job that pays him $160,000 a year and he’s never backed the truck up in his life but he is your safety director or hell I can’t meet the safety quota as your wanting to put out there so guess what they’ll do I’ll just put the company in my wife’s name or my son’s name or my daughter’s name and I’ll close the doors and change the damn name but it all stays the same it’s going to piss a lot of people off if they read this all the way if they’ve been in the trucking industry long enough but remember this conversation is about public safety the little kids waving at you pulling for you to blow the horn you don’t blow that horn you let their moms and dads explain to them because everyone’s on the same page because everyone’s paying attention to each other he can’t blow the horn son it might scare or spoke another driver and we wouldn’t want that you see it’s simple you got to get rid of all the people that are in it for the money and then trust all those who have no money but been doing it for 25 years 😉 because now I do care when I do drive I operate and compliance is my number one goal, not well if I get unloaded in time or if I can figure out how to cut an hour off of my sleep time if I can figure out how to unplug my ELD etc I can get another load in this week and have an extra $300 or I can stick this load on that trailer and double that drivers load that way I’ve got one truck One driver and I get two checks that she’s got to go people or y’all just wasting tax money doing anything else thank you and remember the only reason we have this every day as a concern trying to figure out how to be compliant with this and how to word that and what is satisfactory and unsatisfactory blah blah blah All that is bull frigging crap all that is is smoking mirrors to keep the public from knowing what to tell their son when he says why doesn’t the driver blow the horn mommy daddy don’t know son Rick and he’s an a****** don’t know son he’s not paying attention to the road don’t know son stop asking so many damn questions because all it is is a damn means to continue what’s going on today the rich get richer the poor get poor the only ones that make money from unbek trucking companies are the people who don’t even drive the trucks that are getting caught it’s not the driver’s fault they’re doing whatever they can to get a sandwich to feed their family to be able to buy a pack of cigarettes each day it’s better than stealing and Robin but it’s still wrong you shouldn’t drive 10 hours 11 hours excuse me be able to shut down talk to your family get a good meal take a shower relax get your mandatory rest and still make enough money to buy a pack of cigarettes each day and not have to drive 24/7 wait till Sunday Dodge all the scale houses shouldn’t have all this cheating going on whether it be the owners of the drivers it should be we better do our jobs and we better do them right or we won’t have jobs and the ones who can comply they buy carton of cigarettes every day not a pack put that in your pipe and smoke it all you crooked ass owners who have changed your company name four times in the past 10 years who get paid $3.20 a mile send a driver 1500 miles and pay him a hundred bucks I hope they put every damn one of you out of business I hope I never be able to get another job you bastards.. excuse my language you buzzards Danielle can see what it’s like to have to get out and work for crumbs everyday after you used to putting 20 grand a month in the bank and never even have to leave your hometown or your family miss a ball game never have to miss a ball game but you put 20 grand a month in the bank but the guy who makes all that possible needs a pack of cigarettes it is what it is and the truth hurts well there’s the answer let’s see if they come up with another four or five letter association to handle that s***
Al-Solo Nyonteh
I think the safety rating scores is more beneficial for larger fleets and it doesn’t reflect a fair representation for one to four truck carriers. I think a fleet size multiplier need to be added to the calculations. One out of service for a two truck carrier is a 50% score but one out of service for a five hundred truck carrier is a .2% score. Lower score means you are a safer carrier. A smaller carrier has to work 100 times harder to maintain similar rating score of a larger fleet.
Robert Merrell
Your article says that 90% of the trucking companies are unrated. That may be true, but they’re not unsupervised every time they go across the scale. Every time they’re ELD is checked every time there’s an out of service thing. It’s posted on your rating and if it comes to a certain point you’re audited.
Rtr
FMCSA are a bunch of scumbag leeches that are goin 2 completely kill the trucking industry b4 long…
Bradley
As a very small carrier I find troubling. I can see this leading to a small company as mine having a couple of unfortunate incidents, bad inspection, speeding, whatever, causing them to be “unsatisfactory” or “unfit”. On the other hand a large carrier could have hundreds of the same incident, but because of their size, their average shows they’re still “fit”.