In years past, trucking companies pushed drivers to run over the HOS rules and many other violations, showing complete disregard for their safety and health. Now, with the recent implementation of the CSA, this practice is coming back to bite them. Drivers, loyal to their motor carrier for years, are now being terminated due to a high severity weight score on their pre-employment screening program (PSP).
As drivers are now discovering, this is a big problem with the CSA. Even though the violations were due to the carrier's equipment (this falls under the 7 BASICS, specifically the Vehicle Maintenance BASIC), the driver will be found to be in violation, as well as the carrier, raising the motor carrier's "unsafe" safety score.
There are two measurement systems under the CSA:
DSMS - Driver Safety Measurement SystemsCSMS - Carrier Safety Measurement Systems
The two go hand in hand, meaning that points received by a driver, also will go against the carrier. This is the FMCSA's idea of making both parties, the driver and the motor carrier, equally responsible for safety. As we are seeing already, this is proving to be another injustice to the professional truck driver. Drivers are reporting in that due to their PSP points, their jobs are being lost and other carriers refuse to re-hire.
The truck driver PSP is now being correlated with the HireRight DAC report... a prediction I made several months before the implementation of this program. Every driver should be aware of the points that can accumulate from violations and effect their PSP scores.
The FMCSA website clearly states:
"The program helps motor carriers make more informed hiring decisions by providing electronic access to a driver's crash and inspection history from the FMCSA Motor Carrier Management Information System ( MCMIS)."
Sound a lot like DAC... doesn't it?
The severity weight system can be found on pages 78 through 118 of the CSA Safety Measurement System (SMS) Methodology. Another driver recently advised us that he had stopped for the day and after setting the brakes, the truck began to roll. Marking this brake issue on his post-trip inspection, he was then fired by the carrier. The FMCSA has created another demon for the professional truck driver.
There is no set maximum points that a driver can reach before being deemed unsafe and terminated. This figure is at the sole discretion of the individual motor carrier. Points attained will not show up on the PSP report. The PSP will only show the violations and you must then cross-check them with the points shown on the SMS. There are 3rd party companies such as Vigillo, LLC which provide comprehensive data analytics, providing drivers with a CSA scorecard. Another example of a money-maker business created from the CSA.
Data collected for the two measurement systems basically come from four sources:
Roadside inspectionsViolations that have already been recordedState reported commercial vehicle crash dataMotor carrier census data
Violations that DOT and law enforcement have ignored in the past, such as driving with a flat tire or having a marker light out, are now being enforced and citations given out. As an example, operating a CMV on a flat tire will add eight points to your PSP... having a marker light out will give you two points. If you're caught texting while driving, you will be hit with ten points, the highest amount given, which by the way, is the same given for reckless driving.
Remember, it's not only points you'll receive, but you will still have the fine to pay as well. The CSA has given law enforcement the key to a huge money-making program to help bring in much needed revenue for states.
The number for a "maximum points" level that is being thrown around is sixty, but again, there is no set maximum points that a driver can reach before facing possible termination. The carrier can determine if it's sixty or six... it's at their discretion. Although motor carriers created the atmosphere which resulted in drivers obtaining violations in the past, they are ignoring this fact and now using the PSP as the reason for the termination of drivers.
As a California law firm establishes the first DAC Report Class Action Registry, attorneys should take notice of the truck driver PSP program. The truck driver PSP is quickly shaping up to be another DAC report to be used by the carriers against the professional truck driver.
Aubrey Allen Smith is the host of the popular internet talk radio show, Truth About Trucking "LIVE", educating drivers on how to receive a copy of their PSP report.
