Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/339482
34 | Overdrive | July 2014 Trapped in a csa nighTmare annual meeting in Nashville, Tenn.: "Some say a Conditional safety rating is the new Unsatisfactory. Conditional now is much more difficult to get up- graded." The longer the agency waits to come back out to re-evaluate a carrier, he added, "it basically starves [a carrier] out of business." Wilson concurs. From the shipper's point of view, value of service, time to deliver and cost were the primary elements of "the old formula," as he calls it. Now an insurer, taking note of a carrier's Conditional rating and SMS ratings, tells the shipper, "We don't think you ought to be dealing with these people," he says. 'Play the game' to get out of the lockup With no due process on follow-up reviews of Conditional carriers in the statute, says Seaton, such carriers "get left in purgatory." Seaton's colleagues deal with state administrators pro- cessing petitions for review who often take the "I'll get around to it when I get around to it" approach to such requests, he says. Others say they'll wait for CSA scores to improve before reviewing a petition. Mark White saw it firsthand. "Even a convicted felon at some point serves his sentence and gets out," he says. With further attempts at garnering a follow-up review going nowhere, about a year into the Conditional rating "we started fielding calls from direct cus- tomers," he adds, that went something like this: "'My safety department is really looking at this – and I can only go to bat for you for so long.' And then you start getting rejected bidding on new business, and it starts to really irritate you." At wits' end, in spring 2013, the Whites said to themselves, "What if we just go e-logs?" About the same time, Brands Truck Insurance, the company's agent, offered to send a consultant it uses for just this kind of situation, White says. Even the consultant was surprised at Old Time Express' decision, in May 2013, to begin trying out an Omnitracs e-logs system. The carrier invested $20,000 in the system and on- going $40-per-unit subscription fees. It was a huge expense for a company of its size. The consultant, Jeff Davis of Fleet Safety Services, eventually felt the move was a savvy one when it came to pleasing FMCSA's Tennessee division, White says. With continuing federal moves toward an electronic-log man- date, "he thought we were really set- ting ourselves up to be the poster child for what they wanted to happen." Still, Old Time Express' circum- stances didn't change until it was called into FMCSA's Tennessee division at the Nashville headquarters in March of this year, after two years under the Conditional status. Officials reviewed compliance evidence prepared by Da- vis and recommended a reinstatement of Old Time Express' prior Satisfacto- ry rating to the regional Atlanta office. It was approved days later. White and others suggest that rein- statements like that which Old Time Express received – with just a visit to the FMCSA division office – are rare, given a carrier rated Condition- al after being unrated would require another onsite audit. It helps when you have a consultant who knows how to work the system on your side, Carrier reviews by fleet size 2013 8,012 (45%) 5,131 (29%) 3,473 (20%) 1,132 (6%) 17,748 pOwer units Very small: 1-6 Small: 7-20 Medium: 21-100 Larger: > 100 tOtal reviews 2010 8,361 (43%) 5,601 (29%) 3,946 (21%) 1,337 (7%) 19,245 2011 7,654 (43%) 5,322 (30%) 3,501 (20%) 1,232 (7%) 17,709 2012 8,800 (45%) 5,577 (28%) 3,815 (21%) 1,255 (6%) 19,447 FMCSA has been consistent in its reviews of carriers when considered according to the size of the fleet. Percentages represent that category's share of all reviews that year. Totals include general and focused reviews. SOURCE: FMCSA. Data comprises carrier reviews of U.S.-based entities, including passenger carriers. Data excludes a small number of reviews of carriers whose size is marked "unknown" in federal data. In 2013, compliance reviews, often prompted by CSA BASIC scores, were the most common reasons why reviews were initiated. Having a Conditional rating accounted for no reviews in 2013 or 2012. In 2010, the picture was much different. FMCSA and state partners, to some degree, still had a goal of reaching a certain number of Conditional carriers yearly for follow-up. Shifting reasons for reviews Focused compliance review: General compliance review: CSA SMS results: Complaint: Federal/state priority list: CSA SMS results: Complaint: Conditional carrier: SOURCE FOR DATA: FMCSA 7,741 reviews 4,221 reviews 3,444 reviews 563 reviews 7,070 reviews 2,755 reviews 1,492 reviews 1,272 reviews CSA2_0714.indd 34 6/26/14 9:20 PM