Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/709236
38 | Overdrive | August 2016 I n the days before the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Admin- istration's Compliance, Safety, Accountability program, drivers might not have batted an eye if an inspector did a quick walk-around and, fi nding nothing obvious to cite, waved them on their merry way without fi nishing a full inspection. Today, though, traditional wis- dom about inspections – best avoid- ed, given the hassles and potential violations – has been upended. As any small fl eet owner or indepen- dent knows, clean inspections are the only immediate way to improve categorical percentile rankings in CSA's Safety Measurement System. The stakes are so high that it's now common for carriers to off er cash bonuses for clean inspections. A clean Level 1 driver and truck inspection improves carrier scores in most SMS BASIC categories of compliance measurement by off setting or diluting, as it were, the weight prior violations exert in scores' computation. Without a clean inspection, the only way to discount the weight of prior violations is to wait for them to "age," reducing the time weight- ing associated in the scores, before they drop out after two years. Though the bite of those rank- ings has dulled a bit with congres- sional action last year to pull the Credit for clean Mississippi 'fi nishes the job,' far exceeding all states when it comes to helping truckers by issuing clean inspections BY TODD DILLS CSA's DATA TRAIL STANDOUT STATES Mississippi BEST STATES 1. Mississippi – 66.9% 2. Montana – 63.2% 3. South Dakota – 58.3% 4. California – 57.1% 5. Illinois – 56.5% 6. Delaware – 55.3% 7. Nevada – 53.3% 8. Tennessee – 52.6% 9. West Virginia – 52.6% 10. Utah – 51.7% WORST STATES 1. Wisconsin – 18.4% 2. Michigan – 19.5% 3. Connecticut – 19.6% 4. Indiana – 19.7% 5. Rhode Island – 20.3% 6. South Carolina – 22% 7. Louisiana – 22.1% 8. Iowa – 22.7% 9. Idaho – 22.8% 10. Texas – 24.2% CLEAN INSPECTIONS AS A SHARE OF ALL 2015 INSPECTIONS For a full accounting of clean- inspection rates and other data for all 48 continental United States, visit OverdriveOnline.com/CSA. There you'll find interactive maps showing the top- and bottom-ranked states in categories such as inspection intensity, various violation categories and more. The download reveals the rankings for all states. OverdriveOnline.com poll Distribution of owner-operators' most recent clean inspection More than five years ago 5% Within the last year 57% Within two years 10% Two-five years ago 13% Haven't been inspected 7% I can't remember the last one 4% Haven't had one 4% Todd Dills