Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/36447
SPECIAL REPORT: Going Public? Report says FMCSA wants to release driver safety data TODD DILLS he Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration wants authority to release driver safety data, in effect reversing its earlier stance that driv- ers would not be publicly ranked under the Compliance, Safety, Ac- countability program. T The agency is seeking increased regulatory authority over drivers via the next highway reauthorization bill, according to a February Govern- ment Accountability Office report to Congress on CSA progress. “If [FMCSA] gains this authority,” the report reads, “the agency plans to make driver safety data public.” This data would come in a form sim- ilar to the agency’s motor carrier per- centile ranking system. Asked if this was the intention, FMCSA spokeswoman Candice Toll- iver said, “The Department of Trans- portation is committed to working with Congress to address this issue as part of a comprehensive push to update transportation programs and maintain the highest standards of safety for the American public.” Re- quests for further clarification went unanswered. 18 TRUCKERS NEWS AUGUST 2011 The agency intended years ago to go public with driver data, says John Hill, FMCSA administrator from 2006 to 2008. “There was a debate among the lawyers in the agency [about if] … the agency had the authority to ac- tually rate drivers,” he says. “We thought we’d make it a part of the next highway bill. We wanted to make sure there was authority to do so, and so would minimize any law- suits that might arise from some in- terested party that would not agree with rating drivers.” A source within FMCSA, who declined to speak on the record, stressed that making public the driv- er percentile rankings in the Behav- ioral Analysis and Safety Improve- ment Categories of the Driver Safety Measurement System (DSMS) “has always been the long-term vision.” Currently, drivers are not ranked against their peers in the BASICs, and data from drivers’ inspection histo- ries is only accessible officially by prospective employers through the Pre-Employment Screening Program. When FMCSA presented CSA to carriers and drivers in 2009, infor- mation about the DSMS was not dif- ferentiated from the Carrier Safety Measurement System (SMS) in the same way it is today. Owner-opera- tor Don Bradley recalls considerable apprehension about the program initially. “As we’ve learned more about it, some of that apprehension has gone away,” he says. “The initial thoughts about CSA were, ‘Oh my God, they’re going to rate [all the drivers] and the feds would come down and say, you can’t drive, you can’t drive, you can’t drive.’” FMCSA has stressed the DSMS is an internal tool that will be used only by FMCSA staff during carri- er investigations. “Under CSA, indi- vidual CMV drivers are not assigned safety ratings,” says the CSA website, csa.fmcsa.dot.gov. The agency’s “long-term vision” may be closer to drivers’ initial im- pressions than the agency’s current stance on the DSMS. The DSMS as a public system would reveal drivers ranked with percentile numbers against their peers and by their moving, log and equipment violations, similar to how motor carriers are ranked under CSA. The DSMS methodology, con- taining inspection data, is available continued on page 71