Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/619872
22 | Overdrive | January 2016 W ithin hours of President Obama signing the U.S. highway funding act, percentile rankings in the Compliance, Safety, Accountability sys- tem, known as "CSA scores," were taken down from public view. The move was considered a small win for owner-opera- tors and fleets who oppose the program. Obama's signature came just a day after the Fixing America's Surface Trans- portation (FAST) Act overwhelmingly cleared Congress with broad bipartisan support. It provides $305 billion over five years, the longest funding period of this century, drawing upon various sources to keep the Highway Trust Fund solvent. The bill removes from public view the bulk of CSA's Safety Measurement System, the heart of the program. It removes carriers' percentile rankings in the seven SMS Behavioral Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories and re- quires the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the Government Accountability Office to identify the pro- gram's faults and implement a plan to fix them before the system goes live again. However, some CSA elements, such as inspection and violation data that under- lie the analytical percentiles and alerts, are to remain in view. "FMCSA is working to return the The FAST Act not only secures long-term highway support, it also enacts trucking regulatory reforms BY JAMES JAILLET Highway funding in, CSA scores out After a long series of short-term funding patches, the five-year highway bill provides more than $300 billion to fund road and bridge maintenance as well as new transportation projects. Max Heine