ATA voices concerns about CSA 2010

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — While the American Trucking Associations (ATA) supports the implementation of the new CSA 2010 safety rating system in the US, it has concerns about several elements of the new program, the association said yesterday before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Highways and Transit.

Addressing the committee on behalf of ATA was Keith Klein, executive vice-president and CEO of Transportation Corporation of America.

“FMCSA deserves to be applauded for its development and implementation of CSA 2010 to date. The agency has gone to great lengths to test the program, develop and implement an extensive outreach and education program, and demonstrated a willingness to accept stakeholder input,” Klein said. “However, ATA has a number of serious concerns relating to how CSA 2010 will work that, if not addressed, will have a dramatic impact on motor carriers and on highway safety.”

Specifically, the ATA wants crash accountability to be determined before it is entered into the system so that crashes not caused by a carrier do not count against it under CSA 2010. The ATA also wants the system to be based on vehicle miles travelled rather than the number of trucks or power units as a measure of exposure. The ATA also wants only actual citations to count, not unadjudicated “warnings” issued by law enforcement.

Other concerns include: carriers being measured based on violations committed by drivers who have been terminated; carriers being measured based on citations that have been dismissed in court; inequitable measurement of flatdeck carriers; and inconsistent state enforcement practices.

“A system that is based on inconsistent data and a flawed scoring methodology will not achieve its objectives. Instead, it will create inequities for some safe carriers and inappropriately allow some unsafe carriers to avoid scrutiny and consequences,” Klein said.

Klein urged the FMCSA to delay implementation of CSA 2010 until it can review an evaluation study of the program that’s currently being conducted by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute.

Klein’s full testimony is available here.

 

 

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  • I can not understand why the FMSCA thinks that a warning ticket carries the same LEGAL ramificatons as a conviction!! But I do have to admit that parking your truck and having someone run into it is your fault!! CUTE!!! I guess this begs the question???? When are they going to remove driver’s licence’s from Cracker Jack boxes for light vehicles?

  • This is just another place where there seems to be 2 sets of rules, one for 4 wheelers and another for truckers. At this rate no one will want to be a truck driver anymore and guess what? No freight will move.. at least not by truck. It kinda seems to me like the railroad industry is getting their way and will soon have all the freight and the government is helping them ot do it.

    When will these so called trucking associations start standing behind the people who made them possible, the truckers?
    When will we get a fair shake like all the other professions and be allowed to apply for government subsidy like even wall street?

    We see it every day, We get hit worse than any other industry yet are still expected to do our jobs. Shippers are allowed to charge more for their products to pass on their costs, yet we are still working for pennies on the dollar and at rates charged 10 years ago. Our costs go up yet our fees are not allowed.

    And now if someone hits us it is OUR fault? Can you imagine? This seems more and more like a passing of the buck to belittle our part in the world economy. When will be no longer be second class citizens in our own country? When will someone in the government finaly say “hey, you know, those truckers have been getting a raw deal long enough, Time for someone to stick up for them”.

    Sorry got a little carried away but I am tired of being classed a second classed citizen and being penalized for my choice in professions.Have a nice day!