WASHINGTON – Tens of thousands of warning letters are being prepared for send out to carriers’ whose CSA scores merit "alert" status.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has already begun sending out about half of the 50,000 warning letters it expects to mail over the next few months, according to Transport Topics, the official publication of the American Trucking Associations.

Carriers who have deficiencies by dropping below the acceptable threshold in one or more so-called BASIC (Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories) will likely receive a letter from FMCSA.

About 8 percent of the 650,000 carriers the agency has in its database will eventually receive warning letters.

If scores don’t improve for "high risk" carriers, further CVSA interventions will include on and off-site investigations, and, beyond that, suspension or revocation of operating authority.