Why Compliance is Key to Staying in Business and How FMCSA Scoring Impacts Fleets

For fleets operating in today’s regulatory environment, compliance demonstrates safety, reliability and long-term viability. While it’s easy to view Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulations as red tape, compliance programs exist to prevent accidents, lower risk exposure, and protect drivers and other people we share the road with.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, transportation incidents are still the leading cause of workplace fatalities in 2023 – but there’s been progress. Truck driver deaths fell by 12% in 2023, largely due to the increased use of safety technology, improved compliance measures, and better driver coaching tools. FMCSA enforcement is evolving, and fleets that fail to adapt face more than just fines. An Unsatisfactory rating can close your doors.

A poor FMCSA safety rating doesn’t just result in increased inspections. It can lead to lost contracts and relationships with brokers and shippers, higher insurance premiums or nonrenewal altogether, driver turnover, and, in extreme cases, an imminent hazard order or closure due to an Unsatisfactory rating. With new Safety Measurement System (SMS) scoring changes coming up, fleets need to proactively manage their compliance record, because the FMCSA does not differentiate between large, well-established carriers and small fleets. Your business is at risk if your scores aren’t where they need to be.

Understanding FMCSA Scoring and Why It Matters

The FMCSA Safety Rating system is one of the most influential factors in determining a carrier’s ability to operate and to do so successfully. Assigned after a compliance review, safety ratings fall into three categories:

• Satisfactory – The highest rating, indicating compliance with federal safety regulations.
• Conditional – A warning sign that compliance is lacking, making shippers, brokers and insurers more cautious when doing business with you.
• Unsatisfactory – The worst possible outcome, shutting a carrier down and barring it from operating until compliance issues are resolved.

A Conditional or Unsatisfactory rating directly impacts a carrier’s ability to secure freight contracts, negotiate insurance premiums and attract quality drivers. Carriers with a Conditional rating often face increased scrutiny from regulators, difficulty accessing freight and higher costs across the board. The cost for someone like Trucksafe Consulting to file a safety rating upgrade petition on your behalf could take time, but more than that, it can cost thousands of dollars. While that petition is being reviewed, you can’t work. Which means your drivers can’t work. Which means the odds of staying in business are not good.

The consequences of noncompliance are severe. In extreme cases, like the Beam Brothers Trucking shutdown, FMCSA enforcement actions have resulted in criminal charges and company closures. This isn’t fear-mongering. It’s the reality of an industry where compliance failures can cost lives and bankrupt businesses.

How SMS and CSA Scores Influence Your Fleet’s Standing

FMCSA’s Safety Measurement System evaluates fleet risk. Incorporating crash reports, inspection violations and roadside violations, the SMS uses a scoring methodology for carriers that correlates to scores based on seven Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASIC) factors:

• Unsafe driving – Speeding, reckless driving, improper lane changes and seatbelt violations.
• Hours-of-service (HOS) compliance – Violations related to rest breaks and electronic logs. (These are double-weighted.)
• Driver fitness – Lack of proper licensing, as well as medical certification issues.
• Controlled substances/alcohol – Positive drug/alcohol tests.
• Vehicle maintenance – Inspection failures due to lights, brakes, tires and other mechanical issues.
• Hazardous materials compliance – Failure to meet placarding, securement, and transport regulations.
• Crash indicator – A history of preventable accidents and crash severity.

Fleets with poor CSA scores are flagged with an “alert” status, signaling increased FMCSA scrutiny and enforcement actions. But the impact doesn’t stop at regulators. Brokers, shippers and insurers monitor these scores, too.

If your CSA scores indicate excessive violations, expect:

• More frequent roadside inspections, increasing downtime and operational delays.
• Higher insurance premiums, as underwriters see your fleet as a higher-risk liability.
• Difficulty securing contracts since many shippers won’t work with carriers in alert status.

Understanding how violations impact CSA scores is key for fleet managers to mitigate risk and maintain compliance. The FMCSA prioritizes enforcement based on how many BASIC categories a carrier has exceeded thresholds in, meaning that minor infractions add up quickly, especially in double-weighted hours of service.

The Roadside Risk Factor Fleets Can’t Ignore

The Inspection Selection System (ISS) score is another metric that determines how often your trucks get stopped at weigh stations and inspection points. Ranging from 0 to 100, ISS scores categorize carriers based on compliance history:

• 0-49: Pass – Minimal inspection likelihood.
• 50-74: Optional – Inspect at the officer’s discretion.
• 75-100: Inspect – Trucks will likely be pulled over.

A high ISS score means more inspections, which increases the chances of violations, leads to more downtime and creates a vicious cycle in which poor scores lead to more scrutiny and violations.

Fleet operators must actively manage their CSA and ISS scores by prioritizing compliance in day-to-day operations. This means:

• Regular maintenance and pre-trip inspections to prevent mechanical violations.
• Ensuring that drivers adhere to HOS limits through proper record-of-duty status (RODS) monitoring, even if that’s a timesheet or a grid log.
• Implementing driver coaching programs to improve safety behavior and reduce violations or behaviors that lead to roadside infractions and violations.

With the new FMCSA scoring changes expected, fleets that fail to stay ahead of compliance will find it even harder to recover from poor ratings.

Data Q Challenges and Rating Upgrade Petitions: Fixing Compliance Issues

FMCSA allows carriers to challenge incorrect data through the Data Q system. Filing Data Q challenges can remove erroneous violations and improve scores and compliance standing.

For carriers with Conditional or Unsatisfactory ratings, submitting a Safety Management Plan (SMP) and rating upgrade petition is often the only way to restore full operational status. An SMP outlines corrective actions to fix compliance failures, such as implementing better driver training programs or improving vehicle maintenance tracking.

Fleets that ignore rating downgrades or fail to take corrective action often struggle to regain shipper confidence and avoid excessive enforcement actions.

How Technology is Helping Fleets Stay Ahead of FMCSA Compliance

Manual compliance management is no longer realistic. Modern fleet technology, including real-time monitoring, automated tracking, and AI-driven safety insights, is helping carriers proactively reduce violations and improve safety scores.

Motive, Netradyne and other leading platforms offer comprehensive compliance tools that help fleets:

• Monitor ELD and HOS compliance to prevent violations.
• Use AI-powered dashcams to coach drivers on safety behaviors, reducing risky driving.
• Automate driver vehicle inspection reports (DVIRs) and maintenance tracking to avoid roadside inspection failures.
• Store documentation for audits in a centralized system, ensuring compliance readiness.

Leveraging real-time compliance monitoring and proactive safety management helps fleets avoid violations, reduce scrutiny and maintain stronger business relationships with brokers, shippers and insurance carriers.

The Future of Fleet Compliance

While the new Trump administration’s position on FMCSA regulatory compliance remains unknown, proactive management remains non-negotiable. FMCSA’s enforcement priorities are shifting, and failing to adapt could mean lost revenue, higher operating costs and potential shutdown orders. Fleets that take compliance seriously and invest in proactive safety measures will thrive moving forward.

Compliance is about protecting your drivers, your business and your reputation. Understanding your FMCSA safety rating, CSA scores, ISS ranking and Data Q rights is the foundation of a successful, long-term fleet operation.

Fleet operators prioritizing compliance and leveraging technology to manage risk will secure better contracts, lower insurance costs and position their businesses for sustainable growth and survival. They will also ensure they manage defensible programs to protect themselves from a highly litigious society.

With new FMCSA scoring changes on the horizon, there’s never been a better time to reevaluate your compliance strategy. Waiting until your scores are a problem is too late.

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