Searchers often call them FMCSA CSA scores. FMCSA's Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program uses Safety Measurement System (SMS) data to evaluate carriers across seven categories called BASICs: unsafe driving, hours of service, driver fitness, controlled substances and alcohol, vehicle maintenance, hazardous materials, and crash indicator. Where there is sufficient data, a BASIC percentile runs from 0 to 100, with a higher number indicating worse performance relative to similar carriers. A high percentile may place a carrier into intervention consideration under applicable rules; it does not automatically set insurance premiums or roadside inspection frequency.
The FMCSA's Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program organizes motor-carrier safety information, while the Safety Measurement System (SMS) uses inspection, crash, and investigation data to support measurement and intervention prioritization. Brokers, shippers, insurers, and enforcement may use that information differently. Your trucking insurance compliance posture is one part of that picture, especially for owner operators managing compliance solo.
Here is the breakdown without the government jargon.
CSA Score vs. Safety Rating: They Are Not the Same Thing
Carriers mix these up constantly, and it matters. Your CSA score (BASIC percentiles from FMCSA's Safety Measurement System) is a rolling, data-driven measurement built from roadside inspections and crashes over roughly 24 months. It moves constantly as new data comes in and old data ages off.
Your FMCSA Safety Rating (Satisfactory, Conditional, or Unsatisfactory) is a different, much rarer thing. It is only assigned after FMCSA conducts a formal compliance review, and it stays in place until FMCSA conducts another one. Most carriers never receive a safety rating at all unless they are audited.
So you can have a bad CSA score with no official safety rating, or a clean CSA score and still get flagged for a compliance review for other reasons. Brokers, shippers, and insurers may look at both, but they are measuring different things on different timelines.
Carrier-Level CSA Data vs. Driver-Level Confusion
Another common mix-up: CSA/SMS scores belong to the carrier, not the individual driver. When people search for "driver CSA scores," what they usually mean is a driver's roadside inspection and violation history, which does feed into the carrier's BASIC percentiles, but there is no separate public "CSA score" assigned to an individual driver the way there is for a carrier.
A driver's personal record - convictions, license status - lives on their motor vehicle record (MVR), governed by state law, not FMCSA's SMS. See our breakdown of how long violations stay on record for how the carrier-level CSA clock and the driver-level MVR clock run separately.
How Do I Check My Carrier's CSA/SMS Data?
Carriers can review their own Safety Measurement System data through FMCSA's SMS portal at ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/SMS using your USDOT number. FMCSA limits public display of some property-carrier BASIC percentiles, but carriers can generally see their own full data. If a number looks wrong, the DataQs process below is how you challenge it.
What Brokers and Insurers Look At
Brokers and insurance underwriters commonly pull CSA/SMS data as part of screening. A high percentile in a given BASIC, especially HOS or Vehicle Maintenance, can affect which loads you are offered and how your renewal is priced. See how safety scores decide insurance rates for the full picture on the insurance side.
What Is CSA and Why Does It Matter?
CSA is FMCSA's safety accountability program. Its Safety Measurement System uses data from roadside inspections, crash reports, and investigation findings to measure carrier safety performance and help prioritize interventions. The resulting information can be considered alongside other factors by enforcement, brokers, shippers, and insurers.
Your CSA/SMS data may be considered in:
- Inspection-selection decisions, including the separate ISS system
- Broker and shipper screening
- Insurance underwriting and renewal conversations
- Whether FMCSA considers a carrier for a compliance review
The 7 BASIC Categories
CSA measures carrier safety performance across seven Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs). Where sufficient data is available, each BASIC percentile runs from 0 to 100, with a higher percentile indicating worse performance relative to similar carriers. A carrier may not have a displayed percentile for every category.
1. Unsafe Driving
Speeding, reckless driving, improper lane changes, and cellphone use. This is one of the most visible BASICs. Any intervention threshold depends on the applicable carrier type and current FMCSA criteria.
2. Hours of Service (HOS) Compliance
Falsified logs, missing records, HOS violations, ELD malfunctions. This BASIC has become one of the most scrutinized since ELD mandates made violations much harder to hide.
3. Driver Fitness
CDL validity, medical certificates, driver qualifications. A driver operating without a valid medical card or with a suspended CDL will devastate this score quickly.
The Driver Fitness BASIC is an FMCSA Safety Measurement System category, not a single 49 CFR rule. FMCSA identifies 49 CFR Part 383 and 49 CFR Part 391 as the federal regulations related to this BASIC; the specific issue may involve CDL, driver-qualification, or medical-certification requirements.
4. Controlled Substances and Alcohol
Drug and alcohol violations and related Clearinghouse information. See our drug and alcohol compliance support for the separate testing and return-to-duty requirements that interact with this topic.
5. Vehicle Maintenance
Brake violations, tire issues, lighting defects, and inspection or repair-record failures. This is consistently one of the most violated BASICs because many carriers treat maintenance reactively rather than proactively. Any intervention threshold depends on current FMCSA criteria.
6. Hazardous Materials Compliance
Applies to carriers hauling regulated hazardous materials. Packaging, placarding, and documentation violations can affect this category, subject to the carrier's operations and applicable rules.
7. Crash Indicator
Based on crash history frequency and severity. This BASIC is calculated differently from the others: it reflects patterns of crashes rather than individual violations. A single serious crash can significantly impact this score.
BASIC Intervention Thresholds at a Glance
| BASIC Category | Intervention Threshold | Most Common Violations |
|---|---|---|
| Unsafe Driving | Varies by carrier type and current FMCSA criteria | Speeding, phone use, lane changes |
| Hours of Service | Varies by BASIC and current FMCSA criteria | Log falsification, ELD errors |
| Driver Fitness | Varies by BASIC and current FMCSA criteria | Expired medical card, invalid CDL |
| Controlled Substances | Varies by BASIC and current FMCSA criteria | Drug/alcohol violations, Clearinghouse information |
| Vehicle Maintenance | Varies by BASIC and current FMCSA criteria | Brakes, tires, lights, inspection records |
| Hazardous Materials | Varies by BASIC and current FMCSA criteria | Placarding, packaging, documentation |
| Crash Indicator | Varies by BASIC and current FMCSA criteria | Crash frequency and severity |
How Your Score Is Calculated
Each violation is assigned a severity weight (1-10) and a time weight (violations in the last 6 months count more than older ones). Violations are then totaled and compared against carriers with a similar number of inspections to produce your percentile score.
This means recent violations generally carry more weight than older ones. Inspection selection is a separate question: the ISS system helps prioritize inspections, while the resulting inspection data can affect the information available for BASIC measurement.
What the Percentile Actually Means
Your percentile does not mean "you are 75% bad." It means you perform worse than 75% of similar carriers in that comparison group. Context and data sufficiency matter. A percentile at or above an applicable intervention threshold may place a carrier into FMCSA intervention consideration, but it does not guarantee a warning letter, investigation, or full compliance review.
How to Actually Improve Your Score
The only way to lower your BASIC percentages is to accumulate clean inspections and let old violations age off. Here is what that looks like in practice:
- Daily log audits to catch HOS issues before they become violations
- Pre-trip inspections that actually happen documented and signed every day
- DVIR follow-through every defect identified must be repaired and re-verified
- DataQs challenges for any inspection violations that were recorded incorrectly
- Driver qualification files maintained and current so Driver Fitness violations never happen
The fastest way to improve your CSA score is not to fix violations after they happen. It is to prevent them from happening in the first place consistently, every day, across every truck.
DataQs: Your Right to Challenge
Many carriers do not know they can challenge inspection violations they believe were recorded incorrectly. The DataQs system allows carriers to request a review of roadside inspection data. If an officer made an error, or if a violation was cited incorrectly, a successful DataQs challenge can remove it from your record. This is one of the most underutilized tools in compliance and Fleet Regulators handles DataQs challenges as part of our standard service.
Not Sure What Your Scores Mean for Your Business?
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Book a Free Score Review →CSA Score Improvement
High CSA BASIC scores raise your insurance premiums, reduce freight access, and increase roadside inspection frequency. Fleet Regulators helps carriers identify what's driving scores up and build systems to bring them down.
Improve Your CSA Scores →Frequently Asked Questions
CSA (Compliance, Safety, Accountability) scores measure a carrier's on-road safety performance using roadside inspection and crash data. They are grouped into categories called BASICs, and higher percentiles generally mean more relative risk.
Unsafe Driving, Hours of Service Compliance, Driver Fitness, Controlled Substances and Alcohol, Vehicle Maintenance, Hazardous Materials Compliance, and Crash Indicator. A carrier may not have a displayed percentile for every BASIC, and intervention criteria vary by category and carrier type.
Violations are weighted by severity and by how recent they are, then compared against similar carriers to produce a percentile in each BASIC. More recent and more severe violations count more; older ones lose weight over time.
There is no single CSA score that is too high for every carrier. Percentiles are relative to similar carriers, and FMCSA intervention criteria vary by BASIC, carrier type, and applicable data sufficiency rules. A high percentile may increase scrutiny but does not guarantee a specific action. See our CSA score improvement page for what to do about it.
Yes. The FMCSA DataQs system lets you formally challenge a violation you believe was recorded incorrectly. A successful challenge can correct or remove it, which is often faster than waiting for it to age off.
No. Your CSA score is a rolling BASIC percentile from roadside inspection and crash data. A safety rating (Satisfactory, Conditional, or Unsatisfactory) is only assigned after a formal FMCSA compliance review, and most carriers never receive one unless audited.
You can review your Safety Measurement System data at ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/SMS using your USDOT number. If a listed violation looks incorrect, you can challenge it through FMCSA's DataQs process.
