CSA is FMCSA's Compliance, Safety, Accountability program. It uses Safety Measurement System data to evaluate carriers across seven BASIC categories and, when enough data exists, express performance as a percentile from 0 to 100, where higher generally indicates worse performance relative to similar carriers. A high percentile may contribute to inspection, broker, insurer, or review scrutiny, but outcomes depend on the carrier, BASIC, and stakeholder. Lowering exposure means stopping new violations, building clean inspection history, and challenging inaccurate records through DataQs. Fleet Regulators works this daily so your numbers move in the right direction.
You Already Know
the Score Is a Problem.
Your Score Tells a Story.
Brokers, Insurers, and FMCSA
Are Already Reading It.
Your safety data can be reviewed by FMCSA and enforcement, and brokers or insurers that pull safety data may factor it into their decisions. Inspection and crash records also contribute to the public safety picture, although FMCSA limits public display of some property-carrier BASIC percentiles. Your safety profile therefore works like a business signal as well as a compliance record, but no single percentile guarantees a particular business outcome.
Poor scores affect you in ways most carriers don't fully account for:
- Broker screening - some brokers use safety data and BASIC thresholds in carrier decisions
- Insurance review - underwriters may use CSA history as one risk signal among several
- Freight opportunities - shipper and broker safety requirements vary by lane and customer
- Intervention consideration - category-specific thresholds and data sufficiency rules can affect FMCSA follow-up
- Driver recruitment - some drivers consider a carrier's safety record when evaluating an employer
What FMCSA Is Actually Measuring.
CSA uses seven Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs). Where the available data supports a percentile, the scale runs from 0 to 100, with a higher number indicating worse performance relative to similar carriers. Not every carrier has a displayed percentile for every BASIC.
What Should You Fix First?
If multiple BASICs are elevated, start with the one driving the most violations in the last 6 months. That is where the weight is concentrated. Here is a quick routing guide.
| BASIC | What drives it | Where to start |
|---|---|---|
| Unsafe Driving | Speeding, phone use, lane changes | Driver coaching, dash cam review, dispatch accountability |
| HOS Compliance | Log errors, ELD issues, false records | Daily log audits, dispatch schedule review, ELD training |
| Driver Fitness | Expired medical card, CDL issue | Audit all active DQ files and track expiration dates |
| Controlled Substances/Alcohol | Testing program gaps, Clearinghouse issues | Verify testing program compliance and Clearinghouse queries |
| Vehicle Maintenance | Brakes, tires, lights, DVIR failures | Pre-trip inspection discipline, DVIR follow-through, maintenance scheduling |
| Crash Indicator | Crash frequency or severity | Driver behavior review, route analysis, post-accident documentation |
| Hazardous Materials | Placarding, documentation, packaging | Hazmat training and documentation audit (applies only if hauling hazmat) |
Not sure which BASIC is driving most of your exposure? Request a Free Compliance Review and we will pull your data and show you exactly where the weight is concentrated.
Most Carriers Focus on
the Score. Not the Cause.
We've seen fleets spend months worrying about their percentile while ignoring the behaviors driving it. The score doesn't go down because you want it to. It goes down when you eliminate the violations that created it and accumulate clean inspections to replace them.
The score is a mirror. It shows you what has been happening in your operation for the last 24 months. Wanting a better number without changing the habits that created it is not a strategy, it is hope. Show me your inspection history and I can usually tell you which driver, or which dispatch decision, is doing the damage.
Root causes of high BASIC scores almost always include: driver behavior that's gone uncorrected, dispatch pressures that create HOS violations, maintenance processes that react to problems instead of preventing them, and documentation gaps that make violations look worse than they are. We address all of these - not just the score on the dashboard.
How We Actually
Improve Your Scores.
Safety Profile Review
We pull your current BASIC scores, inspection history, violation trends, and driver performance data. We identify exactly which categories are most exposed and what's driving them.
Root Cause Analysis
We determine why violations are occurring - not just where. Is it one driver? Dispatch scheduling? Maintenance lag? The fix depends on the cause, not the symptom.
Corrective Action Plan
Practical, carrier-specific recommendations. Not a generic checklist - a targeted plan built around your operation, your fleet size, and your specific violation patterns.
Daily Monitoring
We watch your data continuously, not monthly. Violations are caught and addressed before they compound. Clean inspections are tracked and celebrated.
DataQs Review
Where an inspection or violation appears to be recorded incorrectly and the records support it, we prepare a DataQs request for data review. Valid violations are not challenged, and the reviewing agency decides the outcome. See DataQs support.
DataQs Review &
Challenge Support.
Some carriers do not need ongoing compliance management. They have specific inspection or violation records they believe are wrong and want help addressing them. DataQs Review & Challenge Support is a one-time, individually scoped service for that situation. You do not need to be a managed client.
DataQs is FMCSA's online system for requesting a review of federal and state data you believe is incomplete or incorrect. Requests about roadside inspections are generally reviewed by the state agency that conducted the inspection.
What the scope may include
- Review of the inspection or violation records you believe are wrong.
- An assessment of whether a request has a reasonable factual and documentary basis. If it does not, we tell you, and we do not file it.
- Identifying and organizing the supporting evidence, such as logs, shipping papers, repair records, or court dispositions.
- Preparing and submitting DataQs Requests for Data Review, when submission is part of the agreed engagement.
- Tracking the agency's response and handling the follow-up agreed in your engagement.
What to know first
- Not every violation can or should be challenged. Accurate violations stay on your record.
- FMCSA or the state agency that conducted the inspection decides each request. We cannot promise a record will be corrected or removed.
- A corrected record does not automatically lower your BASIC percentiles. SMS results depend on your full inspection history, new violations, time weighting, and FMCSA's monthly updates.
- DataQs is an administrative data review, not legal representation or a court appeal of a citation. For citations or enforcement cases, talk to a transportation attorney.
- Follow-up is limited to what your engagement defines, such as one response to an agency request for more information. Further rounds or new requests are scoped separately.
Each engagement is quoted after we look at the records involved. There is no fixed price. To start, request a free 30-minute compliance review and tell us which inspections you want reviewed. For the steps involved, read how to file a DataQs challenge.
Ongoing CSA Score
Management.
- Daily monitoring of inspection data and violation trends
- Identification of drivers contributing most to BASIC scores
- Driver coaching and corrective action documentation
- DataQs review and requests for incorrectly recorded violations
- Dispatch accountability to prevent HOS-driven violations
- Pre-trip and maintenance system improvements for Vehicle Maintenance BASIC
- Regular reporting to management on score trajectory
- Broker-facing documentation of compliance improvements
It depends on your current scores, violation history, and inspection frequency. Some carriers see measurable improvement within 3 months. Others require a longer-term strategy. We'll be honest with you about realistic timelines after reviewing your specific situation.
Violations lose weight over time and generally age off after about 24 months. More recent violations count more. Accumulating clean inspections is the primary way to offset violations still in the window.
DataQs is for challenging violations that were recorded incorrectly. It does not remove accurate violations. Fixing the operational problem is what stops new ones. Both matter.
Your CSA Score Is Not
Your Safety Rating.
These get confused constantly. Your CSA score is the rolling BASIC percentile data described above. A formal FMCSA Safety Rating (Satisfactory, Conditional, Unsatisfactory) is a separate thing, only assigned after a compliance review. You can have a poor CSA score with no safety rating on file, or a clean score and still get audited for other reasons. For the full breakdown, see our CSA scores explained guide.
What Better Scores
Actually Protect.
Your freight access
Many brokers and shippers screen carriers by BASIC percentile. Lower scores keep you eligible for the loads you want.
Your insurance pricing
Scores feed into how underwriters view risk. Cleaner numbers give your broker a better story at renewal.
Your inspection load
High scores in a BASIC mean you get pulled in more. Bringing them down means fewer stops and less downtime.
Your audit risk
Elevated scores are a common trigger for a DOT audit. Managing them lowers the odds of that letter.
Roadside Inspections Feed Your Score.
Most CSA movement starts at the roadside. How your trucks get selected for inspection is driven by your inspection selection priority (ISS), which enforcement uses to prioritize which vehicles to inspect. Understanding the report is step one: our Driver Vehicle Examination Report (DVER) guide explains what the report means, what happens after a DVER walks through the follow-up, and the DOT roadside inspection checklist for carriers helps you prepare before the next stop. On the vehicle side, organized annual inspection records support your Vehicle Maintenance BASIC. On the HOS side, correct use of personal conveyance vs yard move and resolved ELD unassigned driving time keep the HOS BASIC clean. That same public picture is what shapes how brokers look at HOS violations.