(a) Section 215 of the Motor Carrier Safety Act of 1984 (49 U.S.C. 31144) directed the Secretary of Transportation to establish a procedure to determine the safety fitness of owners and operators of commercial motor vehicles operating in interstate or foreign commerce. The Secretary, in turn, delegated this responsibility to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).

(b) As directed, FMCSA promulgated a safety fitness regulation, entitled “Safety Fitness Procedures,” which established a procedure to determine the safety fitness of motor carriers through the assignment of safety ratings and established a “safety fitness standard” which a motor carrier must meet to obtain a satisfactory safety rating.

(c) To meet the safety fitness standard, a motor carrier must demonstrate to the FMCSA that it has adequate safety management controls in place which function effectively to ensure acceptable compliance with the applicable safety requirements. A “safety fitness methodology” (SFRM) was developed by the FMCSA, which uses data from compliance reviews (CRs) and roadside inspections to rate motor carriers.

(d) The safety rating process developed by FMCSA is used to:

1. Evaluate safety fitness and assign one of three safety ratings (satisfactory, conditional, or unsatisfactory) to motor carriers operating in interstate commerce. This process conforms to 49 CFR 385.5, Safety fitness standard, and § 385.7, Factors to be considered in determining a safety rating.

2. Identify motor carriers needing improvement in their compliance with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) and applicable Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMRs). These are carriers rated unsatisfactory or conditional.

2. Identify motor carriers needing improvement in their compliance with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) and applicable Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMRs). These are carriers rated Unsatisfactory or Conditional.

(e) The hazardous materials safety permit requirements of part 385, subpart E apply to intrastate motor carriers. Intrastate motor carriers that are subject to the hazardous materials safety permit requirements in subpart E will be rated using equivalent State requirements whenever the FMCSRs are referenced in this appendix.

(f) The safety rating will be determined by applying the SFRM equally to all of a company's motor carrier operations in commerce, including if applicable its operations in Canada and/or Mexico.

(a) The FMCSA's rating process is built upon the operational tool known as the CR. This tool was developed to assist Federal and State safety specialists in gathering pertinent motor carrier compliance and accident information.

(b) The CR is an in-depth examination of a motor carrier's operations and is used (1) to rate unrated motor carriers, (2) to conduct a follow-up investigation on motor carriers rated unsatisfactory or conditional as a result of a previous review, (3) to investigate complaints, or (4) in response to a request by a motor carrier to reevaluate its safety rating. Documents such as those contained in driver qualification files, records of duty status, vehicle maintenance records, and other records are thoroughly examined for compliance with the FMCSRs and HMRs. Violations are cited on the CR document. Performance-based information, when available, is utilized to evaluate the carrier's compliance with the vehicle regulations. Recordable accident information is also collected.

(a) The FMCSA gathers information through an in-depth examination of the motor carrier's compliance with identified “acute” or “critical” regulations of the FMCSRs and HMRs.

(b) Acute regulations are those identified as such where noncompliance is so severe as to require immediate corrective actions by a motor carrier regardless of the overall safety posture of the motor carrier. An example of an acute regulation is § 383.37(b), allowing, requiring, permitting, or authorizing an employee with more than one Commercial Driver's License (CDL) to operate a commercial motor vehicle. Noncompliance with § 383.37(b) is usually discovered when the motor carrier's driver qualification file reflects that the motor carrier had knowledge of a driver with more than one CDL, and still permitted the driver to operate a commercial motor vehicle. If the motor carrier did not have such knowledge or could not reasonably be expected to have such knowledge, then a violation would not be cited.

(c) Critical regulations are those identified as such where noncompliance relates to management and/or operational controls. These are indicative of breakdowns in a carrier's management controls. An example of a critical regulation is § 395.3(a)(1), requiring or permitting a property-carrying commercial motor vehicle driver to drive more than 11 hours.

(d) The list of the acute and critical regulations which are used in determining safety ratings is included at the end of this document.

(e) Noncompliance with acute regulations and patterns of non-compliance with critical regulations are quantitatively linked to inadequate safety management controls and usually higher than average accident rates. The FMCSA has used noncompliance with acute regulations and patterns of noncompliance with critical regulations since 1989 to determine motor carriers' adherence to the Safety fitness standard in § 385.5.

(f) The regulatory factors, evaluated on the basis of the adequacy of the carrier's safety management controls, are: (1) Parts 172 and 173; (2) Parts 387 and 390; (3) Parts 382, 383, and 391; (4) Parts 392 and 395; (5) Parts 393 and 396 when there are less than three vehicle inspections in the last 12 months to evaluate; and (6) Parts 397, 171, 177 and 180.

(g) For each instance of noncompliance with an acute regulation or each pattern of noncompliance with a critical regulation during the CR, one point will be assessed. A pattern is more than one violation. When a number of documents are reviewed, the number of violations required to meet a pattern is equal to at least 10 percent of those examined.

(h) However, each pattern of noncompliance with a critical regulation relative to Part 395, Hours of Service of Drivers, will be assessed two points.

(a) When a total of three or more inspections are recorded in the Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS) during the twelve months prior to the CR or performed at the time of the review, the Vehicle Factor (Parts 393 and 396) will be evaluated on the basis of the Out-of-Service (OOS) rates and noncompliance with acute regulations and/or a pattern of noncompliance with critical regulations. The results of the review of the OOS rate will affect the Vehicle Factor rating as follows:

1. If a motor carrier has three or more roadside vehicle inspections in the twelve months prior to the carrier review, or three vehicles inspected at the time of the review, or a combination of the two totaling three or more, and the vehicle OOS rate is 34 percent or greater, the initial factor rating will be conditional. The requirements of Part 396, Inspection, Repair, and Maintenance, will be examined during each review. The results of the examination could lower the factor rating to unsatisfactory if noncompliance with an acute regulation or a pattern of noncompliance with a critical regulation is discovered. If the examination of the Part 396 requirements reveals no such problems with the systems the motor carrier is required to maintain for compliance, the Vehicle Factor remains conditional.

2. If a carrier's vehicle OOS rate is less than 34 percent, the initial factor rating will be satisfactory. If noncompliance with an acute regulation or a pattern of noncompliance with a critical regulation is discovered during the examination of Part 396 requirements, the factor rating will be lowered to conditional. If the examination of Part 396 requirements discovers no such problems with the systems the motor carrier is required to maintain for compliance, the Vehicle Factor remains satisfactory.

(b) Nearly two million vehicle inspections occur on the roadside each year. This vehicle inspection information is retained in the MCMIS and is integral to evaluating motor carriers' ability to successfully maintain their vehicles, thus preventing them from being placed OOS during roadside inspections. Since many of the roadside inspections are targeted to visibly defective vehicles and since there are a limited number of inspections for many motor carriers, the use of that data is limited. Each CR will continue to have the requirements of Part 396, Inspection, Repair, and Maintenance, reviewed as indicated by the above explanation.

(a) In addition to the five regulatory rating factors, a sixth factor is included in the process to address the accident history of the motor carrier. This factor is the recordable accident rate for the past 12 months. A recordable accident, consistent with the definition for “accident” in 49 CFR 390.5, means an occurrence involving a commercial motor vehicle on a highway in motor carrier operations in commerce or within Canada or Mexico (if the motor carrier also operates in the United States) that results in a fatality; in bodily injury to a person who, as a result of the injury, immediately receives medical treatment away from the scene of the accident; or in one or more motor vehicles incurring disabling damage that requires the motor vehicle to be transported away from the scene by a tow truck or other motor vehicle.

(b) Recordable accidents per million miles were computed for each CR performed in Fiscal Years 1994,1995 and 1996. The national average for all carriers rated was 0.747, and .839 for carriers operating entirely within the 100 air mile radius.

(c) Experience has shown that urban carriers, those motor carriers operating primarily within a radius of less than 100 air miles (normally in urban areas) have a higher exposure to accident situations because of their environment and normally have higher accident rates.

(d) The recordable accident rate will be used to rate Factor 6, Accident. It will be used only when a motor carrier incurs two or more recordable accidents occurred within the 12 months prior to the CR. An urban carrier (a carrier operating entirely within a radius of 100 air miles) with a recordable accident rate greater than 1.7 will receive an unsatisfactory rating for the accident factor. All other carriers with a recordable accident rate greater than 1.5 will receive an unsatisfactory factor rating. The rates are a result of roughly doubling the national average accident rate for each type of carrier rated in Fiscal Years 1994, 1995 and 1996.

(e) The FMCSA will continue to consider preventability when a motor carrier contests a rating by presenting compelling evidence that the recordable rate is not a fair means of evaluating its accident factor. Preventability will be determined according to the following standard: “If a driver, who exercises normal judgment and foresight could have foreseen the possibility of the accident that in fact occurred, and avoided it by taking steps within his/her control which would not have risked causing another kind of mishap, the accident was preventable.”

(a) Parts of the FMCSRs and the HMRs having similar characteristics are combined together into five regulatory areas called “factors.”

(b) The following table shows the five regulatory factors, parts of the FMCSRs and HMRs associated with each factor, and the accident factor. Factor Ratings are determined as follows:

(a) The ratings for the six factors are then entered into a rating table which establishes the motor carrier's safety rating.

(b) The FMCSA has developed a computerized rating formula for assessing the information obtained from the CR document and is using that formula in assigning a safety rating.

(a) The proposed safety rating will appear on the CR. The following appropriate information will appear after the last entry on the CR, MCS-151, part B.

“Your proposed safety rating is SATISFACTORY.”

“Your proposed safety rating is CONDITIONAL.” The proposed safety rating will become the final safety rating 45 days after receipt of this notice.

“Your proposed safety rating is UNSATISFACTORY.” The proposed safety rating will become the final safety rating 45 days after receipt of this notice

(b) Proposed safety ratings of conditional or unsatisfactory will list the deficiencies discovered during the CR for which corrective actions must be taken.

(c) Proposed unsatisfactory safety ratings will indicate that, if the unsatisfactory rating becomes final, the motor carrier will be subject to the provision of § 385.13, which prohibits motor carriers rated unsatisfactory from transporting hazardous materials requiring placarding or more than 15 passengers, including the driver.

When the official rating is determined in Washington, D.C., the FMCSA notifies the motor carrier in writing of its safety rating as prescribed in § 385.11. A proposed conditional safety rating (which is an improvement of an existing unsatisfactory rating) becomes effective as soon as the official safety rating from Washington, D.C. is issued, and the carrier may also avail itself of relief under the § 385.15, Administrative Review and § 385.17, Change to safety rating based on corrective actions.

Under §§ 385.15 and 385.17, motor carriers have the right to petition for a review of their ratings if there are factual or procedural disputes, and to request another review after corrective actions have been taken. They are the procedural avenues a motor carrier which believes its safety rating to be in error may exercise, and the means to request another review after corrective action has been taken.

(a) The FMCSA believes this “safety fitness rating methodology” is a reasonable approach for assigning a safety rating which best describes the current safety fitness posture of a motor carrier as required by the safety fitness regulations (§ 385.9). This methodology has the capability to incorporate regulatory changes as they occur.

(b) Improved compliance with the regulations leads to an improved rating, which in turn increases safety. This increased safety is our regulatory goal.