When sufficient information from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's database is available, SafeStat assigns motor carriers a percentile ranking between 0 and 100 (with 100 being the worst) in one or more of the following four safety evaluation areas: accidents (crashes), driver, vehicle, and safety management.
Carriers ranked in the 75th percentile or greater are considered deficient in an area.
Carriers deficient in two or more areas are assigned an overall SafeStat score of 150 to 550, based on the weighted accumulation of the percentile rankings. The relative weights assigned to each area are accidents 2.0; driver 1.5; vehicle 1.0; and safety management 1.0.
Of 645,551 active interstate carriers on record in SafeStat, 26 percent, or about 170,000, had sufficient data to compute a value for one or more of the four safety evaluation areas.
Of the 170,000 carriers, 7,821 were considered deficient; to the point they were classified as the riskiest carriers and placed in categories A, B, or C. Another 34,844 carriers, somewhat less deficient, were placed in categories D, E, F, or G.
FMCSA field offices are directed to concentrate their compliance review efforts on category A and B carriers, which are considered the highest risk.
The key FMCSA data sources for calculating SafeStat rankings are:
* Periodic reports that motor carriers submit to FMCSA, which include information on the number of drivers and vehicles used by the motor carrier.
* Police accident reports on crashes involving commercial vehicles.
* State reports on vehicle and driver violations found during roadside safety inspections, which include serious moving traffic violations such as speeding.
* FMCSA compliance review and enforcement records on motor carriers.
The FMCSA uses SafeStat to identify and prioritize high-risk motor carriers for compliance reviews. It also uses SafeStat to generate warning letters advising carriers that continued performance problems may result in compliance reviews and potential state vehicle registration sanctions.
Public uses for SafeStat include providing information to individuals making contract award or acquisition decisions and allowing carriers to assess their own safety strengths and weaknesses.
To find a motorcoach operator's SafeStat rating go to: www.safersys.org.