Your DOT CSA score isn’t just a number—it’s a reflection of your fleet’s safety performance and compliance with Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regulations. A poor CSA score can increase insurance premiums, DOT interventions, lost business opportunities and even operational shutdowns. In this blog, we’ll break down what CSA scores are, how they're measured and what you can do to improve them. Whether you’re struggling with high violation rates or just want to ensure your fleet remains compliant, our four tips will help you take action before minor issues become major problems.
What Is a CSA Score?
The Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program is an initiative by the FMCSA designed to improve road safety by holding motor carriers and drivers accountable for unsafe behaviors. The CSA score is based on the Safety Measurement System (SMS), which evaluates fleet performance when it comes to roadside inspections, crash reports and investigation results.
CSA scores are calculated across seven Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs):
Unsafe Driving: This BASIC covers operating commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) in a reckless or unsafe manner. Examples of violations include speeding, reckless driving, improper lane changes, texting while driving and failure to wear a seatbelt.
Crash Indicator: This BASIC tracks a carrier’s history of crashes, looking at how often they happen and how serious they are. If a crash is proven "Not Preventable" by the FMCSA, it won’t count against the carrier’s score. This category doesn’t measure unsafe driving directly but instead shows the results of risky driving behaviors.
Hours of Service (HOS) Compliance: This focuses on drivers following HOS rules to prevent fatigue-related crashes. It includes violations like driving too many hours, failing to keep proper logs or driving while tired or sick. Carriers must keep driver records for six months to stay compliant.
Vehicle Maintenance: This BASIC focuses on keeping commercial vehicles in safe working condition. Violations include broken brakes or lights, mechanical issues, unsecured cargo and failing to make necessary repairs.
Controlled Substances/Alcohol: This ensures drivers are not impaired while operating commercial vehicles. Violations include using or possessing alcohol or drugs and failing to follow required drug and alcohol testing rules.
Hazardous Materials Compliance: This BASIC focuses on the safe handling of hazardous materials in commercial vehicles. Violations include improper labeling, unsecured or leaking hazardous materials and missing required inspections.
Driver Fitness: This ensures that drivers are qualified to operate commercial vehicles. Violations include not having a valid CDL, being medically unfit to drive or missing required qualification records.
How Are CSA Scores Measured?
Each BASIC category is given a percentile ranking (0-100) compared to other motor carriers with similar safety event groupings. The higher the percentile, the worse your CSA score. The FMCSA SMS system assigns scores based on the severity and frequency of violations. Here’s how it works:
Severity Weighting: Each violation is assigned a severity weight from 1 (least severe) to 10 (most severe) based on its impact on safety. Serious violations, such as out-of-service violations and crash-indicating behaviors, contribute more significantly to CSA scores than minor infractions.
Time Weighting: Violations are weighted more heavily when recent, with the last six months carrying the most weight, then gradually decreasing over 24 months.
The SMS also prioritizes carriers for interventions based on Acute and Critical Violations, which are serious safety violations listed in 49 CFR 385 Appendix B. If a carrier has one or more of these violations within the past 12 months, they receive an “Alert” in the affected BASICs. The system uses both BASIC percentiles and these violations to identify safety issues and determine which carriers need intervention.
FMCSA’s SMS Effectiveness Test found that carriers with one or more BASICs prioritized for interventions have a 79% higher future crash rate compared to active carriers with no BASICs prioritized for interventions. So, how can you improve CSA scores and prevent these penalties?
Review the Proposed Changes to the FMCSA SMS Here
4 Actionable Ways to Improve Your CSA Score
1. Identify Your Risks Sooner
Staying ahead of potential safety and compliance issues starts with better visibility. Without a system in place to track the events affecting CSA scores, at-risk drivers can and will go unnoticed. CSA monitoring provides this visibility by offering ongoing alerts on citations, roadside inspections and DOT-reportable crashes. It also tracks CDL statuses, medical certifications and endorsements to ensure drivers remain eligible and avoid penalties related to driver fitness. By consolidating CSA data in one place, carriers can access driver scorecards and detailed activity reports to better understand what’s contributing to their CSA scores and determine where intervention is needed.
2. Address Your At-Risk Drivers Proactively
Your CSA FMCSA score is only as strong as your drivers. Some drivers may consistently receive violations, negatively impacting your fleet’s overall standing. Having a clear picture of driver performance makes it easier to address these issues earlier on before they become habitual. You can proactively address your at-risk drivers by:
- Identifying them sooner through CSA monitoring.
- Providing targeted coaching and training based on identified violation patterns. For example, if a driver repeatedly violates HOS rules, targeted HOS-focused training can help prevent more serious infractions.
- Take disciplinary action if necessary for repeat offenders.
PRO TIP: Be sure to also implement incentive programs that encourage safe driving behaviors. Monitoring and coaching should be viewed as a tool for support, not punishment. Communicate to drivers that the goal is to enhance their safety, development and overall well-being—not to micromanage or penalize them.
3. Stay Ahead of Vehicle Maintenance Issues
One of the most common contributors to high CSA scores is vehicle maintenance violations. Ensuring routine maintenance and inspections can drastically reduce these infractions. A well-structured, preventive maintenance program ensures that vehicles are regularly inspected and serviced based on mileage, hours of operation or time intervals. This routine maintenance helps catch potential issues early, reducing the risk of violations during roadside inspections. Additionally, conducting thorough pre- and post-trip inspections allows drivers to identify and report defects, such as brake wear, tire issues or faulty lights, before they lead to compliance problems.
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Driver training on proper vehicle maintenance is also essential. Educating drivers on common maintenance violations and how to spot potential issues empowers them to take on a more active role. Drivers should understand the importance of timely defect reporting and how their diligence can prevent costly violations.
By combining proactive maintenance with driver awareness, carriers can minimize maintenance-related violations and improve CSA scores.
4. Ensure HOS Compliance
HOS violations, such as exceeding driving limits or failing to log duty status properly, also significantly impact CSA scores.
An electronic logging device (ELD) is DOT-mandated hardware that simplifies HOS compliance. An ELD reduces administrative burden by replacing traditional paper logs and providing accurate and tamper-proof records. It connects to a commercial vehicle’s engine to record driving hours. It also includes a screen for the driver, enabling them to monitor their current status and print hour logs when required by DOT inspectors.
Modern driver risk management solutions can take this ELD data a step further by integrating it with telematics insights, CSA data and motor vehicle record (MVR) updates. This creates a complete picture of a driver's risk profile. Carriers can track risky behaviors—such as harsh braking, speeding and distracted driving—alongside driving violations, roadside inspections, license status changes and more. This allows them to spot patterns, intervene early and tailor coaching efforts.
Take Control of Your DOT CSA Score
A poor CSA score is fixable. With a more proactive approach and by investing in the right tools, you can improve your CSA score and protect your business from costly consequences.
Want to learn more about how to stay ahead of compliance challenges and reduce risk? Download our free checklist, "4 Must-Have Tools for Optimizing Your Driver Risk Management Strategy".
