The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) utilizes the Inspection Selection System (ISS) for the Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) algorithm (ISS-CSA) to prioritize motor carriers for safety inspections. As the name suggests, ISS and CSA are two components of this process. A carrier’s CSA score is a compilation of violations incurred by its drivers, as reported in the Safety Measurement System (SMS). Drivers can receive a violation in seven Driver Fitness Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASIC). These are,

• Unsafe Driving
• Vehicle Maintenance
• Hours of Service (HOS)
• Driver Fitness
• Drugs and Alcohol
• Hazmat
• Crash

CSA scores are compared with those of other carriers of similar size and number of inspections. If the score is high and exceeds the CSA threshold for the BASIC category, an alert status will be assigned to that category. The ISS score of a carrier is related to its CSA score and the alerts it has earned for BASIC categories. The higher a trucking company’s ISS score, the greater the likelihood its drivers will be pulled over for inspections. ISS scores go from 0 to 100. The process can be compared to a stoplight for a carrier, providing a safety inspection at scale. 

A carrier, which is in the Red Light Zone, loses money because of two main reasons:

• The drivers of its fleet will be pulled in more often for the safety inspections as compared to its competitors. As inspections take time, the fleet will incur significant delays, ultimately resulting in financial losses.
• The insurance companies, while renewing insurance, consider the ISS score as a benchmark to measure the safety and compliance standards of the carrier. A higher score means a higher premium. 

It is imperative for a trucking company with an ISS score exceeding 75 to seriously investigate the causative factors contributing to its poor safety and compliance record. Such carriers should undergo a comprehensive risk assessment. Similarly, a carrier moving from Green to Yellow should conduct a root cause analysis of the decline.