FMSCA is Changing CSA Scores: What You Need to Know

It’s one of the worst-kept secrets in trucking: CSA scores are rarely accurate.

After a decade of appearing in the top ten concerns of truckers, the FMCSA is finally revising CSA criteria.

The FMCSA has reported that the updated terms have already demonstrated the new system to be 10% more effective at predicting unsafe driving and protecting carriers against multiple infractions for a single incident.

Here’s how the FMCSA is reinventing the CSA score and when we can expect a rollout.

7 Major Changes to CSA Scores

1. Introducing ‘Compliance Categories’

Previously, violations have been organized into BASICs, or Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories.

With the CSA update, BASICs will be reorganized into Compliance Categories and include a few critical changes:

• Controlled Substances/Alcohol will merge with Unsafe Driving. Because these two infractions are typically simultaneous, the FMCSA will consolidate them to prevent multiple dings to your score.
• Vehicle Maintenance will be split into two categories: Vehicle Maintenance and Vehicle Maintenance: Driver Observed. Vehicle Maintenance will include issues related to scheduled maintenance. Vehicle Maintenance: Driver Observed will comprise items that a driver should identify during pre- and post-trip inspections. This distinction is intended to differentiate between driver problems and shop problems.

2. New Violation Groupings

The CSA scoring systems currently include 959 violations.

Unfortunately, such a robust library of violations can easily begin to stack. For example, if you’re cited for a 14-hour violation, you’ll also be cited for an 11-hour violation, an unfair collection of penalties.

With the update, 959 violations will be consolidated into 114 violation groups. If you have multiple infractions within a group, you’ll only be cited for one group violation, which eases penalties.

3. Revised Severity Scores

Historically, violations were assessed based on a severity score ranging from 1 to 10.

These scores were entirely subjective and would likely differ depending on the inspector.

In the update, the FMCSA will only use two levels of severity:

• Severity Level 1: Standard violations.
• Severity Level 2: Out-of-service or driver disqualifying violations.

These tiers should allow for great consistency across all carrier CSA scores.

4. 12-month Reset Rule

One of the most frustrating aspects of the system was how long violations could remain on your CSA score. These violations could create issues for months or even years.

Now, violations will reset every 12 months if you don’t incur any other citations.

It’s essential to note that violations will still be tracked; however, they cannot be flagged for intervention after the 12-month reset thresholds have been reached.

This change promotes greater attention to active compliance issues.

5. Safety Event Group Issues

‘Safety Event Groups’ were tiers marked by inspections and crashes. If a carrier jumped between tiers, it could drastically hurt their CSA score. Unfortunately, movement between tiers was arbitrary, creating significant penalties for carriers with minor violations.

The FMCSA has opted to eliminate these groups in favor of a more proportional system. Now, carriers will move through percentiles depending on safety events.

This system will provide more accurate scoring and reduce the need for jumping.

6. Adjust Thresholds for Intervention

As part of the update, the FMCSA evaluated which categories have the strongest correlation to crash risk. Adjustments were made to reflect these risks better.

Driver Fitness intervention thresholds will increase from 80% to 90%, meaning the FMCSA won’t step in unless you are in the top 90% of fitness violators.

Hazardous Materials Compliance will also increase from 80% to 90%, further loosening intervention criteria.

7. Utilization Factor Increase

In the old system, a Utilization Factor accounted for how much a carrier was exposed to risk on the road, based on vehicle miles traveled. Previously, this factor applied to carriers that drove 200,000 miles per unit.

With the update, the Utilization Factor was extended to 250,000 miles per unit. This change will better account for carriers with higher utilization.

When Will These Changes Take Place?

Unfortunately, a launch date is still uncertain.

Most industry experts anticipate that the date will be announced in late 2025 or early 2026.

CSA scores have a history of being an unreliable representation of a carrier’s safety. With the new changes proposed by the FMCSA, CSA scores will be more accurate, fair, and consistent.

In the meantime, compliance with the current system is still critical—particularly with the recent emphasis on tires.

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