CSA (Compliance, Safety, Accountability)
Last reviewed · By Chad Griffith
CSA stands for Compliance, Safety, Accountability — FMCSA's safety measurement and enforcement program for motor carriers, established in 2010. CSA evaluates carriers across seven Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs): Unsafe Driving, Hours-of-Service Compliance, Driver Fitness, Controlled Substances/Alcohol, Vehicle Maintenance, Hazmat Compliance, and Crash Indicator. Carriers receive percentile rankings within peer groups; carriers exceeding intervention thresholds in one or more BASICs face FMCSA enforcement actions ranging from warning letters to compliance reviews to out-of-service orders. CSA scores are derived from inspection data, crash records, and registration information.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the seven CSA BASICs?
(1) Unsafe Driving — speeding, reckless driving, improper lane change; (2) Hours-of-Service Compliance — HOS violations, ELD issues; (3) Driver Fitness — qualifications, medical certs; (4) Controlled Substances/Alcohol — DOT drug and alcohol violations; (5) Vehicle Maintenance — inspection violations, mechanical defects; (6) Hazmat Compliance — placarding, packaging, manifest issues; (7) Crash Indicator — preventable and DOT-recordable crashes.
How are CSA scores calculated?
CSA scores use a Safety Measurement System (SMS) that assigns weights to violations based on severity, time (newer violations weighted heavier), and frequency. Carriers are grouped by peer cohort (e.g., similar number of inspections), then ranked by percentile within that cohort. Scores update monthly based on the previous 24 months of inspection data.
What CSA score triggers FMCSA enforcement?
Intervention thresholds vary by BASIC. For most BASICs, the threshold is the 65th percentile for general carriers, 60th for hazmat carriers, and 50th for passenger carriers. Carriers exceeding thresholds in one BASIC may receive warning letters; multiple BASICs above threshold can trigger off-site compliance reviews or on-site comprehensive reviews.
Can CSA violations be disputed?
Yes. The DataQ system at FMCSA allows carriers to challenge inspection records they believe contain inaccurate data. Common DataQ challenges include misidentified driver, incorrect vehicle, wrong violation code, or factual errors in the inspection report. Successful DataQ challenges remove the violation from the carrier's BASIC calculation.
Authoritative sources
Related terms
FileFlo classifies and tracks compliance documents against rule packs that map directly to the regulators referenced above. Run a free CFR-cited audit →