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-- WITH PHOTO -- TO NATIONAL, AND TRANSPORTATION EDITORS:
New Audit Report Details Persistent Flaws in CSA Data
ARLINGTON, Va., March 10, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The
investigation report of the Department of Transportation's Inspector
General is just the latest to show significant problems with the
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's Compliance, Safety,
Accountability program, American Trucking Associations said.
"The Inspector General's report confirms what industry stakeholders,
independent researchers and other government watchdogs have found:
there continue to be significant flaws in the data FMCSA is using to
evaluate and score carriers under CSA," said ATA Executive Vice
President Dave Osiecki. "ATA continues to support the oversight
mission and safety goals of CSA - but FMCSA must acknowledge the
program's many problems - and commit to addressing them."
The Inspector General's report criticized FMCSA for: taking "limited
action" to address previously identified flaws; its inability to get
40 states and the District of Columbia to implement CSA
interventions; not following standard technology validation and
testing; and for not pushing states to be consistent in correcting
reams of inaccurate data.
"The audit found that while FMCSA claims to have enough data to
evaluate 40% of the industry - 13% of those companies report not
owning or operating any trucks. Serious inaccuracies like this affect
the scores of everyone scored under CSA - since carriers are compared
to one another," Osiecki said. "Though not 'safety data' per se, the
I.G. also found that many motor carriers need to do a better job of
reporting operational and exposure data, such as the number of trucks
they operate."
ATA expressed disappointment in the IG's report for taking FMCSA's
self-assessment of its State Safety Data Quality system, which scores
states' ability to upload timely and accurate data, at face value.
"ATA is disappointed that the I.G. didn't take a critical look at the
source of literally all CSA data, state enforcement agencies. While
the SSDQ indicates states are performing better than they have in the
past, the I.G. failed to examine under what circumstances a state
might obtain a "good" rating. This is a critical link in CSA data
quality that deserves greater attention."
ATA's document explaining the limitations of SSDQ ratings is available
here.
American Trucking Associations is the largest national trade
association for the trucking industry. Through a federation of 50
affiliated state trucking associations and industry-related
conferences and councils, ATA is the voice of the industry America
depends on most to move our nation's freight. Follow ATA on Twitter or
on Facebook . Good stuff. Trucks Bring It!
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100129/ATALOGO
SOURCE American Trucking Associations
-0- 03/10/2014
/CONTACT: Sean McNally, 703-838-1995, smcnally@trucking.org
/Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100129/ATALOGO
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
/Web Site: http://www.trucking.org
CO: American Trucking Associations
ST: Virginia
IN: TRN TRT
SU: SVY
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-- DC79468 --
0000 03/10/2014 11:45:00 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com
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