What an FMCSA Safety Rating Tells You About a Trucking Company
After a trucking crash, one of the first things attorneys look up is the motor carrier's safety record. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) publishes a lot of data about carriers, but much of it is misunderstood. A "Satisfactory" rating might be years old. A carrier with no rating isn't necessarily safe. And the data points people call "CSA scores" aren't safety ratings at all.
Knowing what each piece of FMCSA data means, and what it doesn't, matters for building negligent hiring, retention, and selection claims, and for anticipating how the defense will respond.
The Three Safety Ratings
FMCSA issues safety ratings under its safety fitness procedures in the federal regulations. There are three possible ratings:
Satisfactory. The carrier has adequate safety management controls in place.
Conditional. The carrier's safety management controls are inadequate in ways that could lead to violations, but it isn't prohibited from operating.
Unsatisfactory. The carrier's safety management controls are inadequate, and it faces being prohibited from operating commercial motor vehicles unless it improves within a limited time.
Ratings are issued after an investigation, often a compliance review or on-site investigation, where FMCSA or state partners examine the carrier's records on driver qualification, hours of service, drug and alcohol testing, vehicle maintenance, and other areas.
Most Carriers Are Unrated
A large share of motor carriers have no safety rating at all. FMCSA doesn't have the resources to investigate every carrier, so investigations are typically targeted at carriers with warning signs, serious crashes, or complaints.
"Unrated" doesn't mean safe or unsafe. It means FMCSA hasn't done a rating investigation. Defense counsel sometimes present an unrated or old Satisfactory status as proof of safety. Plaintiff counsel can point out that the rating may say nothing about the carrier's current operations.
Ratings Can Be Old
A safety rating stays in place until FMCSA conducts another investigation. A carrier might have earned a Satisfactory rating many years ago under different ownership, with different drivers and a different fleet. Always check the date of the rating and compare it with the carrier's more recent inspection and crash data.
SMS and CSA: Not a Safety Rating
FMCSA's Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program uses the Safety Measurement System (SMS) to prioritize carriers for intervention. SMS organizes roadside inspection, violation, and crash data into categories called BASICs, including:
Unsafe Driving
Crash Indicator
Hours-of-Service Compliance
Vehicle Maintenance
Controlled Substances and Alcohol
Hazardous Materials Compliance
Driver Fitness
SMS compares carriers against similar carriers and flags those exceeding intervention thresholds. These measures are tools for targeting enforcement, not formal findings that a carrier is unsafe, and FMCSA includes disclaimers saying so.
Following federal legislation in 2015, some SMS percentile information for property carriers was removed from public view, though much of the underlying inspection and violation data remains available. FMCSA has also worked on changes to the SMS methodology, so it's worth confirming how the data was presented at the time relevant to your case.
What Else to Look At
Roadside inspection history. The number of inspections, violations found, and how often vehicles and drivers were placed out of service. A carrier's out-of-service rates compared to national averages can be revealing.
Crash history. Reportable crashes in FMCSA data. Note that crash data generally includes crashes regardless of fault, although FMCSA has a program for reviewing whether certain crashes were preventable.
Operating authority and insurance. Whether the carrier had active authority and required insurance on file at the time of the crash, and whether authority had ever been revoked.
Enforcement history. Out-of-service orders, civil penalties, and prior investigations.
Company history. Changes in name, ownership, address, or USDOT number. A thin record combined with signs of a prior company may point to a reincarnated carrier.
Fleet size and drivers. Whether the carrier's reported fleet and driver numbers match its inspection activity and the volume of work it was doing.
How Safety Data Is Used in Litigation
Negligent hiring, retention, and supervision. A carrier's inspection and violation history can show a pattern, like repeated hours-of-service or maintenance violations, that the company failed to correct. Discovery into driver qualification files, logs, maintenance records, and internal safety policies usually builds on what the public data suggests.
Negligent selection. When a broker or shipper hires a carrier, the carrier's safety data may be central to whether the selection was reasonable. A broker that ignored a Conditional rating, high out-of-service rates, or a lack of operating history may face claims. Whether negligent selection claims against brokers are preempted by federal law has been heavily litigated, so attorneys should check current law in their jurisdiction, including any recent Supreme Court guidance.
Punitive damages. A documented history of ignoring safety problems may support claims of conscious disregard, depending on state law.
Admissibility. Courts have differed on whether SMS data and CSA measures are admissible, and for what purpose. Defendants often argue the data is unreliable or unfairly prejudicial. Expert testimony explaining what the data means, and what it doesn't, can be important for getting it in front of a jury, or keeping it out.
Which Experts You Need
Motor carrier safety expert. Interprets FMCSA data, explains safety ratings and SMS, and evaluates the carrier's safety management practices against the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. Often a former carrier safety director or FMCSA investigator.
Freight broker practices expert. Addresses what carrier vetting is reasonable in the brokerage industry and what a broker should have done with the safety data available.
Accident reconstructionist. Establishes how the crash happened, often using the truck's electronic data.
Damages experts. Medical experts, life care planners, and economists depending on the injuries.
Common Defense Arguments
Satisfactory rating. The carrier was rated Satisfactory, so it was safe.
SMS disclaimers. CSA data isn't a safety rating and shouldn't be treated as one.
No connection. Past violations had nothing to do with the cause of this crash.
Reasonable vetting. The broker confirmed authority and insurance, which was enough.
Preemption. Federal law bars negligent selection claims against brokers.
FMCSA data is a starting point, not the full story. Understanding what each rating and measure actually represents helps attorneys use the data effectively and push back when the defense mischaracterizes it.