Current state of the CSA program

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) of the Department of Transportation is in charge of maintaining the safety of commercial motor vehicles (Murray, 2016). As a result, many compliance tools are in place to enable the FMCSA to carry out its protection mandate. Safety Measurement System (SMS), Compliance, Security, and Accountability (CSA), and the Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs) are examples (O'Hanlon, 2013).
The Compliance, Security, and Accountability (CSA) program assesses carriers' and drivers' on-road safety results, keeping them responsible for their position in safety (O'Hanlon, 2013). On the one hand, the program affects motor owners by identifying those that have safety issues in order to prioritize them for interventions such as warning letters and investigations while on the other hand, it affects drivers by having an impact on their safety performance and compliance records as they work for a given carrier.

ABC trucking company has 2 locations and 58 drivers. An assessment of its current CSA program shows that the security performance of both its truck owners and drivers is poor thereby requiring urgent attention. The truck owners on the one hand, demonstrate poor safety compliance in diverse areas such as: they do not conduct any training or safety meetings for their drivers; they have enrolled only part of their drivers in the drug and alcohol program as currently, only 41 out of 58 drivers are enrolled; their driver qualification records are inconsistent; they lack accident follow-up plans; and they do not have proper preventative maintenance plans for the vehicles.

Truck drivers on the other hand, are also seen to fail to comply to safety compliance aspects since the driver who was involved in an accident had been over speeding, failed to carry statutory documents namely, the medical card and driving license, and failed to ensure that the vehicle was well serviced before undertaking work. In essence, based on the aspects identified by the CSA program, ABC trucking company requires to prioritize various safety compliance aspects in order to ensure that their license is not revoked by the DOT.

Recommendations

Based on the current safety performance at the ABC truck company, the following are recommended.

First, regarding the aspect of the company failing to conduct safety and training meetings for its staff, it would be recommended that the company assess its current safety management practices to ensure that training meetings are set up in order to ensure that all staff have competent knowledge required to carry out their jobs (Geller, 2001). As such, ABC should ensure they develop a training program in place to assure all staff of continuous enhancement of their competency required for work.

Second, in regard to the drug and alcohol program, it would be recommended that the company implement appropriate policies that sensitize all ABC staff members regarding the use and possession of alcohol and controlled substances. Rules should be set up to determine actions to be taken when drivers or other members of staff are caught either using or in possession of alcoholic products during their work hours.

Third, with the inconsistent driver qualifications, it would be recommended that the company revise its current hiring procedure in order to ensure job descriptions are well written in order to attract only competent applicants. Further, the company should ensure they develop vetting systems for on the job skills that are instrumental in ensuring the employees work as required. The inconsistency currently in place implies that, either rules governing hiring are not appropriate, or the company is unable to verify qualifications of its applicants either through background checks or determining their skill level (Knipling, 2000).



Fourth, regarding the lack of follow-up plans for accidents, the company should review its policies that guide such plans in order to ensure all company employees are aware of the required actions to be undertaken during accidents. Further, the company should ensure compliance with identified safety procedures such as driver fitness, unsafe driving, vehicle maintenance and both the use and possession of controlled substances and alcohol.

Finally, in regard to the lack of a preventative maintenance plan for its vehicles, it would be recommended that ABC company not only ensure compliance with vehicle maintenance aspects specified by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs), but as well, ensure they train their employees on safety and enforce policies that ensure safety is given the much needed attention.

Upon analysis of the citations given to the ABC driver previously involved in an accident, it would be recommended that the company ensure strict compliance with driver fitness aspects where all statutory documents are checked, ensure vehicles are maintained to ensure safety compliance, ensure unsafe driving is addressed through appropriate policies, ensure both alcohol and controlled substance abuse is punished in future cases, ensure compliance with the hours of service and finally, assess crash indicator aspects.



Resources required

In an effort to ensure adherence to the CSA program, resources required by ABC company include: additional competent training personnel to deliver required safety education for the staff and truck drivers; training materials; consultants to advice on policy formulation for alcohol and substance use; and additional technicians to carry out routine vehicle maintenance aspects.





Conclusion

The analysis of safety performance at ABC company shows that its efficacy in adhering to set safety standards has been poor. The occurrence of a severe accident involving a truck driver from the company helped shed light on the urgency of reviewing its CSA program. Consequently, the proposal has provided various recommendations and resources required to ensure the company adheres to safety procedures thereby enabling it to perform well in the forthcoming DOT audit.





References

Geller, E. (2001). Beyond safety accountability. Rockville, Md.: ABS Consulting/Government Institutes.

Knipling, R. (2000). Safety Management in Small Motor Carriers. Washington: Transportation Research Board of the National Academies.

Murray, M. (2016). Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA). The Balance. Retrieved 11 December 2017, from https://www.thebalance.com/compliance-safety-accountability-2221029

O'Hanlon, C. (2013). Changing gears. Bloomington: iUniverse.