The safety percentile that your carrier company falls into matters. It can do everything from impact your insurance premiums to getting you flagged by the FMCSA. A bad ranking can impact your company’s growth and, even if it isn’t directly costly, the fees your company incurs from the safety violations can add up. So make sure every driver knows the seven types of safety problems, or Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs) that make up your safety score.
Of the seven different categories, five are publicly viewable. They include:
- Unsafe driving,
- Driver fitness,
- Vehicle maintenance,
- Hours-of-service compliance, and
- Controlled substances/alcohol.
Many of the signs the FMCSA looks are pulled together by the Safety Measurement System, which pulls data from violation and inspection records. Every Level 1 inspection, collision report, and other safety-related incidents add to your score. Your company is ranked into a percentile compared to other carriers’ incidents and violations. For these five categories and more information, you can look up your company’s percentile here at the FMCSA website.
The remaining two categories are:
- Hazardous materials compliance, and
- Crash indicator.
These categories aren’t available to the public, but they can still impact your company. Many of the third-party companies along your drivers’ routes can see the information, including shippers and large corporations you contract with so they can manage their risk. Insurance agencies need the information just as much.
It’s hard to drive completely safely and with complete compliance. In fact, outdated logs and bad lights are some of the most common violations by any metric. When you know what to look for and what can drop your ranking, however, you can better prepare against the risks.
Go to J.E.B. Insurance Services, LLC. for more information about scores, rankings, and inspections that can impact your company’s trucking insurance. We provide commercial truck insurance in the states of Florida, Georgia, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska.
