Why Paying Attention to Your CSA Score is More Important Than Ever

When was the last time you checked in on your company’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) score? Since the CSA program went into effect in 2010, these scores have provided key insights to the FMCSA, insurance companies, and industry partners about each motor carrier’s safety and compliance history.

Paying attention to your CSA score has always mattered, but recent FMCSA enforcement data shows that it’s becoming even more critical. While the overall number of safety investigations has remained relatively steady over the past five years, the way those investigations are conducted is shifting. Rather than focusing on on-site comprehensive reviews, the FMCSA is increasingly channeling its resources into on-site focused investigations triggered by specific compliance issues. In fact, federal enforcement data shows that the number of focused investigations is on track to reach its highest level in five years.

If your CSA score is higher than it should be, you’re far more likely to be selected for an on-site audit or stopped for a roadside inspection. With the average investigation uncovering six violations and settlements averaging $7,155 per closed case (with some reaching as high as $125,000), it’s a number worth keeping a close eye on.

What is a CSA Score?

You can think of your CSA score as the federal government’s report card for your company.

It’s part of the FMCSA’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program, which uses roadside inspection data, crash reports, and investigation findings to monitor motor carriers’ safety performance. Each month, the FMCSA updates these scores through its Safety Measurement System (SMS)—a data-driven tool that helps the agency prioritize which carriers to flag for intervention.

This score is compiled from data across seven categories, known as Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs):

• Unsafe Driving: violations like speeding, texting, improper lane changes, and failure to wear a seatbelt
• Crash Indicator: frequency and severity of crashes (not publicly viewable)
• Hours of Service Compliance (HOS): false logs, ELD misuse, driving past legal limits
• Vehicle Maintenance: issues like defective brakes, worn tires, broken lights, and unsecured loads
• Controlled Substances and Alcohol: drug or alcohol use or testing violations
• Driver Fitness: missing or expired CDLs, outdated med cards, or incomplete driver files
• Hazardous Materials Compliance: placarding, packaging, and documentation errors (not public)

Each category receives a percentile score from 0 to 100, with lower scores indicating better performance. Scores are calculated relative to other carriers of similar size and operation type, and recent or serious violations carry more weight than older, less severe ones.

Similar to a credit score, CSA scores are not static. They change from month to month, depending on what is found during inspections, crashes, or audits. If you’ve had several recent violations—or haven’t had many clean inspections—you may see your score creep up quickly, especially in categories like Unsafe Driving or Vehicle Maintenance.

While not all of your CSA scores are visible to the public, brokers, shippers, and insurers can and do monitor what is available. If your scores start trending in the wrong direction, it can affect your ability to secure freight or negotiate rates—even before the FMCSA steps in.

When Does a CSA Score Become a Problem?

Not every violation will trigger an investigation. However, once your CSA scores cross certain thresholds, your risk increases significantly.

The FMCSA uses intervention thresholds to determine when it’s time to intervene. These thresholds vary by category and are based on crash risk, historical data, and carrier type. If your company’s score in any BASIC category exceeds the threshold, you’re more likely to be targeted for enforcement.
Here are the current thresholds for most carriers:

• 65%: Unsafe Driving
• 65%: Hours of Service (HOS) Compliance
• 65%: Crash Indicator
• 80%: Vehicle Maintenance
• 80%: Controlled Substances and Alcohol
• 80%: Driver Fitness
• 80%: Hazardous Materials Compliance

For passenger carriers and hazmat carriers, the thresholds are even lower in some categories, reflecting the increased risk associated with those operations.

Once you cross a threshold, you may receive a warning letter, be selected for a targeted roadside inspection, or face an on-site audit—often without advance notice. And since recent violations carry more weight in the scoring system, even a short streak of issues can push you past the line.

What Are the Most Common CSA Violations?

While equipment defects and unsafe driving often come to mind first, recent data shows that many of the most frequent—and costly—violations are actually tied to paperwork, not parts.

So far in the fiscal year 2025, more than 50,000 violations have been documented through FMCSA investigations. Nearly one in five of these violations stems from just one area: DOT Clearinghouse compliance.

Some of the most common violations include:

• Failing to run a pre-employment Clearinghouse query (382.701(a))
• Missing the required annual query for current drivers (382.701(b)(1))
• Using a driver before receiving the Clearinghouse result (382.301(a))
• Carrier not registered in the Clearinghouse (382.711(b))

Together, these four violations account for more than 14% of all violations this year.

Beyond the Clearinghouse, driver qualification file issues continue to cause problems. Investigators are routinely citing carriers for:

• Missing prior employer inquiries (391.23)
• Incomplete or missing employment applications (391.21)
• Expired or missing medical cards (391.41)
• CDL violations, such as operating without a valid or properly endorsed license

While these violations aren’t necessarily difficult to prevent, they remain among the top 20 most common violations year after year. And because they fall under the Driver Fitness BASIC, they carry significant weight in your CSA score.

What all these violations have in common is this: they’re paperwork-based violations that don’t require crawling under a truck to find. That makes them easier for investigators to document—and more difficult for carriers to dispute.

Changes Ahead for CSA Scoring

The way CSA scores are calculated hasn’t changed much in over a decade—but that’s about to shift.

In late 2024, the FMCSA approved a long-awaited overhaul to the CSA scoring methodology. These updates are not yet in effect, and we don’t yet have an implementation date. However, when this overhaul does take effect, it will make scores more targeted and responsive to recent performance.

Some of the most significant changes include:

• Restructured categories: The current BASICs will be reorganized into new “compliance categories,” including a split between driver-observed and mechanic-detected maintenance issues.
• Simplified violation weights: The 1–10 severity scale will be replaced with a two-point system, where more serious violations (such as those resulting in out-of-service orders) carry greater weight.
• Greater focus on recent violations: In some categories, CSA scores will only be calculated if there has been a violation in the past 12 months. Older violations won’t count unless newer ones exist.
• Updated enforcement thresholds: Thresholds will increase in certain categories to better reflect crash risk and allow for more accurate prioritization.
• More accurate carrier comparisons: Mileage, vehicle type, and carrier operation data will be used to better compare similar carriers, improving the fairness and consistency of score calculations.

These changes are designed to help the FMCSA more accurately identify high-risk carriers by refining how scores are calculated and how violations are weighted. But because the structure of the scoring system is changing, even carriers with relatively few violations may see their CSA scores shift.

In some cases, older violations will no longer count. In others, violations that previously had a low impact may carry more weight. And with new peer comparison methods, your percentile ranking could change even if your performance stays the same.

We’ll cover the full scope of these updates—and what they mean for your business—once the implementation timeline is finalized. In the meantime, this is an ideal time to review your processes and tighten up your compliance systems so you’re prepared when the new rules go into effect.

If you would like to learn more about these changes, the FMCSA has provided helpful materials on its Prioritization Preview webpage.

How US Compliance Services Can Help

With CSA changes on the horizon—and a more targeted approach to enforcement already underway—it’s never been more important to have strong, streamlined compliance systems in place.

At US Compliance Services, we help carriers by:

• Monitoring CSA scores and helping you track changes month to month, so you can address issues before they trigger an intervention
• Setting up MVR monitoring to alert you to license downgrades, medical certification issues, or suspensions in real time
• Managing Clearinghouse requirements to ensure nothing falls through the cracks with pre-employment or annual checks
• Providing a digital compliance platform that offers complete visibility, automated alerts, and one place to store and manage all your critical documentation

If you’re unsure whether your current systems can stand up to increased scrutiny—or simply want to strengthen your approach before the new CSA model takes effect—we’re here to help. We’ll take a closer look at your compliance program and help you build a plan that supports safer operations and better CSA scores. Contact us today to get started.