What is a CSA score?
CSA (Compliance, Safety, Accountability) is the FMCSA's carrier-safety measurement system. It scores each carrier on 7 BASICs (categories like Unsafe Driving, Hours of Service, Vehicle Maintenance, Crash Indicator) using a rolling 24 months of roadside inspection and crash data — and the percentile rankings drive everything from insurance premiums to broker booking decisions.
Every roadside inspection, every violation, and every crash a carrier is involved in gets logged into FMCSA's Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS) and aggregated into the Safety Measurement System (SMS). SMS scores the carrier in 7 BASICs (Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories): Unsafe Driving, Hours of Service Compliance, Driver Fitness, Controlled Substances/Alcohol, Vehicle Maintenance, Hazardous Materials Compliance, and Crash Indicator. Each BASIC produces a percentile ranking against peer-group carriers (peers grouped by inspection volume) — a 50th percentile is average, 80th-100th is in 'intervention threshold' territory, where FMCSA can audit and intervene. Brokers and shippers pull CSA scores from FMCSA's SAFER or third-party services (RMIS, Highway, MyCarrierPortal) before booking — most large shippers refuse to load a carrier with any BASIC over the alert threshold (65th percentile for general freight, 60th for passenger and hazmat). CSA scores roll on 24 months of data, so an old violation drops off naturally if the carrier cleans up. The scoring isn't perfect: small carriers with low inspection counts have volatile scores from any single bad inspection, and FMCSA has been criticized for the peer-grouping methodology. But until something replaces it, CSA is the de facto carrier-quality grade the industry uses.
- What's a good CSA score?Below the alert threshold on every BASIC. For general freight that's under 65th percentile in each category; for passenger or hazmat carriers it's under 60th. Anything above the threshold flags the carrier in shipper compliance systems and often triggers automatic rejection from broker load boards. Many large shippers set even stricter internal limits (35th-50th percentile maximum) for their preferred carrier lists.
- How long does a violation stay on CSA?24 months for the violation's contribution to the BASIC score, with time-weighting — recent violations count more than older ones (3x weight for under 6 months, 2x for 6-12 months, 1x for 12-24 months). After 24 months, the violation no longer contributes to the score, though the underlying inspection record remains in MCMIS permanently.
- Can a carrier dispute a CSA violation?Yes — through the FMCSA DataQs system. A carrier files a Request for Data Review claiming the violation was wrongly recorded (wrong driver, wrong company, court dismissal, equipment not at fault). The reviewing state agency or FMCSA office either upholds, modifies, or removes the violation. Successful disputes drop the violation immediately. DataQs is underused — most carriers don't dispute violations they could win.