The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) is holding its Annual Operation Safe Driver event during the week of July 11 – 17, 2021. First launched in 2007, the event aims to reduce crashes caused by unsafe behaviors of automobile and commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers.
Law enforcement will be focused on speeding, and will also be on the lookout for reckless or aggressive driving, distracted driving, following too closely, improper lane changes, failure to obey traffic control devices, failure to use seatbelts, and impaired driving. These are the common reasons CMV drivers are stopped and inspected.
Why Does this Matter?
Each vehicle stop is a business interruption that reduces a driver’s on-duty time and may result in additional violations being uncovered. Out Of Service (OOS) equipment issues cost motor carriers $861 on average, not including fines or repairs. Violations are entered into the Safety Measurement System (SMS), which may cause scores to increase significantly. Score increases may result in roadside inspection targeting of operations – another opportunity to identify violations, penalties, and OOS issues.
All this information is used during the insurance renewal process when a company’s performance is scrutinized to determine if it is managing risk effectively. This can have a significant impact on insurance premiums. The key is to manage this process effectively by ensuring drivers operate safely and avoid doing anything that attracts the attention of enforcement.
How to Prepare
The FMCSA released the latest Safety Measurement System (SMS) results this week, which performance can be checked against. Logging in to the A&I SMS site each month to identify new violations and see how past violations are aging can help identify opportunities for improvement or areas to address. This provides an opportunity to address driving behaviors that could result in violations the next month.
For help improving performance and reducing operating costs, please contact an EPIC Transportation and Logistics team member.
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