If you've ever looked up a trucking company's safety record, you've probably encountered the term "CSA score." But what does it actually mean, how is it calculated, and should you trust it? Here's the complete guide.
CSA: Compliance, Safety, Accountability
CSA is the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's safety enforcement and compliance program. Launched in 2010, CSA replaced the older SafeStat system and is designed to identify high-risk motor carriers before crashes happen — not just after.
The program works by collecting data from roadside inspections, crash reports, and compliance investigations, then running it through an algorithm called the Safety Measurement System (SMS) to produce scores for each carrier.
The 7 BASIC Categories
SMS organizes safety data into seven categories called BASICs — Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories:
How SMS Scores Are Calculated
For each BASIC category, the SMS algorithm:
- Collects data from the previous 24 months of inspections and crash reports
- Applies time weighting — more recent violations count more heavily than older ones
- Applies severity weighting — serious violations (like brake failures or HOS falsification) receive higher point values
- Normalizes by exposure — the system adjusts for the number of inspections, so a carrier with 1 violation in 100 inspections is treated differently than one with 1 violation in 2 inspections
- Ranks against peer group — carriers are compared to others of similar size and type, producing a percentile from 0 to 100
A percentile of 100 means the carrier is worse than 100% of its peers in that BASIC — the worst possible score. A percentile of 1 means the carrier performs better than 99% of its peers.
What Are the Intervention Thresholds?
When a carrier's percentile exceeds certain thresholds, the FMCSA may investigate or intervene:
| BASIC Category | Threshold |
|---|---|
| Unsafe Driving | 65th percentile |
| Hours-of-Service | 65th percentile |
| Driver Fitness | 80th percentile |
| Controlled Substances | 80th percentile |
| Vehicle Maintenance | 80th percentile |
| Hazardous Materials | 80th percentile |
| Crash Indicator | 65th percentile |
Exceeding a threshold doesn't necessarily mean immediate action, but it puts the carrier on the FMCSA's radar for warning letters, on-site investigations, or other enforcement actions.
CSA Scores vs. CarrierRecord Grades
There are important differences between the official SMS percentiles and CarrierRecord's A-through-F grades:
- SMS percentiles are calculated per BASIC category. There is no single "overall CSA score" — a carrier has up to 7 separate percentiles
- SMS percentiles are not public for carriers below certain size thresholds. The FMCSA publishes percentiles only for carriers with sufficient inspection data
- CarrierRecord grades provide a single overall letter grade based on publicly available OOS rates, crash data, and violation history. Our grades are available for every carrier with inspection data
See our full grading methodology for details on how CarrierRecord grades are calculated.
Common Misconceptions
"A low CSA score means the carrier is safe"
Not necessarily. CSA scores only reflect the data available. A new carrier with few inspections may have a low score simply because there isn't enough data. Also, the absence of documented violations doesn't mean violations haven't occurred — only that they weren't caught.
"CSA scores determine fault in crashes"
No. The Crash Indicator BASIC includes all reportable crashes regardless of fault. A carrier involved in a crash caused entirely by another driver will still see that crash reflected in their data.
"There's a single CSA score for each company"
There is no single composite CSA score. Each carrier has separate percentiles for each of the 7 BASIC categories. Some third-party services create composite scores, but these are not official FMCSA metrics.
How to Look Up a Carrier's Safety Data
You can search for any carrier's safety profile on CarrierRecord using their company name or USDOT number. Our database includes inspection history, crash records, OOS rates, and a CarrierRecord safety grade for every carrier with inspection data.
Related Reading
- What Is a DOT Safety Rating? — How official FMCSA safety ratings differ from CSA scores
- What Does Out-of-Service Mean? — Understanding OOS violations and rates
- FMCSA Inspection Levels Explained — What happens at each roadside inspection level
- How to Check a Trucking Company's Safety Record — Step-by-step lookup guide