Is this because small carriers are probably on average inspected more and have more violations than large carriers due to use of older equipment?

 

Big carriers contribute more money to DOT fundraisers and political campaigns.

 

Not really. As a percentage of the total trucks in their fleet, small carriers could have a higher percentage of violations than mega carriers. But I don't think small carriers do a worse job of maintenance than larger carriers. In fact, most small carriers that I know try to keep a close eye on their trucks. I also know some large carriers who skimp on some of their maintenance.

I think the main reason for the groupings is because of the way violations affect smaller carriers as compared to large carriers. For instance, if a 2 truck carrier has 1 out of service violation then they have 50% out of service. If a carrier that has 2,000 trucks has 1 out of service then it would barely show up as a blip. For it to have the same impact on the carrier with 2,000 trucks, they would need to have 1,000 trucks put out of service. It makes sense to put carriers into peer groupings.

 

Peer groups are for CSA2010 scoring. Combining driver and carrier scores for a group. I always liked the 1-2 truck carriers that have a 50-100% OOS. They always keep the equipment up to snuff except that one time they were inspected. Who are they kidding. Odds are pretty high that the one time they are inspected there is an OOS issue. SMS methodology will cause them to have more inspections by way of no/not enough contact. Doubtfull that their scores will improve much.

 

It isn't always the carriers who can control whether a driver gets shut down due to a maintenance issue. I have only had 1 driver who EVER got shut down for a maintenance issue. I have always tried to make sure my trucks are up to speed when it comes to maintenance. The problem comes in when the driver doesn't do his job and tell the carrier there is a problem. A carrier cannot make repairs unless they are aware of them. The one driver who was shut down did not do his pretrip and apparently had not been doing them for a while. The reason he was shut down could easily have be repaired had he informed me about it. I have no doubt there are many other instances where the driver just doesn't do his job by inspecting his equipment. I have been driving for almost 40 years and have NEVER been put out of service for logs or maintenance issues. There is absolutely NO reason a driver should be put out of service if he is doing his job properly.

The reason the CSA 2010 came into being is to force drivers to do their job. If they skimp on their pre trip inspections or fail to do the job they are paid to do then they will now share in the consequences with their carrier. If they don't change their behavior then they will eventually be someone that most carriers will not hire. I have already spoken to several carriers who are getting rid of owner operators and drivers due to too many violations.

 

Jeez calm down. I can't see where i used you as an example. I merely commented that the only time some are inspected they have OOS issues. What are the odds of that?

 

I am calm. I didn't take your comments as being directed at me personally. I understand what you are saying. There are some running out here who could care less about doing their pre trips or taking care of their equipment. Some will only do the bare minimum. I would like to see those taken off the road. I think the main problem is not with the carriers but the drivers who fail to check their equipment. There are some carriers who don't take care of their equipment as they should, but for the most part it is the driver who should be held accountable. The new rules will place more of the responsibility on the driver. Previously, the driver could slack off and it would only affect the carrier. Now, he will share in the points.

 

We have 30-35 new carriers call every day. One truck driven by the owner and a high percentage have 1-2 inspections and 1-2 OOS,revocations,ect so it's not just a company driver issue.

 

I am surprised that there would be so many owner operators who have that many violations, especially OOS. I know a major carrier who has about 1,000 trucks. It is a 100% owner operator company. Their safety score is 94 due to safety. There are some who have that high of a score because of insufficient data. It would bother me to have that high of a score due to safety. I don't recall how many OOS they had, but it must be very high.

 

It's the 1-2 truck companys that seem to be the worst. You would think if their OOS was so high they would try to get more inspections to bring the % down. It isn't just the OOS,if you go through the "good" inspections you find the same non OOS violations over and over. At least the larger carriers work at keeping a low %.
BTW that safety score has been a non issue for a few months now.