Quote:
Originally Posted by 01WS6
So does this mean that DOT is going to get with every carrier and pull every drivers DAC and MVR and assign us a score?
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Yes, they will go back 3 years on your driving record and 2 years on a carrier. And that is one of the main reasons that some drivers are already losing their jobs under the CSA2010 regs. The points needed for a driver intervention are 90, and 72 for a carrier.
Where it gets sticky, is the fact that any new points a driver receives are multiplied by 3. So a speeding ticket is 5 points, but after the multiplier, it will show on your record as 15 along with hitting the carrier you work for with 15 points. And warnings are handled as violations too, using the same point structure.
How does it work? Let's say you get pulled over for speeding, 5 over on I-94 in Jackson County MI, 65 in a 60 (70 for cars), and a roadside DOT inspection. The cop finds three problems with your logs, that costs you say 9 points. You are running late and figure you will get the log for that day caught up at the consignee, who hasn't done that. Then Mr. DOT finds a few things on your equipment after crawling all over and under it for an hour, nothing that will put you out of service though, so he just gives you a warning and tells you to get it fixed. But, warnings count too towards your driving record, so you get another 6 points. And then he looks in your cab from the drivers door and sees that you have a TV and a laptop on the floor, now that gets you put out of service under the new fatigue rules and 10 more points. And lets not forget the speeding ticket, he is nice enough to give you another warning, cause he likes your attitude, but you still get 5 more points. Yep, you got a ***** for a DOT cop. So, after all is said and done, you now have a whopping 30 points, are put OOS and missed your delivery. Now take those 30 points and multiply by 3... You just scored a 90, and are now looking for another job.
Sure, maybe a bit of a stretch, but lets say the above happened over a 9 month period, it still leads to 90 points. Like I said, there is allot of room for abuse here.
Now I called and spoke with the guy that put allot of this down on paper and has been interviewing the carriers in the 7 test states that are already running under CSA2010. The one question I had for him was what role will the insurance companies play in all of this? They will want a say in who gets fired and hired under this new point scheme, as this looks to carry the same weight as ones MVR. The record keeping looks like it will fall to DAC for all drivers, but will the insurance companies have access to the driver scores? That has yet to be decided as far as he knew, but we both figured that it would only be a matter of time and the insurance companies will be right there in the thick of it.
And when they do get involved, what will be the magic CSA2010 score that would keep a driver from being hired or when a carrier would be told to drop this guy because he has to many points on his CSA record?
Currently, with my insurance company, if you have over 4 points on your MVR, they will not allow me to hire a driver. What will the CSA point score be, 30, 50, before you as a driver are not hireable? Again, this system is so open for abuse not only from the DOT, but also from the insurance companies and the carriers.
One string of bad luck under this new system could honestly ruin even the best of drivers and also throw a good carrier right under the bus. Trust me, I have had months like that as a carrier and a driver, every darn thing that could go wrong does, through no fault of my own.