CSA BASICs for small fleets: what is measured and who can see it
CSA is how FMCSA ranks carriers for safety. Its Safety Measurement System sorts your last 24 months of roadside inspections, crashes and investigation results into seven BASICs and gives you a percentile in each, where higher is worse. Newer events count more. Your inspection and crash records are public, but property carriers' percentiles are not.
- The seven BASICs
- How your percentile is built
- Intervention thresholds
- What the public can see
- How to read your own record
- Fixing a wrong violation
- FAQ
Every small fleet has a CSA record, whether you have looked at it or not. It is built from the same public inspections and crash reports that anyone can pull by your USDOT number. Here is how it works, using FMCSA's own methodology, so you can read your record the way others will.
The seven BASICs
SMS sorts your safety data into seven categories, called BASICs (Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories):
| BASIC | What it covers | Main rules |
|---|---|---|
| Unsafe Driving | Speeding, texting, hand-held phone use, reckless driving, improper lane changes, inattention | 49 CFR 392, 397 |
| Crash Indicator | State-reported crashes with a fatality, an injury or a tow-away, whatever the fault | None; it uses crashes, not violations |
| Hours-of-Service Compliance | Driving time limits and records of duty status | 49 CFR 392, 395 |
| Vehicle Maintenance | Defects, repairs, and pre- and post-trip inspections | 49 CFR 392, 393, 396 |
| Controlled Substances/Alcohol | Drug and alcohol misuse, including alcohol containers in the cab | 49 CFR 382, 392 |
| Hazardous Materials Compliance | Packaging, marking, placarding and loading hazmat | 49 CFR 397 and 171 to 180 |
| Driver Fitness | CDLs, medical certificates, driving records and complete driver files | 49 CFR 383, 391 |
Source: FMCSA CSA, We Measure for Safety.
How your percentile is built
- 24 months of data. SMS uses roadside inspections and crash reports from the last two years, plus violations found in an investigation in the last 12 months. FMCSA updates it once a month.
- Newer events weigh more. A violation or crash from the last 6 months has a time weight of 3. From 6 to 12 months it is 2, and from 12 to 24 months it is 1. Older events drop out.
- Severity counts. Each violation also carries a severity weight from 1 to 10, with extra weight for out-of-service violations in some BASICs, so a serious violation moves your measure more than a minor one.
- Normalized for exposure. Hours-of-Service, Controlled Substances/Alcohol and Driver Fitness are measured per driver inspection. Vehicle Maintenance and Hazardous Materials are measured per vehicle inspection. Unsafe Driving and Crash Indicator are measured against your size, from power units and miles driven.
- Ranked against peers. You are grouped with carriers that have a similar number of inspections or crashes, then given a percentile from 0 to 100. Higher is worse.
For a small fleet this means one bad inspection can move a percentile a lot, and a few clean inspections can help it. With little data you may have no percentile at all in some BASICs.
Intervention thresholds
When a percentile passes a threshold, FMCSA may prioritize the carrier for a warning letter, more inspections or an investigation:
| BASIC | Most carriers | Hazmat | Passenger |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unsafe Driving, Crash Indicator, Hours-of-Service | 65% | 60% | 50% |
| Vehicle Maintenance, Controlled Substances/Alcohol, Driver Fitness | 80% | 75% | 65% |
| Hazardous Materials Compliance | 80% | 80% | 80% |
Source: SMS Methodology v3.21, Table 2-2. FMCSA set the first three BASICs lower because its analysis ties them most closely to crash risk. A carrier can also get an alert from an acute or critical violation found in an investigation in the last 12 months (49 CFR 385 Appendix B).
What the public can see
- Public: your inspections, the violations written on them, out-of-service results and reportable crashes, by USDOT number. Brokers, shippers and insurers can look these up.
- Not public for property carriers: your BASIC percentiles and alerts. Since the FAST Act of 2015, FMCSA shows them only to the carrier when logged in, and to enforcement.
- Never public: the Crash Indicator and Hazardous Materials Compliance BASICs.
So a hidden percentile does not hide the record. Anyone who reads your inspections can see the pattern behind it.
How to read your own record
- Log in to the SMS website with your FMCSA account to see your percentiles, alerts and every inspection and crash behind them.
- Sort violations by BASIC. Look for repeats, such as the same defect or the same driver, more than single events.
- Check which events will soon move to a lower time weight or drop out after 24 months.
- Match each violation to a fix: a maintenance item, a driver coaching talk or a gap in a driver file (49 CFR 391.51).
Want a quick outside view first? DOTView reads your public FMCSA record by USDOT number, the same data anyone can see.
Fixing a wrong violation
A violation on a roadside inspection report counts in SMS even if the officer gave only a warning. A state ticket with no inspection report does not count. If a violation is wrong, request a review through DataQs with the report number and your proof, such as logs, repair orders or a court outcome. Our Wire note on the DataQs review process covers the latest change.
If a crash was not preventable, FMCSA's Crash Preventability Determination Program can review it. A crash found not preventable stays on your record but is removed from your Crash Indicator measure.
FAQ
What are the seven CSA BASICs?
Unsafe Driving, Crash Indicator, Hours-of-Service Compliance, Vehicle Maintenance, Controlled Substances/Alcohol, Hazardous Materials Compliance and Driver Fitness. FMCSA's Safety Measurement System gives a carrier a percentile in each one where it has enough data.
How long do violations stay in my CSA scores?
24 months. Violations from the last 6 months carry a time weight of 3, from 6 to 12 months a weight of 2, and from 12 to 24 months a weight of 1. After 24 months they no longer count in SMS.
Can brokers and insurers see my CSA percentiles?
Not for property carriers. Since the FAST Act of 2015, FMCSA does not publicly display property carriers' SMS percentiles and alerts. Your inspection, violation and crash records are still public, and you see your full results when you log in.
What percentile triggers FMCSA attention?
For most property carriers, 65% in Unsafe Driving, Crash Indicator and Hours-of-Service, and 80% in Vehicle Maintenance, Controlled Substances/Alcohol, Driver Fitness and Hazardous Materials Compliance. Hazmat and passenger carriers have lower thresholds.
Does a warning with no ticket still count?
Yes. A violation written on a roadside inspection report counts in SMS whether or not the officer issued a citation. A state ticket without an inspection report does not count.
How do I challenge a violation I think is wrong?
Request a review through FMCSA's DataQs system. Send the inspection report number and your documents, such as logs, repair orders or a court outcome.
This guide is general information, not legal advice or an offer of insurance. FMCSA changes its methodology from time to time; check the current SMS Methodology. Helm Partners' Michigan license is pending, and we do not quote until licensed.
Sources
- FMCSA: Safety Measurement System (SMS) Methodology, version 3.21 (revised May 2026)
- FMCSA CSA: We Measure for Safety (the BASICs)
- FMCSA: SMS website (log in for your full results)
- FMCSA: SAFER Company Snapshot
- FMCSA: DataQs (request a data review)
- 49 CFR 385 Appendix B: acute and critical violations
- 49 CFR 391.51: Driver qualification files