Last year, we at Getloaded closely followed the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Comprehensive Safety Analysis (CSA) 2010 — and wrote more than a dozen blogs explaining the program because we realized many trucking companies didn’t understand the new safety guidelines. After the FMCSA delayed the rollout multiples times to help carriers get up to speed on the program, CSA began in December 2010.
 
Well, now that CSA is live, another understanding gap is unfolding.

Earlier this year, the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) — the research group of the American Trucking Association (ATA) — conducted a survey of more than 4500 drivers to determine how well they grasp CSA’s details. On August 10, ATRI released their survey’s results and the picture isn’t pretty.

Out of more than 4500 drivers who took the ATRI’s questionnaire, not a single person answered all 14 questions correctly. In fact, participants scored an average of 5.71 out of 14, or 41 percent.  

Though the initial picture may be grim, the report shared one powerful piece of information: “Interestingly, attitudes were neutral for drivers who had no training, somewhat negative for drivers with one training session and somewhat positive for drivers with multiple sessions.”

In other words, drivers who received more than one training session from their employer were the only group who had a positive perspective on the program. So, based on this study, drivers’ ability to better understand, appreciate and correctly follow CSA begins with employer education.

The study also revealed another worrisome fact: On top of performing poorly on the knowledge questionnaire, almost two thirds of the drivers who took the full CSA survey are concerned the safety program could cost them their jobs.

At a time when driver shortages and freight fluctuations are a reality, we believe trucking companies and drivers should take the survey’s results very seriously. And we at Getloaded are here to ensure all of our members have the information they need to comply with CSA and feel confident in the program, so feel free to contact us 888-565-3921 with any questions you have!