House Bill Will Clarify CSA Ratings for Carriers

Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives are set to introduce a bill that, if passed, would require freight forwarders, shippers, and brokers to fully vet any carrier before hiring them.

Additionally, the five Republicans hoping to pass the bill are also taking aim at the DOT’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability Program carrier rankings to show that these are not necessarily the end all be all for carriers.

If passed, the bill would require any company hiring carriers to check their registration status first with DOT, and then also implement a strict “no hire” policy for those who have received an unsatisfactory rating from DOT or for those who do not hold enough liability insurance.

This would obviously greatly impact the industry as a whole.

Despite the high hopes for this bill, one just like it was introduced in the previous year but did not make it past the committee. The bill was introduced by Reps. John Duncan, Rodney Davis, Richard Hanna, Mark Meadows, and Erik Paulsen. Their pitch was the bill would “enhance interstate commerce” through higher standards.

The lawmakers claimed that the enhancements to safety will remove “confusing and conflicting vagaries” currently associated with CSA’s BASIC rankings. The broker trade group Transportation Intermediaries Association was largely behind this push.

In addition to these new requirements, some of the industries major trucking groups like the American Trucking Associations want to add their own suggestions for the law.

They have requested the FMCSA and those in authority to remove the CSA rankings so the public cannot view them. They do not want these rankings to prevent them from being hired.

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance also asks the FMCSA to remove these rankings from the public view as well in hopes of retaining their stakeholders.

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