CSA Score & FMCSA BASIC Guide
Plain-English guide to FMCSA's Compliance, Safety, Accountability program: what the seven BASIC categories measure, what counts as a "good" score, and how brokers and dispatchers use them to vet carriers.
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What is a CSA score?
CSA stands for Compliance, Safety, Accountability — the FMCSA's program for measuring motor carrier safety performance. The technical engine behind CSA is the Safety Measurement System (SMS), which scores every carrier on seven separate behavioral categories called BASICs.
When someone says "the carrier's CSA score," they almost always mean the carrier's percentile rank in one or more of those seven BASIC categories. Lower percentiles are better — a carrier scoring at the 30th percentile is performing better than 70% of similar carriers; one at the 80th is performing worse than 80% of peers.
Each BASIC is scored independently. A carrier can be excellent on Hours-of-Service but problematic on Vehicle Maintenance — which is exactly the kind of nuance that matters when you're deciding whether to book a load.
The 7 BASIC categories explained
Each category measures a distinct safety behavior. Here's what each one captures and why it matters:
1. Unsafe Driving
Speeding, reckless driving, improper lane changes, inattention, failure to use seatbelts. Captured during roadside inspections and post-crash investigations.
2. Hours-of-Service Compliance
Driver log violations, ELD malfunctions, exceeding driving time limits, falsified records. One of the most common BASICs to fail.
3. Driver Fitness
Operating without a valid CDL, expired medical card, missing endorsements, unqualified drivers. Reflects the carrier's hiring and training discipline.
4. Controlled Substances & Alcohol
Failed drug or alcohol tests during inspections, drivers operating under the influence. Lower volume of violations than other BASICs but each one is severe.
5. Vehicle Maintenance
Brakes, lights, tires, defective steering, leaking fluids, equipment violations. Often the BASIC that surfaces fleet management issues first.
6. Hazardous Materials Compliance
Improper hazmat placards, missing shipping papers, leaking containers, untrained drivers. Only public to the carrier and law enforcement (FAST Act).
7. Crash Indicator
Frequency and severity of state-reportable crashes (with injury, fatality, or tow-away). Restricted from public view per FAST Act, but visible in our scoring engine.
Why some BASICs are restricted: Congress's 2015 FAST Act ordered FMCSA to remove Crash Indicator and Hazmat percentiles from public view pending methodology review. MC Look Up displays all data we're authorized to share; restricted BASICs feed into our internal trust score.
What's a "good" CSA score?
FMCSA publishes intervention thresholds for each BASIC. A carrier scoring at or above the threshold is flagged as a high-risk performer in that category and may face an investigation. Thresholds vary by carrier type:
| Carrier Type | Unsafe Driving / HOS / Crash | Driver Fitness / Substance / Maintenance / HM |
|---|---|---|
| General (property) | 65 | 80 |
| Hazmat carriers | 60 | 75 |
| Passenger carriers | 50 | 65 |
Quick rule of thumb when reviewing a carrier:
- Below 50 — strong performer, low risk for that category
- 50–64 — acceptable but trending; worth watching
- 65–79 — problematic, especially for safety-critical BASICs (Unsafe Driving, HOS, Crash)
- 80+ — high risk; FMCSA intervention threshold for most categories
- "Alert" flag — FMCSA has officially flagged this BASIC; treat as a near-disqualifier for high-value loads
The score isn't the whole story. A carrier with 5 power units and 3 violations will score worse than one with 500 power units and 30 violations — not because they're more dangerous in absolute terms, but because BASIC percentiles compare you to peers of similar size. Always look at both the percentile and the underlying inspection volume.
How to read a carrier's CSA scores on MC Look Up
On any carrier results page, the Safety tab lays out all seven BASICs in a clean grid. For each one, you'll see:
- Percentile — the carrier's rank in that BASIC (lower is better)
- Status — whether FMCSA has flagged it as an Alert
- Trend — whether the percentile is improving or worsening over recent months
- Measure value — the underlying violation rate driving the percentile
- Inspection sample size — how much data underlies the rank (more = more reliable)
Our trust score weighs all seven BASICs together with confidence weighting based on inspection volume. A carrier with 5 inspections gets a lighter penalty than one with 500 — we don't punish low-data carriers as severely because the signal is noisy.
Want the full vetting walkthrough? The help center scoring section covers how the trust score combines BASICs with crash, insurance, and authority signals.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between CSA, SMS, and BASIC?
CSA is the overall FMCSA program (Compliance, Safety, Accountability). SMS is the data engine that scores carriers (Safety Measurement System). BASICs are the seven individual categories within SMS. So: CSA is the program, SMS is the math, BASICs are the categories.
Are CSA scores the same as a Safety Rating?
No. A Safety Rating (Satisfactory, Conditional, Unsatisfactory) is a separate, formal designation issued after a Compliance Review — an in-depth FMCSA audit. CSA scores are a continuous percentile updated monthly from roadside inspection data. A carrier can have great CSA scores but lack a Safety Rating entirely.
Can a carrier be sued over its CSA scores?
CSA scores aren't admissible as direct evidence of negligence in most courts. But brokers and shippers can be held liable for "negligent selection" if they hired a carrier with publicly available high-risk indicators. This is exactly why CSA vetting exists in the first place — documented due diligence is the broker's defense.
Why do some carriers have no CSA scores?
Carriers need a minimum number of inspections (typically 5+ within 24 months) for a BASIC percentile to be calculated. New carriers, very small carriers, and carriers operating in low-inspection regions often show "Insufficient Data" instead of a percentile.
What's a CSA Crash Indicator?
The Crash Indicator BASIC measures the frequency and severity of state-reportable crashes per power unit, time-decayed (recent crashes count more). It's currently restricted from public view per the FAST Act, though the carrier and law enforcement can see it. MC Look Up uses it as part of the trust score.
Can carriers fix their CSA scores?
Yes, but it takes time. Carriers can challenge specific violations through the DataQs system (and many do). Otherwise, scores improve as new clean inspections accumulate and old violations age out (most violations age out of the calculation after 24 months).
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