By now, we have all heard about the planned rollout of CSA 2010 by the FMCSA. Designed to improve safety and accountability, CSA 2010 will make major changes to the ways the FMCSA and its state counterparts interact with motor carriers. Although the substantive regulations governing motor carriers will not change, motor carriers must be able to understand how the FMCSA could impact their day-to-day operations.

One of the most important changes CSA 2010 will make is the replacement of SafeStat with the Safety Measurement System ("SMS"). Unlike SafeStat, which relies primarily on the results of onsite inspections by DOT officials, SMS will combine data from a number of sources to determine a carrier's safety rating. Specifically, SMS will look at the following measurements:

• Unsafe Driving - i.e. traffic violations.
• Driver Fatigue - based on a review of driver logs.
• Driver Fitness - based on, among other things, a review of accidents caused by inexperience.
• Controlled Substances/Alcohol - results of random driver screening and a review of accidents caused by controlled substances.
• Vehicle Maintenance.
• Cargo Related - accidents occurring due to shifting or improperly secured cargo.
• Crash Indicators - a review of frequency of accidents based on accident reports.

Based on SMS, the FMCSA will evaluate a carrier's safety. However, the old "satisfactory" and "unsatisfactory" ratings will disappear. Instead, a carrier will receive a safety fitness determination ("SFD") that will determine what type of "intervention" is necessary. The most serious level of intervention will be an "unfit" suspension, which prohibits a carrier from operating.

Legally speaking, the shift from SafeStat to SMS/SFD will have several important results. First, it will affect "upstream" contracts that motor carriers enter into with shippers. Most of these contracts currently require motor carriers to maintain "satisfactory" safety ratings. However, with the end of SafeStat, the "satisfactory" rating will be obsolete. The language of the contracts will need to be revised.

Second, many carriers likewise have "downstream" contracts with owner-operators or leasing companies requiring the vehicles leased to meet certain federal safety standards or that all drivers obtain a certain safety rating. These contracts too will often have language that must be re-evaluated in light of the changes wrought by CSA 2010.

Finally, tariffs used by motor carriers (and we recommend that every carrier publish a tariff to define the terms of its relationship with other businesses) will also require re-evaluation, since these too speak of "satisfactory" ratings and use other terms consistent with current FMCSA procedures that will change with CSA 2010.

You'll be hearing much more about CSA 2010 in the coming months. As you do, think about how you need to adapt your company's legal documents to accommodate these changes.