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NEwS IN brIEf

cess — would be so lengthy, incorporat-
ing crash fault into SMS rankings may
be a moot point, the agency says, as
SMS rankings only use crashes from the
preceding two-year period.
The agency’s report also says
incorporating crash accountability into
CSA would cost between $3.9 million
and $11.1 million each year, depending
on how many accidents are reviewed,
the appeals brought and the agency’s
final process for determining crash
weighting.

consuMer conFidence,
sPending signaLs econoMic
recovery
There are now 3.2 million more
Americans earning paychecks than
there were 12 months ago. That addi-
tional cash tends to boost consumer
spending, which drives about 70 percent
crash accountaBiLity too most at risk for crashes, nor would it be of economic growth.
exPensive and ineFFicient easy to implement or cost-effective. Americans are feeling better about
FMcsa says “It is not lost on the trucking the economy. Consumer confidence
FMCSA’s Compliance, Safety, industry that the word ‘Accountability’ jumped in January to its highest level in
Accountability (CSA) system for evalu- is in the title of CSA, yet FMCSA con- a decade, according to a survey by the
ating carrier safety has long been criti- tinues to ignore crash accountability,” University of Michigan. And consum-
cized by the trucking industry. Trucking said American Trucking Associations ers increased their spending during the
points out that CSA does not distin- Executive Vice President Dave Osiecki. final three months of last year at the
guish between accidents in which the “Analysis using all crashes shows fastest pace in nearly nine years.
truck or truck driver is to blame and that incorporating crash weighting Companies that benefit most
accidents in which the truck clearly was determinations does not consistently directly from consumer spending have
not at fault. Accidents factor into CSA’s improve the Crash Indicator when ramped up hiring since the fall, when
Crash Indicator BASIC, a calculation the various weighting approaches are gas price savings began to pile up in
which ranks carriers based on their pro- applied,” the study concludes. Americans’ bank accounts. Retailers
pensity for accidents. And because the process for deter- added 45,900 jobs in January, hotels and
Following the release of a study in mining crash weighting — receiving restaurants 37,100.
January, FMCSA claimed that incorpo- accident reports from police, analyzing Construction companies have been
rating crash accountability into CSA and making crash fault determination, a source of big job gains. They’ve added
scores would not improve the DOT’s weighting the crash appropriately and
ability to target for intervention carriers then going through an appeals pro- 

arkansas trucking rePort | issue 1 2015 13