CSA Score: What It Is, How to Look It Up & How to Improve It (2026 Guide)

• CSA scores measure a motor carrier’s safety compliance across 7 BASIC categories — a high score is bad, not good.

• Scores above FMCSA’s intervention thresholds (typically 65–80 depending on category) trigger federal safety investigations.

• You can look up any carrier’s CSA score for free at ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/SMS.

• The most effective way to lower CSA scores is driver coaching + dash cam footage — fleets using AI cameras report 20–40% fewer violations.

• CSA violations stay on your record for 24 months — prevention is far cheaper than correction.

A CSA score — short for Compliance, Safety, Accountability score — is a numerical rating assigned by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to measure how well a motor carrier complies with federal safety regulations.

Unlike a credit score where higher is better, a higher CSA score is worse. Scores are calculated based on roadside inspection violations, crashes, and out-of-service orders recorded over the past 24 months. When your score gets too high, FMCSA steps in.

ℹ What CSA is NOT CSA scores rate motor carriers (the company), not individual drivers. Driver violation records are tracked separately in the Pre-Employment Screening Program (PSP). However, every driver behavior on your fleet directly affects your company’s CSA score.

CSA measures safety across 7 Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs). Each BASIC is scored from 0–100, with violations weighted by severity and recency.

BASIC Category What It Measures Threshold High-Impact Violations Unsafe Driving Speeding, reckless driving, lane changes, seatbelts 65% Speeding 15+ mph over limit HOS Compliance Log falsification, ELD violations, driving over limits 65% False log entries, operating beyond 11/14-hr limit Driver Fitness Unlicensed drivers, expired CDL, medical cert violations 80% Operating without valid CDL Controlled Substances DUI, positive drug/alcohol tests, refusal to test 80% Any positive drug test, DUI conviction Vehicle Maintenance Brake defects, tire violations, lighting issues, OOS orders 80% Brakes out of service, tire violations HazMat Compliance Improper handling, placarding violations (HazMat carriers) 80% Improper placarding, leaking packages Crash Indicator Crash history from state-reported data 65% At-fault crashes with injuries or fatalities

⚠ Severity weighting FMCSA weights violations from 1 to 10 by severity. An out-of-service order (severity 10) hits your score far harder than an administrative paperwork violation (severity 1). Recent violations (last 6 months) also count more than older ones.

Intervention thresholds vary by BASIC. Here’s how to read your scores across three zones:

0–49 Below Threshold Low risk. FMCSA unlikely to intervene. Maintain current practices. 50–64 Watch Zone Elevated risk. May appear in warning letters. Take proactive action. 65+ Intervention Zone FMCSA may issue warning letters, investigations, or targeted inspections.

⚠ Beyond FMCSA: shippers check your scores Many large shippers won’t work with carriers above intervention thresholds. Amazon Freight, UPS Supply Chain, and other freight brokers screen CSA scores before awarding lanes. A high score can cost you contracts directly — not just trigger federal oversight.

34% of carriers with high CSA scores report losing shipper contracts in the past year Source: ATRI Annual Trucking Industry Study

FMCSA makes all carrier CSA data publicly available through the Safety Measurement System (SMS). You can check your score — or any competitor’s — in under 2 minutes.

1 Go to the FMCSA SMS portal Navigate to ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/SMS. No login required for public carrier data.

2 Search by DOT number or carrier name Enter your USDOT number for the most accurate results. Searching by name can return multiple carriers.

3 Review your BASIC scores The SMS dashboard shows your score and percentile ranking among comparable carriers. Scores in red are above intervention thresholds.

4 Click through to violation details Each BASIC links to specific inspections and violations. Identify which drivers, routes, or vehicles are driving your score up.

5 File DataQ challenges on erroneous violations Inspectors enter violations manually and mistakes happen. Challenge incorrect entries at dataqs.fmcsa.dot.gov — successful disputes are removed from your score immediately.

✓ Pro tip FMCSA updates SMS scores monthly. Check scores on the first of each month and review new violations before they compound. Samsara, Motive, and Geotab offer CSA score monitoring integrations that alert you when new violations appear automatically.

CSA violations stay on record for 24 months, weighted more heavily when recent. The fastest path to improvement is preventing new violations — not waiting for old ones to age off.

1. Address your highest-weight violations first

Pull your full violation history from SMS and sort by severity weight. One out-of-service violation (weight: 10) outweighs ten paperwork violations (weight: 1 each). Fix systematic high-weight problems before administrative ones.

2. Standardize digital pre-trip inspections (DVIRs)

Vehicle Maintenance is the most common CSA violation source. When drivers catch brake fade, tire wear, or lighting issues before DOT inspectors do, you avoid the violation entirely. Fleet maintenance software like Fleetio automates DVIR workflows and tracks defect history.

3. Coach drivers on HOS proactively — not reactively

Train drivers on the 11-hour driving rule, 14-hour on-duty limit, and 30-minute break requirements before violations, not after. Use your ELD’s remaining-hours data to intervene before drivers run out of time.

4. File DataQ disputes quarterly

Audit your violation records every 90 days and challenge factually incorrect entries. Successfully disputed violations are removed from your score — this is one of the fastest CSA improvements available without changing operations.

5. Deploy AI dash cams for real-time driver coaching

Speeding, following distance, and hard braking are among the most common Unsafe Driving BASIC violations. AI dash cams from Lytx, Netradyne Driveri, and Motive detect these behaviors in real-time and coach drivers with in-cab audio within seconds — before any DOT inspector ever sees the behavior.

6. Run mock DOT inspections quarterly

Hire a third-party safety consultant for unannounced mock Level I DOT inspections. Every vehicle defect found in a mock inspection is a potential CSA violation prevented.

7. Screen new hires with PSP reports

Use FMCSA’s Pre-Employment Screening Program to pull drivers’ 5-year crash and 3-year inspection history before hiring. The $10/report cost is negligible compared to a single CSA investigation.

The fastest way to reduce Unsafe Driving violations AI dash cams with real-time coaching are the most proven tool for lowering CSA scores. We’ve reviewed all 5 major options. Compare Dash Cam Software →

AI Dash Cams: Real-Time Coaching

AI dash cams from Lytx, Netradyne, and Motive detect risky driving behaviors in real-time — speeding, hard braking, phone use, lane departure, drowsy driving — and provide in-cab audio coaching within seconds. Lytx’s MV+AI program reports a 60% reduction in risky behaviors and 50% reduction in collisions among participating fleets.

ℹ Exoneration video AI dash cams also protect carriers when drivers are wrongly blamed for incidents. Footage proving the driver wasn’t at fault prevents crash indicator violations from being added to your record — a major benefit beyond just coaching.

ELD Systems: HOS Automation

Samsara and Motive offer dispatch tools that display every driver’s remaining HOS hours in real-time, allowing dispatchers to reassign loads before a driver runs out of time. This proactive approach prevents HOS violations before they happen.

Fleet Maintenance Software: Defect Prevention

Vehicle Maintenance BASIC violations are almost entirely preventable with systematic maintenance tracking. Fleetio tracks every vehicle’s PM schedule, sends alerts when maintenance is due, and captures DVIR data to catch recurring issues before DOT inspectors do.

Frequently Asked Questions How long do CSA violations stay on your record? All CSA violations remain on record for 24 months from the inspection date. They’re weighted more heavily in the first 6 months. The only way to remove a legitimate violation before 24 months is a successful DataQ dispute. Can individual drivers see their own CSA data? Yes — drivers can access their PSP report at psp.fmcsa.dot.gov, which shows their 5-year crash history and 3-year inspection history. Carriers pull this data during pre-employment screening. What happens when you exceed intervention thresholds? FMCSA escalates through: Warning Letters → Targeted Roadside Inspections → Offsite Investigation → Onsite Investigation → Compliance Order. In severe cases, FMCSA can place your carrier Out of Service and suspend operating authority. Is a CSA score the same as a safety rating? No. A Safety Rating (Satisfactory, Conditional, Unsatisfactory) is assigned only after an official FMCSA audit. Most carriers are “Unrated.” CSA scores are the continuous data system used to decide which carriers to investigate — an investigation can then lead to a formal safety rating. How do CSA scores affect insurance premiums? Commercial trucking insurers use CSA data in underwriting. High scores in Unsafe Driving, HOS, or Crash Indicator correlate with higher claim risk — resulting in higher premiums or coverage denials. Some insurers require specific safety technology (dash cams, ELD integrations) as a coverage condition.

Related Fleet Safety Guides Fleet Safety Best Fleet Dash Cam Software: Full Rankings & Reviews Read guide → Review Lytx Review 2026: Video Telematics for Safety-Focused Fleets Read review → Review Netradyne Driveri Review: AI Cameras + GreenZone Scoring Read review →

How long do CSA violations stay on your record? All CSA violations remain on record for 24 months from the inspection date. They’re weighted more heavily in the first 6 months. The only way to remove a legitimate violation before 24 months is a successful DataQ dispute.

Can individual drivers see their own CSA data? Yes — drivers can access their PSP report at psp.fmcsa.dot.gov, which shows their 5-year crash history and 3-year inspection history. Carriers pull this data during pre-employment screening.

What happens when you exceed intervention thresholds? FMCSA escalates through: Warning Letters → Targeted Roadside Inspections → Offsite Investigation → Onsite Investigation → Compliance Order. In severe cases, FMCSA can place your carrier Out of Service and suspend operating authority.

Is a CSA score the same as a safety rating? No. A Safety Rating (Satisfactory, Conditional, Unsatisfactory) is assigned only after an official FMCSA audit. Most carriers are “Unrated.” CSA scores are the continuous data system used to decide which carriers to investigate — an investigation can then lead to a formal safety rating.

How do CSA scores affect insurance premiums? Commercial trucking insurers use CSA data in underwriting. High scores in Unsafe Driving, HOS, or Crash Indicator correlate with higher claim risk — resulting in higher premiums or coverage denials. Some insurers require specific safety technology (dash cams, ELD integrations) as a coverage condition.