The Safety Measurement System (SMS) is a program of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) that helps to ensure drivers practice safe behavior behind the wheel of a commercial vehicle. It affects all motor carriers that transport loads over 10,000 pounds, drive interstate, and/or haul hazardous materials. Administrators of the SMS program review all data from roadside inspections conducted for safety purposes along with crashes reported at the state level for the previous 24 months. You might wonder what exactly is part of the Summary of Activities.
What is the Summary of Activities?
As part of its reporting and review, the SMS includes a Summary of Activities that includes crash reports and roadside assistance data used to calculate motor carrier results. You will notice sections titled Total Inspections and Total Crashes when looking at your own Summary of Activities.
The Total Inspections column refers to all inspections conducted for the driver at Level I through Level VI. As part of the calculation process, the SMS breaks down inspection information into those that did and did not receive a violation. For the Total Crashes section, the SMS considers all crash data reported to the FMCSA. A reportable crash is one that included an injury or fatality to any person involved in the crash. The SMS also considers it a reportable crash when one or more vehicles required towing from the crash site regardless of injury or fatality status.
How to locate additional information on the Summary of Activities Page
To view more in-depth information in either the Total Inspections or Total Crashes sections, you should select the tab titled Continue for More Crash, Inspection, and Investigation details. This will provide additional details about crashes, inspections, and investigations in the past 24 months. It also includes details for the five most recent investigations and the location they occurred. Data regarding inspections also includes the type such as driver, hazardous materials, or vehicle along with the percentile rank for out of service orders.
Further reporting on types of inspections
The Driver Inspection section includes everything in Level I, Level II, Level III, and Level VI. The SMS calculates the driver out of service rate by reviewing the number of inspections per driver that included at least one violation resulting in an out of service order. The SMS divides this by the number of driver inspections. The Vehicle Inspection section includes Level 1, Level II, Level V, and Level VI and pertains to the vehicle and not the person driving it.
The Placardable Hazardous Materials section includes information from vehicle inspections when the driver is transporting enough hazardous materials to require a placard warning for others. From that point, the SMS uses the same method as Driver Inspection and Vehicle Inspection to calculate a driver’s safety rating. Finally, the SMS sorts data in the Total Crashes section depending on whether the crash involved a towaway, injury, or fatality.
Financial responsibility is part of safe driving
You take great pride in maintaining an excellent safety record, but don’t forget that you must meet minimum levels of financial responsibility as well. Our team of truck insurance agents can help you get the coverage you need to protect your business. You can reach out to us on LiveChat to get started with some insurance quotes, or you can fill out our online form. If you want to call, that’s fine, too!
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