The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has changed the process for calculating and publicizing the driver, vehicle, and hazardous materials out-of-service (OOS) rates and crash rates.
The current method for determining the qualifying crash and OOS rates under this rule, in effect since the inception of the Hazardous Materials Safety Permit (HMSP) program, utilizes two years of inspection data from FMCSA's Motor Carrier Management Information System (MCMIS) to calculate the OOS rates representing the top or worst-performing 30% of the national average. FMCSA has been recalculating the threshold crash and OOS rates every two years, using MCMIS data from the preceding two years.
As stated in 49 CFR 385.407, in order for FMCSA to issue a hazardous materials safety permit, a motor carrier must not have a crash rate, or driver, vehicle, or hazardous materials Out-of-Service (OOS) rate that falls in the top 30 percentile of the national average.
Effective June 27, FMCSA began using a new methodology to calculate the threshold crash rate and driver, vehicle, and HM OOS rates that qualify or disqualify a carrier for HMSP issuance. The revised methodology uses eight years of data from MCMIS (data from 2003 to 2010) to determine the national average for eligible crash and OOS thresholds that qualify for an HMSP. These rates will remain static rather than change every two years.
FMCSA decided that crash and OOS rates, which remain static over a longer period of time, will improve safety by providing a clearly identifiable standard for industry compliance and minimize the burden on motor carriers and the HM industry by allowing more appropriate measures that ensure eligibility for the HMSP. The calculations of crash and OOS rates in this notice of amendment will be implemented immediately and posted to FMCSA's Web site. These new static rates will remain in effect until further notice.