The importance of safety in trucking can’t be overstated. Your life and the lives of others depend on your ability to drive safely from Point A to B. Safety records, like your SMS help measure adherence to important safety practices. These scores provide a snapshot into your safety record and can have a big impact on your insurance rates.
What does SMS stand for? Safety Measurement System.
What is it? An on-road safety and performance measurement system utilized by the FMCSA.
How often is it updated? Regularly
You are able to access a great deal of information about motor carriers and their violations for free using the SMS search option. You can find out not only how many violations are on a record, but also the specifics of these violations. SMS rates violations by severity. A parking violation might carry a weight of one while a more serious violation like a false log book will be more serious.
Any time a violation is reported it leaves a negative mark on your record that can be seen by brokers, employers, auditors, etc. Safer drivers are more appealing and a smaller risk and in turn will typically receive lower rates on insurance. Too many violations can result in penalties, fines and investigations.
Come back next week to talk about the BASIC categories and how to check your scores!!
