What does a carrier’s safety rating mean?

The four ratings, as defined

• Satisfactory. The carrier has adequate safety management controls in place and functioning to meet the safety fitness standard, and controls are adequate if they suit the size and type of the operation.
• Conditional. The carrier does not have adequate safety management controls in place to ensure compliance with the safety fitness standard, which could result in the occurrences the standard lists.
• Unsatisfactory. The carrier does not have adequate safety management controls in place, and that has resulted in those occurrences.
• Unrated. FMCSA has not assigned a safety rating to the carrier. It is not a negative finding, but it also tells you nothing about safety.

The safety fitness standard covers areas including commercial driver’s license rules, financial responsibility, driver qualification, vehicle use and condition, fatigued drivers, inspection and maintenance, accident registers and hazardous materials rules.

How a rating is assigned

FMCSA determines a rating after it investigates the carrier’s operation, applying the factors and methodology set out in its rules, and it generally issues the rating within 30 days after that investigation is complete. A rating therefore reflects the carrier at the time of the investigation, not necessarily today.

What an Unsatisfactory rating means for you

A carrier with an Unsatisfactory rating is generally prohibited from operating a commercial motor vehicle, and federal agencies must not use such a carrier. The prohibition starts on the 61st day after FMCSA’s notice of a proposed Unsatisfactory rating for most carriers, and FMCSA may allow up to 60 more days if the carrier is making a good-faith effort to improve. Do not book a carrier with a final Unsatisfactory rating.

What a rating does not tell you

Look at the date. The SAFER Snapshot shows the rating date and the type next to the rating, so you can see how old the finding is.

SAFER also notes that a federal rating does not necessarily reflect how safely the carrier operates in intrastate commerce.

Ratings and SMS data are different things. FMCSA’s SMS site says its prioritization symbol does not imply a federal safety rating, that a carrier without an Unsatisfactory rating is authorized to operate, and that readers should not draw conclusions about a carrier’s overall safety condition from the SMS data alone.

No rating, good or bad, tells you whether the person calling you works for that carrier.

How to use it when booking

1. Find the rating, its date and its type on the SAFER Snapshot.
2. Unsatisfactory: do not book.
3. Conditional: ask the carrier what the investigation found and what it changed, and decide under your own written policy. Record the answer.
4. Unrated: rely on your other checks: authority, insurance, out-of-service history and identity.
5. Satisfactory: still run every other check. An old Satisfactory rating describes the carrier as it was then.
6. Look at out-of-service orders and inspection results alongside the rating. What out of service means.

What to watch out for

• Treating Satisfactory as a guarantee about a particular driver, truck or load.
• Treating unrated as a red flag by itself. It only means no rating has been assigned.
• Confusing third-party scores with the federal rating. Only FMCSA assigns a federal safety rating.
• A rating on a record that does not match the company you are dealing with. Check the name and numbers first.