SafeStat

The DOT offers a free online service called SafeStat. It’s a rating system which tracks all u-s roadside inspections, vehicle collisions, moving violations, hours-of-service violations and fleet audits.

All of that information collected by the DOT produces one of three ratings, telling each DOT officer what he needs to do when he sees your truck entering the scale. The carrier you’re driving for could have a ‘pass’ rating, an ‘optional’ rating, or an ‘inspect’ rating.

Carriers with ‘pass’ ratings have a total score of less than forty-nine points, and their trucks are waved through at check points because of the carrier’s excellent safety performance, as tracked by the computer system.

A score of fifty to seventy-four, however, means the DOT officer can decide whether or not to take a look at your truck. If traffic is slow that day, your truck is likely to get the once-over.

And finally, if your carrier has a score of over seventy-five, get ready to stop at every scale for about an hour. Guaranteed. Your carrier’s safety performance means you get that nice DOT officer’s full attention.

So is this a lose-lose situation for you, the driver? Not if you do your homework! You can go on line and check out carriers before you ever sign with one. Safe-stat will show you what kind of company and drivers you’ll be working with, whether they speed a lot, cheat hours of service rules, or drive responsibly.

Check out the SafeStat site. Go to www.ai.volpe.dot.gov and enter your company name. The SafeStat site will give you…

Something to think about….