Document ID: FMCSA-2013-0392-0001
Agency: fmcsa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Proposed Enhancements to the Motor Carrier Safety Measurement System Public Website
Posted Date: 2013-11-05T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 214 (Tuesday, November 5, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66420-66422]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-26543]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

[Docket No FMCSA-2013-0392]

Proposed Enhancements to the Motor Carrier Safety Measurement 
System (SMS) Public Web Site

AGENCY: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice; request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: FMCSA provides notice and seeks comments on proposed 
enhancements to the display of information on the Agency's Safety 
Measurement System (SMS) public Web site. FMCSA first announced the 
implementation of the SMS in April 2010 and announced further 
improvements to the SMS in March 2012 and August 2012. Consistent with 
its prior announcements, the Agency proposes changes to the design of 
the SMS public Web site that are the direct result of feedback from 
stakeholders regarding the information displayed. However, the Agency 
is not proposing changes to the SMS methodology at this time.
    On November 4, 2013, FMCSA began a preview of the proposed Web site 
enhancements at https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/SMSPreview/. Motor carriers 
are able to log in with their Portal account to view their own data in 
the redesigned format. The general public will be also able to access 
simulated motor carrier data to view the improved Web site design. 
During the preview period, FMCSA will hold several webinars to provide 
detailed information about the proposed SMS display changes.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before January 6, 2014. 
Educational webinars:
    1. Monday, November 18, 2013, 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. eastern time.
    2. Thursday, November 21, 2013, 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. eastern time.
    3. Friday, November 22, 2013, 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. eastern time.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Federal Docket 
Management System Number FMCSA-2013-0392 by any of the following 
methods:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
online instructions for submitting comments.
    Fax: 1-202-493-2251.
    Mail: Docket Management Facility, (M-30), U.S. Department of 
Transportation (DOT), 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building, Ground 
Floor, Room 12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    Hand Delivery: Same as mail address above, between 9 a.m. and 5 
p.m., e.t, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The 
telephone number is 202-366-9329.
    You may submit your comments and material online or by fax, mail, 
or hand delivery, but please use only one of these means.
    FMCSA recommends that you include your name and a mailing address, 
an email address, or a phone number in the body of your document so 
that FMCSA can contact you if there are questions regarding your 
submission.
    To submit your comment online, go to http://www.regulations.gov and 
in the

[[Page 66421]]

search box insert the docket number ``FMCSA-2013-0392'' and click the 
search button. When the new screen appears, click on the blue ``Comment 
Now!'' button on the right hand side of the page. On the new page, 
enter information required including the specific section of this 
document to which each comment applies, and provide a reason for each 
suggestion or recommendation. If you submit your comments by mail or 
hand delivery, submit them in an unbound format, no larger than 
8[frac12] by 11 inches, suitable for copying and electronic filing. If 
you submit comments by mail and would like to know that they reached 
the facility, please enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard or 
envelope.
    We will consider all comments and material received during the 
comment period and may change the proposed enhancements based on your 
comments. FMCSA may issue final enhancements at any time after the 
close of the comment period.

Viewing Comments and Documents

    To view comments, as well as any documents mentioned in this 
preamble, To submit your comment online, go to http://www.regulations.gov and in the search box insert the docket number 
``FMCSA-2013-0392'' and click ``Search.'' Next, click ``Open Docket 
Folder'' and you will find all documents and comments related to the 
proposed rulemaking.
    Note that all comments received, including any personal information 
provided, will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov. 
Please see the ``Privacy Act'' heading below.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or 
comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov at any time or to 
Room W12-140 on the ground floor of the DOT Headquarters Building at 
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590, between 9 a.m. and 5 
p.m., e.t., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
    Privacy Act: Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all 
comments received into any of our dockets by the name of the individual 
submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted on behalf 
of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may review DOT's 
Privacy Act System of Records Notice for the DOT Federal Docket 
Management System published in the Federal Register on January 17, 2008 
[73 FR 3316].
    Public Participation: The http://www.regulations.gov Web site is 
generally available 24 hours each day, 365 days each year. You can get 
electronic submission and retrieval help and guidelines under the 
``help'' section of the http://www.regulations.gov Web site. Comments 
received after the comment closing date will be included in the docket, 
and will be considered to the extent practicable.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Courtney Stevenson, Federal Motor 
Carrier Safety Administration, Compliance Division, 1200 New Jersey 
Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590, Telephone 202-366-5241, E-Mail: 
courtney.stevenson@dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

The SMS

    On April 9, 2010, FMCSA announced the implementation of the SMS in 
the Federal Register (75 FR 18256) (Docket No. FMCSA-2004-18898). The 
Agency announced it would use the SMS to identify high-risk motor 
carriers for on-site investigations consistent with Section 4138 of the 
Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient, Transportation Equity Act: A 
Legacy for Users, Public Law 109-59, 119 Stat. 1144, 1745 (Aug. 10, 
2005) (set out as a note to 49 U.S.C. 31144). The SMS has been 
operational since December 2010. The SMS is also used to identify and 
prioritize motor carriers for other interventions, including automated 
warning letters, and serves as a principal factor in roadside 
inspection selection software designed to recommend motor carriers with 
known performance and compliance problems for inspections. 
Effectiveness testing of the SMS has shown that motor carriers that are 
categorized as high-risk by the SMS have future crash rates more than 
double that of all active motor carriers.
    Just as the Motor Carrier Safety Status Measurement System 
(SafeStat) previously provided the public with access to SafeStat data 
online, the SMS provides the motor carrier industry and other safety 
stakeholders with more comprehensive, informative and regularly updated 
safety performance data. As FMCSA explained in its April 9, 2010 
Federal Register notice, the SMS provides motor carriers and other 
safety stakeholders with regularly updated safety performance 
assessments through the public Web site at http://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/SMS.
    From the start of CSA, FMCSA expected to modify SMS as new data and 
additional analyses became available. As stated in its March 27, 2012 
Federal Register notice (77 FR 18298) (Docket No. FMCSA-2012-0074), 
FMCSA plans to apply a systematic approach to making improvements to 
SMS, prioritizing and releasing packages of improvements as needed. 
Last year, FMCSA made 11 improvements to SMS to better identify high-
risk and non-compliant motor carriers for interventions. Those SMS 
enhancements were implemented in December 2012 and included a new 
Hazardous Materials (HM) Compliance Behavior Analysis and Safety 
Improvement Category (BASIC). A complete description of those 
enhancements, including the rationale behind them, was published in the 
Federal Register on August 28, 2012 (77 FR 52110) (Docket No. FMCSA-
2004-18898). The enhancements are also outlined in the SMS Changes 
Foundational Document on the Agency's Web site at http://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/Documents/SMS_FoundationalDoc_Final.pdf. The 
current proposed enhancements to the display of information on the SMS 
are an extension of the Agency's effort to provide more comprehensive, 
informative, and regularly updated safety and compliance performance 
data through a systematic approach, as announced in the April 9, 2010 
and March 27, 2012 Federal Register notices.
    The August 28, 2012, Federal Register notice announced that the 
Agency would study and refine the HM Compliance BASIC before making it 
a publicly available BASIC in December 2013. The Agency continues to 
examine the HM Compliance BASIC but does not plan to make it publicly 
available with these proposed enhancements to the SMS public Web site. 
The current effort is focused primarily on the display of the data that 
is currently available in the SMS.

Enhancing the Public Display of SMS Information

    In Fiscal Year 2012, the SMS public Web site hosted nearly 48 
million user sessions, up from over 30 million user sessions in Fiscal 
Year 2011 and 4 million user sessions under the prior public SafeStat 
system in 2010. Many more users now access the SMS; this presents FMCSA 
with opportunities to ensure that the users understand the information 
provided.
    FMCSA received feedback on SMS's public display from a variety of 
stakeholders including the Agency's Motor Carrier Safety Advisory 
Committee (MCSAC). The MCSAC was asked to appoint a subcommittee to 
help identify ways in which FMCSA could leverage the SMS Web site to 
best promote safety; suggestions as to how FMCSA could more clearly 
convey the intent of the SMS as FMCSA's workload prioritization tool; 
aspects that work

[[Page 66422]]

well with respect to the current SMS Web site's design and operation; 
and what changes would make the information on the SMS more easily 
understood and accessible to a variety of safety stakeholders.

List of Proposed Enhancements to the SMS Display

    The proposed Web site enhancements seek to accomplish three key 
objectives:
    1. Provide easier, more intuitive navigation and user-friendly 
features and descriptions to clarify the SMS's role as FMCSA's 
prioritization tool for interventions;
    2. Consolidate FMCSA safety information so users do not have to go 
to multiple sites; and
    3. Provide improved access to detailed information and new 
performance monitoring tools.
    The proposed Web site enhancements are summarized below:
     Displaying a summary BASIC status to better clarify if a 
motor carrier's performance in the individual BASICs causes it to be 
prioritized for an intervention. Detailed data such as the motor 
carrier's percentile ranking in each BASIC has been moved to the 
individual drill down pages for each BASIC.
     A new ``Take a Tour'' feature to highlight enhancements to 
the SMS display and show visitors how to locate and use the site.
     Allowing the Web site user to download the data for all of 
the carriers in the same safety event group used to rank a carrier's 
BASIC percentile. The SMS determines a BASIC percentile for each motor 
carrier within a BASIC based on how the individual carrier's BASIC 
measure ranks relative to other carriers with a similar number of 
safety events (i.e., inspections, violations, or crashes).
     Highlighting a motor carrier's individual performance 
measure in each BASIC to more clearly identify its performance trends 
over time. The measure is based on the results of the carrier's 
roadside inspections or crashes, and is not relative to other carriers 
in its safety event group.
     Reordering the display of the BASICs based on their 
association to crash rates, with the BASICs with the strongest 
associations at the left.
     Displaying any motor carrier safety rating from a 
compliance review issued in accordance with 49 CFR part 385. 
Previously, users had to go to FMCSA's Safety and Fitness Electronic 
Records System (SAFER) Web site.
     Displaying current insurance and authority status. 
Previously, users had to access FMCSA's Licensing and Insurance Online 
Web site.
     Providing a motor carrier's enforcement case history, 
including the date the case was closed, the applicable violations, and 
the associated fines.
     Enhancing the display of safety performance over time 
through a variety of displays and graphs users can customize.
     Displaying the total number of inspections as well as a 
breakdown of the number of inspections with violations used in the SMS 
in each carrier's detail.
     Clarifying terminology in the SMS, such as the definitions 
of the terms ``0%'' and ``<3 inspections with violations,'' in a new 
glossary called ``SMS Display Key Terms.''
    On November 4, 2013, FMCSA began a preview of the proposed Web site 
enhancements at https://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/SMSPreview/. Motor carriers 
are able to log in with their Portal account or PINs to view their own 
data in the proposed re-designed format. The general public will be 
able to access simulated carrier data in order to view the proposed 
enhancements. During the preview period, FMCSA will hold several public 
webinars to provide stakeholders with detailed information about the 
SMS display.
    The Agency is not proposing changes to the SMS methodology at this 
time.

Public Webinars

    FMCSA plans to host several educational webinars for the public 
addressing the proposed enhancements to the SMS public Web site. These 
webinars will take place in November 2013. The scheduled dates and 
times are below.
    1. Monday, November 18, 2013, 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. eastern time.
    2. Thursday, November 21, 2013, 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. eastern time.
    3. Friday, November 22, 2013, 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. eastern time.

All the webinars will have closed captioning available, and all 
stakeholders are encouraged to participate. Interested parties can 
register for the webinars through the FMCSA's National Training Center 
at https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/ntc/webinarinfo/CSA_Improvements_Webinar-FMCSA.pdf.

Request for Comments

    FMCSA requests comments on the above improvements to the SMS public 
Web site. Commenters are requested to provide supporting data wherever 
appropriate.

    Issued On: October 31, 2013.
Anne S. Ferro,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2013-26543 Filed 11-1-13; 11:15 am]
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