What this is. A carrier-specific safety scorecard built entirely from public FMCSA data — Safety Measurement System (SMS) BASIC scores, SAFER inspection records, and the 24-month crash record. Designed to surface trends, severity-weighted violation drivers, and risk exposure that mid-market safety teams rarely have time to assemble themselves.
What it is not. A pitch. Every number on this page links to a source you can verify in 5 minutes. The recommendations are vendor-neutral and executable this quarter without buying anything — we use them to focus the conversation, not to gate it.
key finding
BR Williams' Unsafe Driving measure rose from 2.13 to 2.30 in the last month — a single-month jump driven by high-severity speeding violations. Vehicle Maintenance climbed from 2.96 to 3.08 over the same period. Both measures trending in the wrong direction. Combined with a fatal crash on the 24-month record and no compliance review since 2010, the profile creates compounding risk: elevated measures attract FMCSA scrutiny AND drive insurance repricing simultaneously.
your csa scorecard
Five BASICs — current measure, MoM trend, risk level
Unsafe Driving
2.30
+8.0% MoM (from 2.13)
Elevated
Vehicle Maint.
3.08
+4.1% MoM (from 2.96)
Elevated
HOS Compliance
0.23
stable
Low
Driver Fitness
0.07
stable
Low
Controlled Subst.
0.00
clean
None
// Higher measure = worse. FMCSA uses these weighted violation scores to rank carriers against peers. Carriers above the 65th percentile in critical BASICs face investigation. Percentile rankings are not publicly displayed — measures are.
what's driving your scores
Unsafe Driving — 40 violations across 35 inspections
The violations cluster around a single behavior: speeding.
| Violation Category |
Count |
Severity (1-10) |
Impact |
| Speeding 15+ mph over limit | 3 | 10 (max) | Highest weight FMCSA assigns |
| Speeding 11-14 mph over | 6 | 7 | Second-tier, high cumulative weight |
| Speeding 6-10 mph over | 7 | 4 | Lower weight but high volume |
| Hand-held mobile phone | 1 | 10 (max) | Same severity as 15+ mph speeding |
| Failed to obey traffic device | 5 | 5 | Intersection / signal violations |
| Seatbelt non-use | 1 | 7 | Single instance, high severity |
16 of 40 unsafe driving violations (40%) are speeding. Nine of those are in the 11+ mph tier where severity weights run 7-10. Speeding is the single largest contributor to your Unsafe Driving measure. The one hand-held phone violation carries severity weight 10 — equal to speeding 15+ mph. Phone use is the fastest-escalating FMCSA enforcement priority.
Vehicle Maintenance — 58 violations across 46 inspections
| Category |
Violations |
Out-of-Service |
OOS Rate |
| Tire underinflation / leaks | 13 | 13 | 100% |
| Lighting defects | 16 | 6 | 38% |
| ABS / brake system | 10 | 2 | 20% |
| Missing inspection docs | 5 | 0 | 0% |
Every single tire violation resulted in an out-of-service order. Tires carry severity weight 8 out of 10. This one violation category — vehicles running on underinflated or leaking tires — is the largest single driver of your Vehicle Maintenance measure.
crash record · 24 months
5 reportable crashes
A fatal crash on the 24-month record amplifies every other risk factor. In Alabama — where a jury awarded $160 million in a trucking crash case in 2024 — the litigation environment makes every at-fault incident a potential catastrophic loss. Nationally, 135 trucking verdicts exceeded $10 million in 2024 totaling $31.3B, a 52% increase over 2023 (U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Institute for Legal Reform).
risk assessment
Three audiences pricing the same data
FMCSA Investigation
Elevated
Both critical BASIC measures worsening month-over-month. FMCSA triggers carrier investigations when percentiles cross the 65th threshold. BR Williams' last compliance review was in 2010 — 16 years ago. A carrier with worsening measures, a fatal crash, and no recent compliance review fits the profile FMCSA's data-driven enforcement system is designed to flag.
Insurance Repricing
High
Commercial auto liability premiums rose 9% in 2025, extending 14 consecutive years of underwriting losses for insurers. Carriers with elevated safety measures and crash history face steeper increases. Insurers now pull CSA data directly when pricing renewals — the same data in this scorecard is the data your underwriter is looking at.
Shipper Qualification
Moderate
Institutional shippers and freight brokers increasingly use CSA data to qualify carriers. Elevated Unsafe Driving and Vehicle Maintenance measures can disqualify a carrier from freight contracts, particularly with shippers maintaining strict safety thresholds.
three actions for this quarter
Vendor-neutral, executable without buying anything
01
Target speeding violations — start with the 11+ mph tier
Speeding accounts for 40% of your unsafe driving violations and carries the highest severity weights in the FMCSA system. Speed governors, real-time speed alerts, or in-cab coaching on speed-limit compliance would directly reduce the violations driving your Unsafe Driving measure. Focus on the 11+ mph tier first — those 9 violations carry severity weights of 7-10 and represent the majority of your score impact.
02
Fix the tire problem — 13 violations, 100% OOS rate
13 tire violations with a 100% out-of-service rate means pre-trip inspections are not catching underinflation and air leaks before vehicles leave the yard. Tire pressure monitoring systems or mandatory documented pre-trip tire checks can eliminate this entire violation category. Tires carry severity weight 8 — removing this cluster alone would meaningfully reduce your Vehicle Maintenance measure.
03
Monitor your own data monthly — before FMCSA does
Download your SMS data from the FMCSA DataHub after each monthly update. Track measure trends before FMCSA does. Your Unsafe Driving measure climbed 8% in one month — that kind of trajectory is exactly what triggers a compliance review, and catching it early gives you time to course-correct.