When it comes to keeping roads safe, especially from the risks posed by commercial vehicles, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) plays a big role. One of their key tools is the Inspection Selection System (ISS), which helps inspectors decide which trucks and buses to check for safety issues. Leveraging much of the same data used to calculate a carrier's CSA score, the ISS score is a condensed score that lets enforcement officials know if a carrier has a good reputation and can bypass inspections or if they need to be stopped. But what exactly is an ISS score, and how does it work? Let’s dive in.
The ISS score is like a report card for trucking and bus companies. It’s a number between 1 and 100 that tells inspectors how likely a company is to have safety issues. The higher the score, the more likely a company will be inspected. Here’s a breakdown of what the scores mean:
This system helps inspectors focus their efforts on companies that need the most attention, making roads safer for everyone.
Using ISS scores helps enforcement to reduce congestion at inspection sites. This allows safe carriers to deliver their loads uninterrupted while making sure that "at risk" carriers are doing their part to keep safe and compliant.
The ISS score is heavily influenced by a carrier's performance in seven key areas in the Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs).
These are monitored under the FMCSA’s Safety Measurement System (SMS) and evaluated over a 24-month period. Each BASIC is assessed with a percentile score from 0 to 100, where 100 indicates the worst performance. These BASICs include:
If a carrier has been issued an Out-of-Service Order (OOS), their ISS score is automatically set to 100, placing them in the highest inspection priority. These orders indicate severe safety issues that require immediate corrective action.
Certain violations, such as operating without insurance or failing to implement an alcohol and drug testing program, are flagged as Serious Violations. If a carrier has a Serious Violation, it can result in an automatic adjustment of their ISS score:
The ISS score incorporates crash data reported by states. A carrier with a history of crashes—especially those involving injuries, fatalities, or significant property damage—receives higher scores. This data is combined with other safety metrics to assess overall risk.
The calculation considers whether a carrier has enough safety data to evaluate. Two algorithms are used:
Violation history plays a central role in calculating the ISS score. For example:
For carriers with insufficient inspection history, size information (number of vehicles or drivers) is used to assess risk:
The final ISS score assigns carriers into tiers based on their calculated risk:
ISS scores are used by DOT at roadside and at designated inspection stations and are collected in 2 ways:
Officials access the ISS score through FMCSA's systems, which include:
These systems present the ISS score along with other details about the carrier’s safety performance, violations, and history.
When an enforcement officer stops a commercial vehicle, they can use:
With the introduction of the Level VIII (Electronic) inspection. FMCSA will be able to use data from ELD providers to remotely report necessary information to inspection stations while trucks are in motion. This will provide drivers a pass/fail status without having to stop trucks and create congestion.
The ISS score makes enforcement more efficient and effective. Instead of random inspections, inspectors use data to focus on companies that are most likely to pose a risk. This approach benefits everyone: