ASECTT Update

Dear ASECTT Member:

ASECTT has joined ATA and others in calling for Administrator Ferro to voluntarily remove publication of SMS Methodology from the web. See Tom Sanderson's letter.

The Inspector General report on SMS Methodology was issued on March 7, 2014. See Fleet Owner Article "DOT IG faults CSA data quality, interventions" by Avery Vice, and the CCJ Article "DOT Inspector General audit points out more shortcomings in CSA" by Kevin Jones. The IG did not consider the effectiveness of the SMS Methodology, but noted that only 10 states had fully implemented SMS interventions and that needed software would not be available until May of 2015. See document on the IG Report.

NEWS BRIEF: University of Maryland Study Sites Statistical Issues with FMCSA’s SMS BASIC Scores, Concluding Scores are Not Valid Predictors of Crash Frequency

 NEWS BRIEF

University of Maryland Study Sites Statistical Issues with FMCSA’s SMS BASIC Scores, Concluding Scores are Not Valid Predictors of Crash Frequency

Alliance for Safe, Efficient, and Competitive Truck Transportation Sponsors Study of FMCSA Data; Findings Prove Published SMS BASIC Scores Lack Correlation to Crashes and Suffer from Numerous Statistical Flaws

The Alliance for Safe, Efficient, and Competitive Truck Transportation (ASECTT) commissioned a study by a Dr. James Gimpel professor at the University of Maryland with a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Dr. Gimpel served as the editor of American Politics Research from 2003 to 2011 and is the author of numerous books and peer-reviewed articles. Dr. Gimpel performed a detailed study of the statistical soundness of the SMS methodology and the correlation between individual carrier percentile rankings and crash frequency based upon data obtained from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.