If you have ever had a freight broker turn you down without explanation, your CSA score may be the reason. Most brokers check your safety rating before giving you a load — and many will not work with carriers whose scores are too high. Here is everything you need to know about CSA scores, explained in plain English.
What does CSA stand for?
CSA stands for Compliance, Safety, Accountability — the FMCSA's safety compliance and enforcement program. Launched in 2010, CSA replaced the older SafeStat system and is now the primary way the federal government and freight brokers evaluate a carrier's safety record. The FMCSA uses CSA data to identify carriers with poor safety performance, prioritize them for roadside inspections, and in serious cases, shut down operations entirely.
How is your CSA score calculated?
Your CSA score is built from data collected during roadside inspections, weigh station stops, traffic violations, and crash reports. Every violation and deficiency gets assigned a severity weight and adds points to your record. These points are organized into 7 categories called BASICs — Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories:
| BASIC Category | What It Measures | Examples of Violations |
|---|---|---|
| Unsafe Driving | How you operate your vehicle | Speeding, reckless driving, improper lane changes |
| Hours of Service Compliance | Compliance with driving time limits | Log falsification, exceeding drive time, no ELD |
| Driver Fitness | Whether drivers are qualified to operate | Invalid CDL, expired medical certificate |
| Controlled Substances and Alcohol | Drug and alcohol violations | Positive drug test, alcohol violations |
| Vehicle Maintenance | Condition of your truck and trailer | Bad brakes, lights out, tire defects |
| Hazardous Materials Compliance | Safe handling of hazmat freight | Improper placarding, packaging violations |
| Crash Indicator | History of crashes involving your vehicles | DOT-recordable crashes |
Each BASIC has its own score and percentile ranking. You are compared against other carriers of similar size. The higher your percentile, the worse your relative performance — and the more attention you attract from FMCSA investigators and freight brokers.
Why do freight brokers check your CSA score?
Freight brokers are legally and financially responsible for the carriers they hire. If a broker puts cargo on a truck with a poor safety record and something goes wrong, the broker can be held liable. For this reason, most brokers have internal policies about CSA scores:
- Refusing carriers with Unsafe Driving scores above the 65th percentile
- Refusing carriers with Vehicle Maintenance scores above the 75th percentile
- Refusing carriers with any Controlled Substances violations
- Refusing carriers with multiple crashes in the Crash Indicator category
A clean CSA record, especially combined with a professional carrier packet, tells brokers they are working with a serious, reliable carrier — which means more loads, better rates, and faster approvals.
What is a good vs bad CSA score?
Lower percentile is better. A score of 0 means no violations in that category:
| Percentile Range | What It Means | Broker Impact |
|---|---|---|
| 0 — 49th | Good — below average violations | No issues with most brokers |
| 50th — 64th | Acceptable — some violations | Most brokers will still work with you |
| 65th — 79th | Concerning — above average violations | Some brokers may flag or decline |
| 80th — 100th | High risk — FMCSA intervention threshold | Many brokers will refuse; FMCSA may investigate |
How to check your CSA score for free
- Go to ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/SMS — the official FMCSA Safety Measurement System website
- Enter your USDOT number in the search box and click Search
- Click on your company name in the results
- Review your BASIC scores — any category shown in orange or red requires immediate attention
- Click on any BASIC category to see the specific violations contributing to that score
How to improve your CSA score
- Fix violations immediately — do not drive with known defects
- Pre-trip inspections every single day — most Vehicle Maintenance violations are preventable with thorough pre-trips
- Contest incorrect data via DataQ at dataqs.fmcsa.dot.gov — successfully contested violations are removed from your CSA calculation
- Maintain strict HOS compliance — use your ELD correctly and never falsify logs
- Wait it out — CSA violations automatically age off your record after 24 months
CSA scores and your carrier packet — how they work together
When a freight broker receives your carrier packet, one of the first things they do is pull up your FMCSA safety record. Your CSA scores and your carrier packet are reviewed side by side. A professional, complete, well-organized carrier packet tells a broker you run a serious operation. Combined with a clean or non-existent CSA record, it gives brokers every reason to approve you and start moving freight.
New to trucking? Your CSA score starts completely clean the moment you get your MC authority. Take advantage of that clean slate. Pair it with a professional carrier packet and you walk into every broker conversation with full credibility. TruckerPacket generates your complete carrier packet in under 10 minutes for $14.99 — one-time payment, no subscription, instant PDF delivery by email.