How to Read an FMCSA Safety Rating Before Dispatch

There are only three official ratings

FMCSA assigns Satisfactory, Conditional, or Unsatisfactory after a compliance review. The lookup shows that rating and its date when the census has one.

• Satisfactory means the review met the safety fitness standard in effect at that time.
• Conditional means the review found the carrier did not fully meet the standard.
• Unsatisfactory means the review found the carrier unfit. Resolve it under your written policy before the load moves.

No rating is not a clean record

Many carriers have never had a compliance review, so the rating is blank. A blank is not the same as Satisfactory. Read inspections, out-of-service rates, and crashes anyway. An old Satisfactory rating, including one from many years ago, describes that review. It does not describe today's roadside performance.

Put out-of-service rates next to the rating

The lookup shows driver, vehicle, and hazmat inspection counts, how many of those inspections were out of service, and the out-of-service rate. When FMCSA publishes a national average, it is shown beside the carrier's rate, with the year FMCSA attached to that average. A rate above the average is a reason to look closer. It is not, by itself, a ban.

Read crash counts as counts

Total, fatal, injury, and towaway figures are reports in the census. They are not a score, and they do not assign fault. A large fleet will show more crashes than a one-truck carrier. Compare the count with fleet size and the inspection record. Do not invent a percentile the public record does not show.

Write down the decision

• Record the USDOT number, the rating, the rating date, and the time you checked.
• Note the inspection and crash figures you actually relied on.
• Escalate an Unsatisfactory rating, a fresh Conditional rating, or an out-of-service order.
• Recheck carriers you use often. A rating does not update itself.