Public comment is being sought on a new Carrier Safety Measurement System, an algorithm being developed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to better identify high-risk motor carriers that will replace the SafeStat system.

Published in the Federal Register today, FMCSA will provide motor carriers with online previews of their individual performance data from April 12 through Nov. 30 of this year. Public comments are due by Sept. 30.

The CSMS is tied to FMCSA's CSA 2010 initiative that seeks to improve compliance and performance programs and, as a result, reduce commercial bus and truck crashes. The notice published today addresses the first of three principle components of CSA 2010, that being a more comprehensive motor carrier safety measurement system.

FMCSA also seeks to implement broader progressive interventions added to compliance reviews such as warning letters and on-site and off-site investigations. A third element of CSA 2010 is a new safety fitness determination, or SFD, methodology based on performance data not necessarily tied to an on-site investigation. SFDs will be addressed in a separate Notice of Proposed Rulemaking expected to be published later this year.