The 7 CSA BASICs: how FMCSA reads your risk
Every roadside inspection and reportable crash lands in one of seven categories that FMCSA uses to rank your company against carriers like you. Knowing what each one measures tells you where your risk actually sits.
Written by Rigo Diaz
The BASICs in numbers
The 7 CSA BASICs are the categories FMCSA's Safety Measurement System uses to rank a carrier's safety: Unsafe Driving, Crash Indicator, Hours-of-Service Compliance, Vehicle Maintenance, Controlled Substances/Alcohol, Hazardous Materials Compliance, and Driver Fitness. A high percentile in any of them can put you on FMCSA's intervention list.
Before I founded Simplex, I spent more than six years in risk management. One lesson carries straight over to trucking: whoever judges your risk only sees what has been recorded about you.
The BASICs are FMCSA's version of that record. They are built from your roadside inspections and crashes, they rank you against carriers like you, and they help decide who gets a warning letter or an investigation. Here is what each one measures and when it starts to matter.
The full briefing, read aloud
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Key takeaways
Seven categories, one ranking
The SMS sorts two years of inspection and crash data into seven BASICs and ranks you against carriers with a similar number of safety events. A higher percentile means worse performance.
Three BASICs carry the most weight
Unsafe Driving, Crash Indicator, and Hours-of-Service Compliance are most closely tied to crash risk, so FMCSA acts on them sooner: at the 65th percentile for most carriers.
Violations count without a ticket
A violation written on an inspection report goes into the SMS whether or not the officer issues a citation. It counts for 24 months and weighs the most in the first six.
Not every score is public
Property carriers' percentiles and alerts are hidden from the public, and the Crash Indicator and Hazardous Materials Compliance BASICs are never public. You log in to see your own.
A change is approved, not launched
In November 2024, FMCSA approved reorganizing the BASICs into “compliance categories.” As of September 2026, the seven BASICs are still in use.
In this articleContents
What are the 7 CSA BASICs?
The 7 CSA BASICs are the Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories in FMCSA's Safety Measurement System (SMS), the tool the agency uses to decide which carriers to prioritize for interventions under its Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program.
The SMS draws on roadside inspections and crash reports from the last two years, plus violations found in investigations. FMCSA updates it once a month, sorts the data into the seven BASICs, groups you with carriers that have a similar number of safety events, and gives you a percentile from 0 to 100 in each. The higher the percentile, the worse you compare. That makes a BASIC a ranking, not a pass or fail grade. It is also separate from your DOT safety rating of Satisfactory, Conditional, or Unsatisfactory.What does each CSA BASIC measure?
Each BASIC collects violations of a specific set of federal rules, except the Crash Indicator, which counts crashes themselves.
| BASIC | What counts against you | Rules behind it |
|---|---|---|
| Unsafe Driving | Speeding, reckless driving, improper lane changes, texting, hand-held phone use, no seat belt | 49 CFR Parts 392, 397 |
| Crash Indicator (not public) | State-reported crashes with a fatality, injury, or tow-away, whatever your driver's role | None: it counts crashes |
| Hours-of-Service Compliance | Driving over the limits, driving ill or fatigued, false or missing records of duty status | Parts 392, 395 |
| Vehicle Maintenance | Brake, lighting, and other defects, load securement, failing to make required repairs | Parts 392, 393, 396 |
| Controlled Substances/Alcohol | Use or possession of drugs or alcohol, alcohol containers in the cab, no testing program | Parts 382, 392 |
| Hazardous Materials Compliance (not public) | Marking, labeling, placarding, securing packages, leaks, cargo tank tests | Part 397; HMR Parts 171–173, 177–180 |
| Driver Fitness | No valid CDL or endorsement, medically unqualified drivers, incomplete driver files | Parts 383, 391 |
Where each BASIC is decided
- Unsafe Driving: in driver behavior. A seat belt violation carries a severity weight of 7 out of 10, and speeding 15 mph or more over the limit carries a 10. Our guide to unsafe driving violations and CSA scores goes deeper.
- Crash Indicator: on the road, and afterward. A crash that FMCSA's Crash Preventability Determination Program finds not preventable stays listed but leaves the calculation.
- Hours of Service: in the logs, including records that are false or missing.
- Vehicle Maintenance: in pre- and post-trip inspections, recording defects, and repairing them before the truck runs.
- Controlled Substances/Alcohol: in your testing program. Driving while “prohibited” in the FMCSA Clearinghouse is a violation here with the maximum weight of 10.
- Hazardous Materials: at loading, in how the load is packaged, marked, placarded, and secured.
- Driver Fitness: in hiring and in complete, current driver qualification files. It does not consider body mass index, weight, or neck size.
When does a BASIC trigger FMCSA action?
A BASIC triggers FMCSA action when your percentile reaches its intervention threshold, or when an investigation in the past 12 months found an acute or critical violation in it. Either one puts an alert on that BASIC and can prioritize you for a warning letter, a roadside inspection, or an investigation.
| BASICs | Most carriers | Hazmat / passenger |
|---|---|---|
| Unsafe Driving, Crash Indicator, HOS Compliance | 65% | 60% / 50% |
| Vehicle Maintenance, Controlled Substances/Alcohol, Driver Fitness | 80% | 75% / 65% |
| Hazardous Materials Compliance | 80% | 80% / 80% |
The lines are uneven on purpose. FMCSA's analysis found that Unsafe Driving, Crash Indicator, and HOS Compliance have the strongest association with crash risk, so it acts on them sooner. Hazmat and passenger carriers get lower thresholds because their crashes tend to have greater consequences.
The alerts track real risk. In FMCSA's 2014 effectiveness test, carriers with one or more BASICs prioritized had a 79% higher future crash rate than active carriers with none. Under the FAST Act, FMCSA must also make sure a review is conducted on carriers whose data puts them among the highest-risk carriers for four consecutive months.
A blank BASIC is not a clean one
A BASIC shows a percentile only once you have enough data. Unsafe Driving needs at least three inspections with an Unsafe Driving violation, the Crash Indicator at least two crashes, and Vehicle Maintenance and Driver Fitness at least five relevant inspections. A small fleet can have blank BASICs while its violations still sit on the record. If a BASIC is already near its line, our CSA program can help you find the violations behind it.How long does a violation count in your BASICs?
A violation counts in your BASICs for 24 months, and it weighs the most while it is recent. The SMS multiplies it by 3 in the first six months, by 2 from six to 12 months, and by 1 from 12 to 24 months. After that, it drops out.
Each violation also carries a severity weight from 1 to 10 within its BASIC, based on its link to crashes. It counts whether or not the officer writes a ticket. And in every BASIC, going 12 months without a violation, or without a crash in the Crash Indicator, can take you out of the ranking; the exact test varies by BASIC. If a violation is wrong, challenge it through FMCSA's DataQs system rather than waiting for it to age out. A citation later dismissed in court can be removed from the SMS the same way. Our guide to what happens after a DOT violation walks through the steps.Who can see your CSA BASICs scores?
If you haul property, only you and enforcement can see your BASIC percentiles and alerts. FMCSA removed them from public display under the FAST Act of 2015. Passenger carriers' percentiles and alerts remain public.
The Crash Indicator and Hazardous Materials Compliance BASICs are not public for anyone. But your inspection, investigation, crash, and registration data stay public, so anyone checking your company can still read the raw record. For how that record shows up when you buy coverage, see how CSA scores affect truck insurance. To see your complete results, log in to the SMS website. FMCSA's September 8, 2026 update uses data current as of August 28, and the next is scheduled for the week of October 5.Are the CSA BASICs changing?
Yes, but not yet. In a Federal Register notice on November 20, 2024, FMCSA approved an enhanced SMS that renames the BASICs “compliance categories” and reorganizes them. As of September 24, 2026, no launch date has been announced, and the SMS still uses the seven BASICs described here.
- Unsafe Driving absorbs Controlled Substances/Alcohol, plus all violations for operating while out of service.
- Vehicle Maintenance splits in two: Vehicle Maintenance, and a new Vehicle Maintenance: Driver Observed category.
- Clearinghouse violations move. Driving while prohibited in the Clearinghouse moves to Driver Fitness.
- Violations are grouped. More than 2,000 violation codes become about 100 violation groups, with simplified severity weights.
- Recent violations matter more. In five categories, you get a percentile only if you had a violation in the last 12 months.
The change moves the buckets, not the behavior. Speeding, logs, maintenance, testing, and driver files will still write your score.
How Simplex helps you keep your BASICs in check
Your BASICs are written at the roadside, but they are decided in your office: in hiring, logs, maintenance, and files. We help with each.
Help with a high CSA score
Our CSA program support helps you understand the violations behind your scores and work to improve them.
A program that keeps watching
Our compliance programs include CSA monitoring, HOS management, mock audits, and driver qualification file management.
Driver files that hold up
We help you build and maintain complete driver qualification files, the office side of the Driver Fitness BASIC.
Frequently asked questions
What are the 7 CSA BASICs?+
Is a higher BASIC percentile better or worse?+
What is the Driver Fitness BASIC?+
What must a driver carry to protect the Driver Fitness BASIC?+
What is the Unsafe Driving BASIC?+
Can the public see my CSA scores?+
Where this information comes from
The requirements below come from FMCSA's Safety Measurement System documents, the Federal Register, and federal regulations, checked on September 24, 2026.
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1
FMCSA — SMS Methodology, version 3.21
The seven BASICs, data sources, time and severity weights, data sufficiency, and intervention thresholds.
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2
FMCSA — SMS Appendix A violation list
Which violations fall in each BASIC and their severity weights (version 3.21, May 2026).
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3
FMCSA CSA — The Safety Measurement System
What each BASIC covers, the regulations behind it, and which BASICs are not public.
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4
FMCSA — SMS website
Where carriers log in to see complete results; current data date and update schedule.
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5
Federal Register — Enhanced Carrier Safety Measurement System (SMS)
The November 20, 2024 notice approving compliance categories; FAST Act public-display rules.
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6
FMCSA CSA — Prioritization Preview
Status of the enhanced SMS and its approved changes; the current SMS is still in use.
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7
eCFR — 49 CFR 391.41
When a driver must carry a medical examiner's certificate, and the CDL/CLP exception.
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8
eCFR — 49 CFR 383.23
The requirement to hold a valid CDL to operate a commercial motor vehicle.
Written by
Rigo Diaz
Founder & CEO, Simplex Group
Founder and CEO of Simplex Group, with more than 25 years leading the company and helping trucking entrepreneurs navigate compliance, insurance, and the day-to-day demands of running a carrier. Before founding Simplex, he spent more than six years in risk management, experience that continues to shape how he approaches insurance, compliance, and carrier risk today.
Published · Updated
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Your BASICs are a risk report you can read first
FMCSA reads your BASICs every month. You can read them too, and find the problem before a warning letter points it out.
If you want a second set of eyes on your SMS results, talk to our team.