How your CSA scores shape your truck insurance premium
Before you ever ask for a quote, an underwriter can already see a lot about how you run your trucks. Here is what your safety data says about you, who can see it, and what you can fix before your next renewal.
Written by Rigo Diaz
CSA at a glance
Your CSA scores, roadside inspection history, crash record, and increasingly your ELD and telematics data all feed into how commercial truck insurance is priced.
Insurers do not publish their formulas, and every underwriter weighs these signals differently. But a clean, well-documented safety record is one of the few premium factors you can actually control, and it is built one roadside inspection at a time.
I spent more than six years in risk management before I founded Simplex, and I have spent the 25 years since helping carriers through compliance and insurance. The pattern I keep coming back to is simple: underwriters price what they can see. Below is what they can see about your operation today, and how to make sure it tells the right story.
Key takeaways
CSA is built from your roadside record
FMCSA's Safety Measurement System (SMS) uses roadside inspection and crash data from the last two years, plus investigation results, and refreshes it once a month.
Higher percentiles mean worse performance
SMS ranks you against carriers with a similar number of safety events in seven categories, and FMCSA states plainly that higher percentiles indicate worse performance.
Three categories track crash risk most closely
FMCSA's own analysis ties the Unsafe Driving, Crash Indicator, and Hours-of-Service Compliance BASICs most strongly to crash risk, which is exactly what an underwriter is pricing.
Some of your data is private, a lot of it is not
The Crash Indicator and Hazardous Materials Compliance BASICs are visible only to you and enforcement, but your out-of-service rates and crash summary sit on a free public Company Snapshot.
Violations count without a ticket
A violation written on a roadside inspection report goes into SMS whether or not the officer also issues a citation.
Wrong data can be challenged
FMCSA's DataQs system lets you request a review of federal and state data you believe is incomplete or incorrect.
In this articleContents
What are CSA scores?
CSA scores are the percentile rankings that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) assigns your company in seven safety categories through its Safety Measurement System (SMS). CSA stands for Compliance, Safety, Accountability, FMCSA's data-driven safety compliance and enforcement program.
SMS draws on roadside inspections and crash reports from the last two years, along with data from investigations. FMCSA updates it once a month, groups your company with carriers that have a similar number of safety events, and ranks you within each category. Higher percentiles indicate worse performance, and FMCSA uses those rankings to decide which carriers to prioritize for interventions such as warning letters and investigations.
The seven BASICs
The seven categories are called Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories, or BASICs.
| BASIC | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Unsafe Driving | Speeding, texting, hand-held phone use, reckless driving, improper lane changes, and inattention |
| Crash Indicator | Your crash history Not public |
| Hours-of-Service Compliance | The rules that keep drivers alert, awake, and able to respond quickly |
| Vehicle Maintenance | Pre- and post-trip inspections, vehicle defects, and repairs |
| Controlled Substances/Alcohol | Misuse of alcohol, illegal drugs, and medications that impair driving |
| Hazardous Materials Compliance | Packaging, marking, placarding, and loading hazardous materials Not public |
| Driver Fitness | Driver qualification files: CDLs, medical certificates, driving records, and annual reviews |
Does a violation count if you were not ticketed?
Yes. FMCSA is explicit that violations recorded on a roadside inspection report are used in SMS whether or not the officer also issues a citation or only a verbal warning. The reverse also holds: SMS does not use state-issued citations unless they come with a roadside inspection report. For a closer look at the violations that weigh most, see our guide to unsafe driving violations and CSA scores.
What do underwriters look at when they quote a trucking company?
Underwriters price a trucking policy on two questions: how likely you are to have a claim, and how expensive that claim could be. Your safety data is one of the clearest answers they have to the first question.
Every insurer weighs things differently, but most underwriters look at some combination of these:
- How long you have been in business, and how long your operating authority has been active
- Your drivers' experience and their motor vehicle records (MVRs)
- Your loss runs, meaning your claims history with prior insurers
- Your roadside inspection, out-of-service, and crash history
- What you haul, how far you run, and the equipment you run it in
Can an insurer see your CSA scores?
Not all of them. FMCSA states that the Crash Indicator and Hazardous Materials Compliance BASICs are not public, and that complete SMS results are available only to enforcement and to carriers logged into their own safety profile.
The underlying record is another matter. Anyone can pull your Company Snapshot on FMCSA's SAFER system for free. It shows your safety rating if you have one, your roadside out-of-service inspection summary, and your crash information, and it is often the first thing an underwriter checks.
How does your safety record affect your truck insurance premium?
A weaker safety record can cost you in a few ways: a higher premium, a higher deductible, fewer insurers willing to quote you, or a nonrenewal at the end of your term. When enough of those signals stack up, carriers can end up shopping in the high-risk commercial truck insurance market, where options are narrower.
FMCSA's own analysis tells you where to focus. Its SMS methodology names Unsafe Driving, Crash Indicator, and Hours-of-Service Compliance as the three BASICs with the strongest associations to crash risk, and crash risk is the thing an underwriter is pricing. For the other factors that set your price, see how much commercial truck insurance costs.
Your out-of-service rate is a number anyone can compare
Your SAFER Company Snapshot lists your out-of-service rates next to the national averages, calculated on the most recent 24 months of inspections.
| Inspection type | National out-of-service average |
|---|---|
| Vehicle | 22.26% |
| Driver | 6.67% |
| Hazmat | 4.44% |
If your rate sits well above those averages, assume the underwriter has noticed. If it sits well below, that is worth pointing out at renewal.
How ELD and telematics data are changing truck insurance
This is the part of the business I find most interesting. For most of my career, an underwriter's picture of a carrier came from paperwork and roadside reports, which are snapshots taken after the fact. The data coming off today's trucks is continuous.
Your electronic logging device (ELD) already records your drivers' hours of service. Telematics systems and cameras can add speed, hard braking, and following distance. That means safe driving can increasingly be shown directly, rather than inferred from the absence of violations. It is worth asking your agent whether any insurer on your account offers a program that uses ELD or telematics data.
That data cuts both ways. The same records that show a disciplined operation will also show the hard-braking events and the speeding. Before you share it, ask what data is collected, how long it is kept, and how it will be used at renewal. If your fleet is still choosing a device, start with our guide to ELD trucking.
How to improve your CSA scores before your next renewal
None of this is complicated, but it rewards carriers who treat their safety data as a daily habit rather than a renewal-season scramble.
Step 1: Pull your own safety data
Log in to the SMS website to see your complete results, which the public cannot see. Then pull your free Company Snapshot on SAFER so you see exactly what an underwriter sees, and compare your out-of-service rates with the national averages above.
Step 2: Challenge data that is wrong
Request a review through FMCSA's DataQs system for any inspection, violation, or crash you believe is incomplete or incorrect. Revised requirements for state data reviews took effect on September 18, 2026, so read the current guidance on DataQs before you file.
Step 3: Fix the defects before an inspector finds them
The Vehicle Maintenance BASIC covers pre- and post-trip inspections, vehicle defects, and repairs. A disciplined inspection routine catches problems in your yard instead of at the roadside, and knowing the different levels of DOT inspection helps your drivers prepare for what an officer will check.
Step 4: Keep hours of service clean
Hours-of-Service Compliance is one of the three BASICs FMCSA ties most closely to crash risk. Review your ELD records every week rather than waiting for a roadside violation to surface a problem.
Step 5: Keep driver qualification files complete
The Driver Fitness BASIC depends on complete, current driver qualification files: CDLs, medical certificates, state driving records, and annual reviews. Make sure your FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse requirements are current for every driver as well.
Step 6: Bring your record to the renewal conversation
Do not wait for an underwriter to find your improvements. Share corrected DataQs outcomes, your maintenance program, and the trend in your out-of-service rates with your agent before quoting starts.
How Simplex helps you show underwriters a cleaner record
The work that improves your safety data and the work that places your insurance usually happen in different offices. We do both under one roof.
Compliance that shows up in your BASICs
Our DOT safety compliance team works on the records behind your scores: driver qualification files, substance abuse testing, ELD and hours of service, and audit support.
CSA monitoring, not just a yearly check
Our compliance programs include driver qualification file management, CSA monitoring, mock audits, and HOS management, so problems surface before renewal.
Insurance placed by the same team
As a broker, we quote and place commercial truck insurance, from liability to cargo and physical damage, and a licensed agent can talk through how your record is likely to be read.
Frequently asked questions
Do CSA scores affect truck insurance rates?+
Can insurance companies see my CSA scores?+
How long do violations stay in my CSA scores?+
How often are CSA scores updated?+
Does a violation count if I was not ticketed?+
Can I get an incorrect violation removed?+
Where this information comes from
CSA rules and data are set by FMCSA, not by us. The figures in this article come from the official sources below. Underwriting practices vary by insurer, so confirm how your own record is being read with your agent.
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1
FMCSA — Safety Measurement System
The seven BASICs, the two-year data window, monthly updates, which BASICs are not public, and how roadside violations are counted.
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2
FMCSA — SMS Methodology (PDF)
How percentiles are calculated, and which BASICs FMCSA associates most strongly with crash risk.
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3
FMCSA SAFER — Company Snapshot
The free public record of a carrier's out-of-service and crash summary, with national out-of-service averages.
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4
FMCSA — DataQs
How to request a review of federal and state data you believe is incomplete or incorrect.
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.
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A cleaner safety record is the premium factor you control
You cannot control the insurance market or what freight is paying this quarter. You can control what an underwriter finds when they pull your record, and that record is written every time one of your trucks rolls into an inspection.
If you want a second set of eyes on your safety data before you renew, talk to our team. We work on both sides of it.