DataQs and the Single-Truck Operator

As the old saying goes, “The only dumb question is the one that goes unasked.” This analogy is easily applied to the DataQ process as “If inaccurate data is not reviewed, only the carrier suffers.” While large carriers have teams of safety specialists and intermediate carriers often have at least one dedicated safety director to perform Requests for Data Review (RDR, or DataQ for short), for single-truck owner/operators, this function, as with so many aspects of single-truck motor carriers, becomes the responsibility of that owner.

With Carrier safety scores at the tip of anyone’s fingers and the wide array of subjects affected by those scores, it becomes critically important for all motor carriers to do everything within their power to monitor their safety scores. If you don’t have a DataQ account, click here to register for yours.

You can use the DataQ system to contest violations that occurred in the past two years and accidents dating back three years. An additional DataQ feature that some carriers don’t know about is the Crash Preventability Determination Program (CPDP), a process that reviews RDRs to reassess the preventability determination of crashes. Because this is a fairly recent feature of DataQs, only crashes that happened on or after August 1, 2019 may be considered in an RDR inquiry.

Before you read on, you may wish to link to Mr. Montgomery’s first blog on DataQs published in the January Landing Gear newsletter. 

Such crashes include accidents where the commercial motor vehicle is arguably not at fault, including but not limited to rear-end collisions caused by another motorist; by a motorist causing a wrong direction or illegal turn crash or by a vehicle that fails to stop; accidents occurring when the commercial vehicle is parked or legally stopped; accidents caused by an individual under the influence or by a driver who was distracted or experienced a medical issue that contributed to the crash. If any of these situations apply to you, it might be worth your while to request FMCSA to decide that the accident was not preventable. Such a decision can improve both your insurance rates and your Injury Severity Score.

As a motor carrier, it is imperative you monitor the safety data associated with your company. If you don’t, rest assured that shippers, freight brokers, insurance companies and trucking litigation experts are just a few of the entities that review the Safety Measurement System (SMS) for BASICs scores and the violation histories of carriers, including yours.

All small carriers - especially single-truck owner/operators - should be reviewing their safety snapshot in their FMCSA carrier portal on a regular basis to ensure the safety history that these researchers see is accurate. As an owner/operator your “fleet” is very personal, and any action taken which will affect your safety snapshot should be familiar to you. So, unlike large fleets with dedicated employee(s) spending hundreds of hours reviewing their motor carrier profile, most owner/operators can check this information out in their portal once a month or every couple of weeks while having breakfast.

Logging into the portal and checking for changes will take less than five (5) minutes, and since you know of any “events” which would have been added to your profile, you’ll know right away if everything is accurate. There are several events which can affect your profile; however, the two most common are roadside inspections and crashes. If you experienced an event which would have been recorded in your profile, you can easily confirm the accuracy of how the event was recorded.

Another unfortunate occurrence is when one of these events gets assigned to the wrong motor carrier. Sometimes these are simply typographic errors by enforcement personnel who record the USDOT number inaccurately. Occasionally, however, there is a bad apple who provides false information at roadside. Your regular reviews will help you ferret out these inaccuracies and keep your safety profile accurate.

Whether you are contesting the contents of a roadside inspection report, the “chargeable” status of a crash, or an inspection which was assigned to your company inaccurately, the Request for Data Review or DataQ is the owner/operator’s avenue for profile/safety score accuracy. Your regular review will allow you to find and contest any discrepancies quickly and easily. With time being the commodity most sought by you, a DataQ can usually be filed in under 15 minutes and, when successful, the benefits of keeping your safety score(s) low will definitely outweigh 15 minutes of down time.

Finally, it’s important to note that FMCSA does not consider every DataQ it receives. As a motor carrier whose safety record is at stake, don’t file a DataQ on every single violation or crash unless you can provide compelling evidence that you were wrongly cited, or an investigating officer determined you to be at fault in a crash. Pick your battles and, whatever you do, always tell the truth. That will go a long way toward helping you clean up your safety record.