CSA 2010 Commercial Driving Laws

Reducing your exposure to CSA 2010 is one of the most dramatic changes in the commercial driving industry that has come around in decades.

At this time, points are given for the seven "Deadly" sins, which include:

• Unsafe Driving...
• Log Book Violation...
• Driver Fitness...
• Controlled Substances and Alcohol...
• Vehicle maintenance...
• Improper Loading and Crash Indicator...
• Fatigued Driving...
• Log Book and Unsafe Driving carry the some of the highest points possible.

The purpose of CSA 2010 is to measure the impact of the rules and laws for the commercial drivers of the trucking industry. What was found was that those that were just "exposed" to DOT violations, no matter how trivial, are far more likely to get cited for violations being uncovered at weigh station inspections than in the past. The most dramatic example is that the likelihood of a driver "exposed" to this improved version of SafeStats were far more likely to receive a violation and points on their record, even when it came to simple correctable violations.

CSA 2010 points for drivers are based upon roadside inspections. With that being said, tickets issued by a Non-DOT certified officer, does not impact CSA 2010. Which means that if you receive a violation from a roadside inspection, whether or not a citation is issued, points are still indicated on the report.

This is a tough regulation for the trucking industry. It has been mentioned that the industry estimates for CSA 2010 will effectively remove 175,000 to 250,000 drivers from the road at any given time for suspensions or violations. Because of this regulation, legal representation is almost a necessity now and in the future.

The whole CSA 2010 point system is set up to bypass the courts, judges and lawyers. So with that in mind trying to dispute the points that have been issued would be difficult at best in most cases. However, if a driver receives a ticket, disputes it and gets acquitted then he has a better chance of challenging the points. This is where legal representation is paramount to keeping you on the road.

The CSA 2010 point system scores on both the driver and the company. The compliancy scores from 0 - 100, with zero being the best, as mentioned are given to both the driver and the company. And so while the Government emphasizes that no one will lose their license due to CSA 2010 points, the company's score, which is based on the score of its drivers, he would almost certainly be let go. If this happens, the company AND the driver still retain the points that they have accrued. This information will be available to any future employers which could be advantageous or detrimental to you when searching for employment.

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