Washington – The Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General recently announced (.pdf file) it will be auditing the effectiveness of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability program.

The audit follows a written request (.pdf file) sent Oct. 12 from two members of the House Highways and Transit Subcommittee. Reps. John J. Duncan Jr. (R-TN) and Peter DeFazio (D-OR) expressed concerns with the “reliability, accuracy and significance” of the scores assigned to carriers in the CSA system, and cited a Sept. 12 hearing of the subcommittee during which carriers questioned whether violations are weighted appropriately.

OIG said the audit will seek to determine whether FMCSA’s methods of assigning safety scores are adequate and whether the scores have led to successful enforcement interventions. It is scheduled to begin this month.