Welcome back and thanks for reading The Bottom Line! Today I want to talk about the CSA’s “You Talked, We Listened” updates and how they affect you!
In late July the folks from the FMCSA sent out a “You Talked, We Listened” email noting some changes they’ve made to their system that make it more ‘user friendly’. I included a copy of the text from that email below. Additionally, I investigated some of those changes and this is what I think:
7/22/2011 – You Talked, We Listened … Visit the Improved CSA Website and See What’s Changed!
Since the Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) Website launched in August of 2008, we have directly responded to more than 6,500 questions from motor carriers, drivers, and others in the commercial vehicle safety industry. In response to our visitors’ feedback, we improved several areas on the CSA Website in order to support stakeholders’ efforts to increase safety on the nation’s roads.
- The “Your Role” pages have been enhanced and a new section specifically for drivers has been added. Each role page now contains a stakeholder-specific toolkit of CSA materials, links to important FMCSA websites, and a comprehensive list of questions and answers specific to each major stakeholder group.
- A new Resourcespage, where stakeholders can download a toolkit customized to their role, has replaced the previous news and media page. A new search feature allows visitors to customize their searches using keywords or simple checkboxes. The search results provide the most relevant documents as well as a list of the top five relevant Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).
- Functionality on the FAQs page has been improved. In addition to being able to search by keyword, website viewers can now also filter their searches by stakeholder and topic.
Please check out the improved CSA Website and continue to give us your feedback. Together we can improve safety.
Thank You,
CSA Web Team
USDOT/Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
The improved “Your Role”section of the site is quite user friendly. There are sections for Carriers, Drivers, FMCSA and State Partners, and for others interested in how they fit into the system. Generally, the info is straight forward. The text is short and manageable. In addition, each segment of the Your Role section features “Toolkits” which include PowerPoints, information previously sent out by FMCSA, educational materials, etc. all for free download. I recommend anyone interested in the “What/When/How” of CSA to check out the “Your Role” section of the site.
The new “Resources”section of the site is an excellent resource for anyone struggling to find ‘exactly what you’re looking for’. The site is designed to be a searchable database of CSA info and searches are fully customizable. For example: you can search for an informational poster, relevant to the carrier, which defines CSA information, in English, and get 2 results, with photos, for your free download. It’s easy to use, and worth a try. Take a look: CSA Resources.
Finally, the “FAQ” site has been improved to work like the “Resources” page. The topics are well defined and narrowing what you’re looking for is easy. With ‘check boxes’ located on the left of the screen, you can easily narrow your search and learn pretty easily. For example: Ever wonder when you have a safety basic in the alert status if the first you’ll hear from the FMCSA is the warning letter they send? Just click this link: CSA FAQ and check the “Carrier” box and the “Interventions” box…and it’s the 8th answer down…easy!
The Bottom Line: The FMCSA is doing a fairly good job trying to keep motor carriers in the loop with their changes. Love them or hate them, this improved site should help you understand them. Good Luck!
Hopefully you’ll check back soon to see our weekly updates. And always, if you have any questions for the Truck Insurance Pro…please just let us know and we’ll get back to you ASAP!
Keep on Rollin’!
Jason Stevenson, MBA, CPIA
Truck Insurance Pro
The Hoffman Group–Transportation Services
800.826.4006
jstevenson@thehoffmangrp.com
