Ranking States by Safety and Regulatory Compliance Data
posted in Alerts by Brian Gray
Ranking States by Safety and Regulatory Compliance Data
Back in early 2016, there was a survey floating around about the best and worst states to own a small trucking company or be a driver. Merchant Cash USA surveyed 3,287 individuals involved in the trucking industry asking questions such as on certain regulations, cost of overnight parking, state fees, friendliness of states toward truck drivers, and more.
When it comes to the trucking industry and regulations, we wondered if there are measurable differences between the states and how they apply standard trucking regulations. Is there a best and worst? Since the same Federal Safety Regulations are adopted by each state, since each state follows the same IFTA and IRP compliance rules, logic would say that results of their compliance audits would be relatively even as a percentage between the states. To find out if this logic was accurate, we took a look at the numbers.
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The FMCSA, International Registration Plan (IRP) and International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) each audit carriers for regulatory compliance. Within each organization, compliance data is reported by year, by state. The numbers we will be looking at are from the FMCSA, IRP, and IFTA 2016 annual reports (results during 2015). We compared the results and ranked the top ten States, highest to lowest, in the following categories:
- Percentage of carriers based in that state audited for a FMCSR comprehensive review
- Percentage of all reviews that find at least one critical violation
- Number of audits resulting in an unsatisfactory rating
- Percentage of carriers based in a state that went through IFTA audit
- Percentage of carriers based in a state that went through an IRP audit and were fined with an inadequate assessment.
- Highest average of dollars fined by IRP State for inadequate assessments
Before we do, let’s keep one list in the back of our minds. Below are the Top 10 states with most Interstate registered carriers. Logic would say that the states with the most carriers would perform the most audits. Keep an eye on the survey results to see if that logic holds true.
What does the Government 2015 Safety and Regulation Compliance Data tell us?
If you are an Oregon based carrier you were much more likely to receive an FMCSA safety compliance review audit than in any other state – nearly doubled than the second state on the list! A question could be asked, if Safety Compliance Reviews positively affect a carrier’s safety performance, then shouldn’t Oregon’s overall truck safety statistics be at least one of the best in the nation? In reality, Oregon’s truck safety statistics rank them among other states about 30th, in line with their overall ranking of percentage of carriers based in their state.
If you are an Oregon, New Hampshire, Nebraska, or North Dakota based carrier - when audited for a FMCSA Compliance Review, there is over a 50% chance of at least one critical violation being found.
California, Texas, and Oregon based carrier have the highest chance of a Compliance Review audit resulting in an Unsatisfactory Rating.
South Carolina based carriers had the highest chance of being audited by IFTA in 2015.
A carrier is much more likely to be assessed with an Inadequate Records Assessment in an IRP audit in New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts.
However, Montana based carriers were fined the most dollars on average for an IRP inadequate records assessment in 2015.
The conclusions we draw from looking at the numbers:
- Common regulations are applied differently between the states creating an uneven playing field in terms of operating an interstate trucking operation. The state in which a carrier bases their operation does impact that carrier’s ability to compete with carriers based in other states.
- There are Best and Worst states when it comes to applying compliance regulation. Which are the best and worst depends on the regulatory category being measured and ones opinion of: is regulating at a higher degree than other states good or bad?
Chief Communications Officer of Merchant Cash USA Darrin Landau says it this way, “The trucking industry is in higher demand than ever, but costs to operate are also at an all-time high. Certain states are accommodating to truckers and the trucking lifestyle, but not all states operate that way.”
In general, what is required for a level regulatory playing field are enlightened state leaders, recognizing the impact of regulatory compliance and wisely balancing the money spent with the results achieved. One thing is sure, states with the highest degree of negative regulatory impact and unenlightened bureaucrats are not likely to change without carriers knowing the numbers and leading the effort for change in their state.
Do you agree with these numbers? What are your numbers telling you?
We will be writing several state focused articles surrounding these statistics and what the state of the trucking industry actually looks like in each state. Stay tuned.
