November 3, 2025
Are you in the red? The FMCSA’s Inspection Selection System
How the FMCSA’s ISS score is built from CSA data, why a carrier in the red zone loses money through inspections and insurance, and what to do when the score climbs.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) uses the Inspection Selection System (ISS), together with the Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program, to decide which motor carriers to prioritize for roadside safety inspections. Understanding how the two fit together is the first step to understanding what a high score costs you.
From violations to a CSA score
A carrier’s CSA score is built from the violations its drivers receive, as recorded in the FMCSA’s Safety Measurement System (SMS). Violations fall into seven Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories, known as BASICs:
- Unsafe Driving
- Vehicle Maintenance
- Hours of Service (HOS)
- Driver Fitness
- Drugs and Alcohol
- Hazmat
- Crash
CSA scores are compared with those of other carriers of similar size and number of inspections. When a score exceeds the threshold for a BASIC, that category is given an alert.
From CSA to ISS
A carrier’s ISS score is related to its CSA scores and the alerts it has earned in each BASIC. ISS scores run from 0 to 100, and the higher the score, the more likely the carrier’s drivers are to be pulled over for inspection. Think of it as a stoplight applied to every carrier: green, yellow or red.
- 75–100 Inspect The truck should be pulled in for an inspection.
- 50–74 Optional Pulling the truck over for an inspection is optional.
- 1–49 Pass The truck doesn’t need to be pulled over for an inspection.
Bands: FMCSA Inspection Selection System.
Why the red zone costs money
- More inspections. Drivers of a red-zone carrier are pulled in for inspection more often than its competitors’ drivers. Inspections take time, and the delays add up to real financial losses.
- Insurance. At renewal, insurers use the ISS score as one benchmark of a carrier’s safety and compliance standards. A higher score generally means a higher premium.
What to do about it
A trucking company with an ISS score above 75 should look seriously at the factors behind its poor safety and compliance record, and should undergo a comprehensive risk assessment. A carrier that has moved from green to yellow should run a root-cause analysis of the decline before it goes further.
Phoenix’s risk assessment reads your SMS data, CVOR and PEVL records side by side and shows you, in plain graphics, where the score is coming from and what to fix first.
We work alongside your broker. Only the regulator assigns a rating, and only the insurer sets the premium.