How to Look Up a Truck Driver’s CSA Score in Texas in 2026

After a crash involving a commercial truck, one of the first questions investigators ask is whether the trucking company had a history of safety violations. The answer often lives inside the federal Compliance, Safety, Accountability program, known as CSA. This system tracks carrier performance across multiple safety categories and flags companies that pose elevated risks to everyone on the road.

Knowing how to access and read this data can make a meaningful difference in a truck accident investigation. Some of it is publicly available right now. Other records require formal legal requests. This guide walks you through both.

What Is a CSA Score?

A CSA score is a performance measurement assigned to motor carriers by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, based on data collected from roadside inspections, crash reports, and compliance investigations. Scores are organized by safety category and updated monthly through the FMCSA’s Safety Measurement System.

Higher scores indicate worse safety performance. Carriers with elevated scores in key categories may be flagged for federal intervention, including compliance reviews and targeted enforcement actions.

One important distinction: individual drivers do not hold standalone CSA scores. The scores belong to the carrier. Violations are recorded against the company whose USDOT number the driver was operating under at the time of the stop. This matters in accident investigations because it shifts part of the accountability from the driver to the company that employed them.

What the Seven BASICs Measure

CSA scores are broken down across seven Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories, referred to as BASICs. Each category targets a specific area of safety compliance, and carriers are ranked by percentile against similar companies.

The seven BASICs are:

• Unsafe Driving — Dangerous behaviors behind the wheel, including speeding, improper lane changes, and failure to use a seatbelt
• Crash Indicator — Patterns of crash involvement based on severity and frequency
• Hours-of-Service Compliance — Violations related to driving while fatigued or exceeding federally mandated driving limits
• Vehicle Maintenance — Failure to address mechanical defects and keep equipment road-worthy
• Controlled Substances and Alcohol — Impaired driving of any kind, including illegal substances, alcohol, and misuse of medication
• Driver Fitness — Operating a commercial vehicle without proper licensing, training, or medical clearance
• Hazardous Materials Compliance — Improper handling, placarding, or documentation of hazardous cargo

In a crash investigation, the relevant BASICs depend on what caused the collision. A crash linked to brake failure points to Vehicle Maintenance. A fatigued driving scenario points to Hours-of-Service Compliance. Matching the violation category to the facts of the crash is where this data becomes evidence.

How to Look Up a Carrier’s CSA Data

The FMCSA makes some CSA data publicly accessible through two systems. Neither requires registration or a legal proceeding to access.

The Safety Measurement System

The Safety Measurement System, or SMS, is the primary database where CSA performance data is compiled and displayed. Carriers can log in through the FMCSA Portal using a USDOT number and PIN to view their full BASIC scores and percentile rankings.

Members of the public can access a limited version through the SMS public search. Searching by company name or USDOT number returns available BASIC data and any intervention alerts associated with that carrier.

The SAFER Company Snapshot

The SAFER Company Snapshot provides a broader overview of a carrier’s safety record and is available to anyone at no cost. A search returns the company’s registration details, fleet size, out-of-service rates, crash history from the prior 24 months, and official safety rating if one has been assigned.

The two systems complement each other. The SAFER snapshot gives you the carrier’s overall record. The SMS breaks that record down into specific performance categories and shows where the company has been flagged.

How to Check a Carrier’s Record Step by Step

Looking up a carrier’s CSA and safety data takes only a few minutes using publicly available tools.

1. Go to the FMCSA SAFER Company Snapshot website
2. Enter the trucking company’s name, USDOT number, or Motor Carrier number
3. Review the company’s safety rating, out-of-service rates, and crash history in the snapshot
4. Visit the FMCSA Safety Measurement System public search
5. Enter the same company name or USDOT number
6. Review available BASIC category data and note any scores that are flagged near or above intervention thresholds

If you have the USDOT number from the truck involved in the crash, that is the fastest path to the exact company record you need.

What a Driver’s Individual Safety Record Shows

Individual drivers do not have CSA scores, but they do have a federal safety record that can be accessed through the Pre-Employment Screening Program, known as PSP. The PSP report contains the driver’s inspection history and crash records from FMCSA databases going back several years.

PSP reports are typically accessed by employers during the hiring process, but they can also be relevant in accident litigation. A driver with a history of out-of-service violations, prior crash involvement, or hours-of-service citations carries a record that may be directly relevant to what happened in your crash.

Accessing a driver’s PSP record outside of a hiring context usually requires legal discovery. An attorney can request this record as part of a broader investigation into both the driver’s history and the trucking company’s decision to hire and retain them.

What CSA Data Reveals About a Company’s Negligence

CSA scores become legally meaningful when the violations on record align with the cause of the crash. A company with repeated Vehicle Maintenance violations that puts a truck with known brake defects back on the road is not facing a sudden equipment failure. It is facing the consequence of documented neglect.

The same logic applies to Hours-of-Service compliance failures. A carrier whose drivers have a pattern of fatigue-related citations, whose scores in that BASIC category are near or above intervention thresholds, and whose driver was fatigued at the time of your crash has a documented history the jury can see.

Patterns matter more than individual citations. One violation might be explained away. A string of the same violation across months or multiple drivers establishes that the company knew about a systemic problem and chose not to fix it. That is the foundation of a corporate negligence claim.

What Public Data Cannot Show You

The publicly available CSA data is a starting point, not the full picture. SMS scores reflect the last two years of inspection and crash data, but they do not include the underlying inspection reports, specific citation details, or enforcement action outcomes that give those numbers context.

The FMCSA maintains a more detailed record called the Company Safety Profile, which includes individual inspection findings, enforcement history, and compliance review results. This document is not publicly available. It can be requested by the carrier through the FMCSA Portal, and by others through a Freedom of Information Act request or legal discovery.

Internal company records, such as maintenance logs, dispatch communications, driver qualification files, and cargo documentation, sit entirely outside the federal databases. These require formal legal discovery once a lawsuit is filed. An attorney who handles truck accident cases knows which combination of federal records requests and discovery demands produces the most complete evidentiary record.

Talk With a Texas Truck Accident Lawyer About Your Case

CSA data and FMCSA safety records are tools. Using them effectively in a truck accident case requires knowing what to look for, how to interpret it, and how to connect it to the specific facts of what happened to you.

At Zinda Law Group, our legal team reviews carrier safety records, pursues detailed federal safety profiles, and builds cases that hold trucking companies accountable for the harm their neglect causes. There are no upfront fees. If you or someone you love was seriously hurt in a crash involving a commercial truck, contact us today for a free consultation.