FMCSA is getting ready to put Safety Measurement System (SMS) changes back in front of the industry. Speaking at the WEX OTR Summit in Ponte Vedra, Florida, on October 28, 2026, FMCSA Chief Safety Officer Steve Dowling said the agency plans to focus on updating SMS in the coming weeks and months and will present SMS proposals for industry comment and evaluation, according to Transport Topics. Here's the bottom line for carriers: as of today, your CSA scores are still calculated under the existing SMS methodology and its seven BASICs. The enhanced methodology FMCSA approved in November 2024 has not launched, and no launch date has been announced. In this article, we'll cover what Dowling said, where the SMS overhaul stands, what has carried over from the original 2023 proposal, and what you should be doing before a comment period opens.
What Dowling said
Dowling's remarks on SMS were brief. Per Transport Topics, he said FMCSA would present SMS proposals for industry comment and evaluation, and he framed the goal this way: "Our goal is to have better identification of risks that are happening." He also acknowledged the challenge: "It's never simple when you're applying it to an industry that's dynamic, correct?"
He did not say what the proposals will contain, when they will publish, or how long a comment period will run. He also did not say whether the proposals will revisit the changes FMCSA already approved in 2024 or add new ones on top of them. That distinction matters, and we'll be watching for it when the agency publishes.
The prospect of another comment round is itself notable. When FMCSA approved its SMS enhancements in November 2024, it did not open a new comment period. It said only that "a follow-up notice in the Federal Register will announce the launch date of the enhanced SMS website." That launch notice never came. Dowling's comments suggest the agency now intends to take public input again before anything goes live.
Where SMS stands today
Several websites have reported over the past year that FMCSA's new SMS scoring is live. It is not. Here's what is in effect as of November 2, 2026:
The current methodology is SMS Methodology Version 3.21, revised in May 2026. The May 2026 revision aligned the system with recent changes to violations recorded during roadside inspections. It did not adopt the enhanced methodology. You can download it from FMCSA's CSA website.
Carriers are still scored in the seven BASICs: Unsafe Driving, Crash Indicator, HOS Compliance, Vehicle Maintenance, Controlled Substances/Alcohol, Hazardous Materials Compliance, and Driver Fitness.
The legacy scoring mechanics still apply: severity weights on a 1 to 10 scale, time weights of 3, 2, and 1 across the 24-month window, safety event groups, and the existing intervention thresholds.
The SMS website still runs on the old system. FMCSA's most recent SMS update posted October 5, 2026, with data current through September 25, 2026. The next update is scheduled for the week of November 9, 2026.
FMCSA's own preview site confirms the overhaul is pending. The Prioritization Preview site says "FMCSA is currently updating the SMS methodology to incorporate the approved changes" and tells carriers to "continue to use the current SMS website to monitor their safety performance."
For a refresher on how the current system calculates your scores, see our guide, How are CSA scores calculated?
How we got here
The SMS overhaul has been in the works for nearly four years. Here's the timeline:
February 15, 2023: FMCSA published its proposed revisions to SMS (Docket No. FMCSA-2022-0066) and launched the Prioritization Preview site. We covered that proposal in detail here.
May 16, 2023: The comment period closed.
November 20, 2024: FMCSA published its response to 176 public comments (89 FR 91874) and approved the enhancements with modifications. Our coverage of that notice is here.
January 16, 2025: FMCSA held a public webinar on the reorganized categories, violation groups, and simplified severity weights.
October 28, 2026: Dowling said SMS proposals are coming for comment.
What carries over from the 2023 proposal
The November 2024 notice kept all seven of the major changes FMCSA proposed in 2023. Unless the upcoming proposals change course, this is the framework carriers should expect:
BASICs become "Compliance Categories." The 2023 proposal called them "safety categories." FMCSA switched to "Compliance Categories" in 2024 at the suggestion of industry commenters.
Reorganized categories. Controlled Substances/Alcohol violations and all operating-while-out-of-service violations move into Unsafe Driving. Vehicle Maintenance splits into two categories: Vehicle Maintenance and Vehicle Maintenance: Driver Observed. The Driver Observed category captures defects a driver could catch on a pre-trip or post-trip inspection.
Consolidated violations. The 959 roadside violations that feed SMS are grouped into 116 violation groups. Multiple violations from the same group on a single inspection count once.
Simplified severity weights. The 1 to 10 scale is replaced with weights of 1 or 2.
Proportionate percentiles. Safety event groups are replaced with a method designed to avoid sudden percentile jumps when a carrier moves between groups.
Adjusted intervention thresholds. The 2023 proposal would have raised the Driver Fitness threshold for general carriers from 80% to 90% and the HM Compliance threshold from 80% to 90%.
Greater focus on recent violations. Carriers with no violations in a category in the past 12 months would not receive a percentile in that category, even though violations from the past 24 months still count.
Expanded Utilization Factor. The factor would extend to carriers driving up to 250,000 vehicle miles traveled (VMT) per average power unit, up from 200,000.
The 2024 notice also made several refinements to the 2023 proposal. Driver Fitness is segmented by straight and combination carriers, and HM Compliance by cargo tank and non-cargo tank carriers. Violations for drivers prohibited from performing safety-sensitive functions under the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse (390.3E and 392.15) moved from Unsafe Driving to Driver Fitness. Nominal HOS violations merged into the HOS Requirements group, the Brakes OOS violation merged into the Brakes group, and 13 lighting violations moved into the Clearance Lamp group.
One thing the overhaul does not change: under the FAST Act, property carriers' percentiles and alerts remain hidden from public view on the SMS website. Carriers can still see their own.
What carriers should do before a comment period opens
Manage the system you're scored under today. Your CSA scores are still driven by the seven BASICs and the current methodology. Review your SMS data every month, and challenge erroneous violations through DataQs. A pending overhaul is no reason to let current scores slide. If you have a high score in a particular BASIC, our Improve Your CSA Scores webinar series walks through the BASICs one at a time, covering the violations that drive each score and the steps fleets can take to bring it down.
Preview your data under the approved methodology. The Prioritization Preview site is still up. Use it to see which compliance categories you'd be flagged in and why. That tells you where you have exposure and gives you a basis for comments.
Look hard at driver-observed defects. Under the approved methodology, defects a driver should have caught on a pre-trip inspection get their own category. If lights, tires, and other visible defects make up a large share of your maintenance violations, tighten your pre-trip and post-trip inspection process and train drivers to it now.
Focus on the last 12 months. The approved methodology puts more weight on whether you've had recent violations. Clean inspections going forward matter more than ever.
Prepare your comments. When FMCSA publishes its proposals, the notice will name the docket and the deadline. Carriers that have already run their numbers through the preview site will be in the best position to tell the agency how the changes affect them. We'll cover the proposals in detail when they publish.
Train the people who manage your scores. Your safety team needs to understand how SMS works now and how it is expected to change. Our DOT Compliance for Safety Managers course through Trucksafe Academy covers the CSA/SMS scoring system, enforcement, and safety ratings in its enforcement module.
Conclusion
FMCSA's SMS overhaul has been "coming soon" since 2023, and as of today it still hasn't launched. Dowling's October 28 remarks indicate the agency will seek industry input again before it does. Until FMCSA publishes a launch notice in the Federal Register, the current SMS methodology and its seven BASICs are what determine your CSA scores and your risk of intervention. Manage those scores now, and use the preview site to get ready for what comes next.
If you need help evaluating your SMS data or preparing for these changes, please feel free to contact us. And be sure to subscribe to our newsletter so you see FMCSA's proposals as soon as they publish, along with our analysis of them.
