These three letters are a truck driver's worst fear: DOT. Every single truck driver is bound to face his or her biggest fear, the DOT, sooner or later. Guess what? You do not need to have this fear if you know your company's CSA scores.
Those CSA scores will give you insight into the following three indications of a likely DOT inspection or what it will mean for you.
1. You might have a red flag
The company you work for and its CSA scores will be an easy indicator for you to know if DOT will be looking for you. The worse the CSA scores, the more likely you are to be pulled into the scales by a DOT officer.
2. Bad vehicle maintenance = not caring
A company's scores are transparent with its vehicle maintenance. High vehicle maintenance scores simply show you that the company does not care. They are not setting you up for success.
3. In the eyes of an officer, you are your company
When a DOT officer has pulled you over for an inspection, the officer sees the company in you.
Before you start working with a company, ask about its CSA scores. They should answer you directly. Those scores will make it easier for you to determine if that's a company you want to work with or avoid.
In the following weekly series, we will dive deeper into the information every truck driver needs to know about DOT inspections. Next week - the driver's PSP.
