How the FMSCA investigates truck companies: The Safety Management Cycle

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Safety Management Cycle also helps motor carriers and truck drivers evaluate existing safety measures

I wanted to share this “Safety Management Cycle” chart today. It provides insight into how the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration investigates truck companies for safety.

Motor Carriers and truck drivers can also use it to evaluate current behavior and safety measures.

The Safety Management Cycle (SMC) is for the Unsafe Driving Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Category (BASIC) of the FMCSA, and it helps trucking companies and drivers evaluate existing processes to determine where gaps may exist that either encourage unsafe driving behavior or leave this behavior unaddressed.

The step-by-step process goes beyond just identifying what the violation is to get at why the safety performance issue is occurring.

The tool is made up of the following six Safety Management Processes (SMPs) to represent the areas of a motor carrier’s operations:

Policies and procedures;
Roles and responsibilities;
Qualification and hiring;
Training and communication;
Monitoring and tracking;
Meaningful action.

For instance, does the truck company have a policy that prohibits dispatchers from assigning drivers a load that cannot be completed without speeding?

Unsafe driving includes risky behavior such as:

Speeding
Improper lane change
Aggressive driving
Distracted driving
And other types of dangerous activity.

A truck company, truck driver, or even a truck accident lawyer representing an truck accident victim, can take a look at the SMC chart and make sure all necessary processes, management, and controls are in place to prevent and address unsafe truck driving behavior.

Here’s more information about the Safety Management Cycle from the FMSCA.

Related information:

FMSCRs trump lower state laws in trucking cases

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Legally Reviewed By

Published: Apr 27, 2013 | Updated: May 30, 2025

Written By

Steve M. Gursten, Attorney,
License#: P53632

Steven Gursten, attorney at Michigan Auto Law and one of the most successful auto accident attorneys in Michigan. Michigan Auto Law represents people seriously injured in car, truck, motorcycle, and bus accidents, including catastrophic injury, traumatic brain injury, and No-Fault insurance cases. Steven has recovered the largest reported auto and truck accident settlement of any Michigan lawyer, and has been named Michigan Lawyer of the Year and a Top 50 Michigan Super Lawyer.

Read Steven Gursten’s full attorney profile

Legally Reviewed by Todd Berg, Attorney