A Safety Rating is FMCSA's formal assessment of a motor carrier's overall compliance with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR), assigned after an on-site Compliance Review conducted by a federal or state safety investigator. There are three possible ratings: Satisfactory (no evidence of substantial non-compliance), Conditional (out of compliance with one or more safety requirements, but not to a degree that warrants an Unsatisfactory rating), and Unsatisfactory (evidence of substantial non-compliance, which can result in an out-of-service order). A carrier with no rating simply hasn't had a Compliance Review, which is common for smaller carriers, since reviews are triggered by risk factors, complaints, or random selection rather than performed on every company. It's important to distinguish a Safety Rating — relatively rare, and the product of an in-depth audit — from BASICs percentile scores, which are continuously updated from roadside inspection data. A carrier can have no formal Safety Rating but still show elevated risk in its BASICs. Ratings can also remain technically current for years, since FMCSA doesn't re-review every carrier on a fixed schedule.
A shipper doing due diligence on a new carrier will check both its Safety Rating and its BASICs percentiles, since a carrier with no formal rating can still show elevated risk in specific safety categories.
Shown as a badge in the profile header and as a stat in the Safety & Compliance section of every carrier profile.