Linking Bad Credentials to Safety Issues

This study assesses (1) the effectiveness of the Kentucky Automated Truck Screening (KATS) system, (2) the relationship between credential and vehicle safety violations, (3) the relationship between credential and driver safety violations, and (4) the relationship between credential violations and crashes. The KATS system, which is installed at weigh stations throughout the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is highly effective at detecting KYU, IFTA, and UCR violations with sensitivities of 80.54, 87.56, and 88.28 percent, respectively. However, the system is less effective at detecting IRP violations (sensitivity = 20.83 percent). There is a statistically significant relationship between credentialing and vehicle safety violations, and the same is true for credentialing violations and driver safety violations. Carriers with at least one KYU, IFTA, UCR, or IRP violation were 111.16 percent more likely to receive a citation for a vehicle safety violation than motor carriers without credentialing violations. Compared to carriers without credentialing violations, carriers with at least one credentialing violation were 112.50 percent more likely to receive a citation related to driver safety. In terms of the relationship between Kentucky-based credentialing violations and nationwide crashes (major crashes only), carriers with at least one credentialing violation were 35.43 percent more likely to be involved in a serious crash than carriers without credentialing violations