Satisfactory, Conditional, Unsatisfactory: FMCSA Ratings

Four values, defined

49 CFR 385.3 defines a Satisfactory rating as adequate safety management controls in place and functioning, appropriate to the size and type of operation. Conditional means the controls are not adequate to ensure compliance with the safety fitness standard, in a way that could result in the occurrences the rule lists. Unsatisfactory means inadequate controls that have resulted in those occurrences. Unrated means FMCSA has not assigned a rating.

SAFER shows the rating with an effective date, defined as the date the review was entered into FMCSA’s information system. An unrated carrier is neither approved nor disapproved; the guide to a carrier with no safety rating covers that case.

Sources: 49 CFR 385.3: definitions, including safety ratings and compliance reviews; SAFER field definitions

How a rating is reached

A rating follows a compliance review, an examination of records such as hours of service, maintenance, driver qualification, financial responsibility and crashes. FMCSA’s 2023 advance notice on safety fitness describes the current method: points for violations of acute and critical regulations rate each of six factors, and the factor results combine into an overall rating.

Under that table, no Unsatisfactory factors and two or fewer Conditional factors give Satisfactory. One Unsatisfactory factor with more than two Conditional factors, or two or more Unsatisfactory factors, gives Unsatisfactory. Other combinations give Conditional.

The same notice reports that in fiscal year 2019, FMCSA and state partners conducted 11,671 compliance reviews among more than 567,000 active interstate carriers, with 306 final Unsatisfactory, 1,842 Conditional and 2,701 Satisfactory ratings. Focused reviews may produce no rating, which is why the ratings do not add up to the reviews. It also states that SMS is not used to generate safety fitness determinations; the guide to SMS and BASICs explains the difference.

Sources: FMCSA: Safety Fitness Determinations, advance notice of proposed rulemaking (88 FR 59489, August 29, 2023); 49 CFR 385.3: definitions, including safety ratings and compliance reviews

Proposed versus final

Under 49 CFR 385.11, FMCSA sends written notice of a rating within 30 days of the review, listing the deficiencies the carrier must correct. A Satisfactory rating, or one that improves on Unsatisfactory, is final on the date of the notice. Any other rating is proposed first and becomes final after 45 days for carriers of placardable hazardous materials or passengers, and after 60 days for other carriers.

Under 385.13, a carrier rated Unsatisfactory is prohibited from operating commercial vehicles from the 46th day after the proposed-rating notice for hazmat and passenger carriers, and from the 61st day for others. FMCSA may allow a property carrier making a good-faith effort up to 60 more days. A final Unsatisfactory rating brings an out-of-service order and revocation of operating authority. Federal agencies may not use an Unsatisfactory-rated carrier. The guide to out-of-service orders covers how a carrier-level order differs from driver and vehicle findings.

Sources: 49 CFR 385.11: notification of safety fitness determination; 49 CFR 385.13: unsatisfactory rated motor carriers; prohibition on transportation

How a rating changes

A carrier with a proposed or final Conditional or Unsatisfactory rating may ask for an upgrade at any time under 49 CFR 385.17, with evidence of corrective action. FMCSA decides requests from Unsatisfactory-rated carriers within 30 days for hazmat and passenger carriers and 45 days for others, and notifies the carrier in writing of an upgrade. Separately, a carrier that believes FMCSA erred may request administrative review under 385.15, generally within 90 days.

Without a request or a new review, a rating stays in place. FMCSA’s 2023 notice says a Satisfactory rating persists until a later review replaces it and may be misread as approval of current operations, and that a Conditional rating does not prohibit operation even when a review found breakdowns in several areas. The rules described here are those in the eCFR version of October 1, 2026; the 2023 notice asked for comment on a new methodology and is not a final rule.

Sources: 49 CFR 385.17: change to safety rating based upon corrective actions; 49 CFR 385.15: administrative review of a safety rating; FMCSA: Safety Fitness Determinations, advance notice of proposed rulemaking (88 FR 59489, August 29, 2023)

Using a rating in a review

A recommended approach, to adapt to your brokerage’s written policy. Some loads have their own rating requirement: a carrier needs a Satisfactory rating to hold a hazardous materials safety permit, as the guide to hazmat safety permits explains.

An illustrative note: “Rating Conditional, effective date in 2021. Carrier states corrective actions were filed; no upgrade shown on SAFER on review date. Approved for dry van only under policy exception; owner to recheck in 90 days.”

• Record the rating and its effective date, not only the word.
• For a Conditional rating, ask which deficiencies the notice listed and what was corrected.
• For a proposed Unsatisfactory rating, note the notice date against the 46th or 61st day.
• Read inspection and crash records for the period since the review; a rating does not update between reviews.

Sources: 49 CFR 385.11: notification of safety fitness determination; 49 CFR part 385, subpart E: hazardous materials safety permits