How out-of-service violations count in your CSA score

An out-of-service order is the most serious outcome of a roadside inspection: the truck or the driver stops until the problem is fixed. It also weighs more on your record than the same violation without the order. This guide covers what the order is, what the regulations require of you afterwards, and exactly how FMCSA’s Safety Measurement System (SMS) counts it, using FMCSA’s own methodology.

What an out-of-service order is

Inspectors decide whether a driver or vehicle goes out of service using the North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria, published by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA). CVSA describes them as the criteria enforcement personnel use “to determine whether or not drivers or vehicles present an imminent hazard.” The current edition took effect on April 1, 2026.

• A vehicle.Under 49 CFR 396.9(c), a vehicle is declared and marked out of service when, “by reason of its mechanical condition or loading,” it “would likely cause an accident or a breakdown.” No one may operate it until all repairs required by the out-of-service notice are done.
• A driver. Under 49 CFR 395.13, a driver can be ordered out of service for, among other things, driving after being on duty beyond the hours limits, or not having a record of duty status current for the day of the inspection and the prior seven days.

What you have to do afterwards

For a vehicle, 49 CFR 396.9(d) sets the paperwork. Within 15 days of the inspection, the carrier must certify that every violation noted has been corrected by signing the report, return the completed report to the issuing state agency if that agency asks for it, and keep a copy for 12 months. Keep the repair invoice with it. A dated repair record is also the kind of document that matters later if anything on the report turns out to be wrong.

How the SMS weighs an out-of-service violation

Every violation in the SMS gets a severity weight from 1 to 10, set by how strongly that violation is associated with crash risk compared with the other violations in the same BASIC. On top of that:

• Out-of-service adds 2.The SMS Methodology states: “OOS violations receive an additional severity weight of 2.” This applies in the HOS Compliance, Vehicle Maintenance, Hazardous Materials Compliance and Driver Fitness BASICs.
• Two BASICs do not add it. Unsafe Driving gets no out-of-service weight, because most of its violations are not out-of-service violations. Controlled Substances/Alcohol gets none either, because most of its violations are.
• Recent counts more. The weighted violation is multiplied by a time weight: 3 in the first six months, 2 from six to 12 months, 1 from 12 to 24 months. After 24 months it no longer counts.

A worked example

FMCSA’s methodology lists tire violations such as 393.75C-OOS (tread depth under 1/32 inch in two adjacent major grooves) in the Tires group at a severity weight of 8. Take one tire violation:

• Out of service, recorded in the last six months: (8 + 2) × 3 = 30.
• The same violation without an out-of-service order: 8 × 3 = 24.
• The out-of-service one, 13 months later: (8 + 2) × 1 = 10.

In this example the out-of-service order adds a quarter to the violation’s weight, and a year of age cuts it by two thirds.

Four rules that limit the count

1. One count per inspection.When the same violation is cited more than once on one inspection, the SMS uses that violation cite only once. For the out-of-service weight, the methodology says that “in cases where there are multiple occurrences of the same violation, this weight applies to any of those violations that meet the OOS conditions.”
2. A cap of 30 per inspection. The sum of all severity weights for one inspection in one BASIC is capped at 30, before the time weight is applied.
3. The brakes out-of-service cite carries only the 2. When the brake defects found add up to 20% or more of the service brakes, 396.3A1BOS is recorded. The SMS gives it a severity weight of 0 plus the out-of-service 2; FMCSA explains that it relates directly to underlying brake violations that are already used in the SMS.
4. Clean inspections count too. In Vehicle Maintenance, for example, the measure divides the weighted violations by the time weight of all relevant vehicle inspections (Levels 1, 2, 5 and 6), including the ones with no violations. More clean inspections lower the measure.

FMCSA’s general intervention threshold is the 65th percentile for HOS Compliance and the 80th for Vehicle Maintenance and Driver Fitness (lower for passenger and hazmat carriers). FMCSA prioritizes carriers for interventions such as warning letters and investigations based on percentiles at or above those thresholds.

What this means if one of them is wrong

An out-of-service violation weighs more, so if one on your record is wrong it is usually the first one to look at. It is challenged like any other violation: a Request for Data Review in DataQs, decided by the agency that did the inspection. A detail the report simply leaves out is usually not enough, because the reviewer can check with the officer. What counts is a document that contradicts a fact on the report. If a court convicted on a different charge, the SMS sets the violation’s severity weight to 1 and the out-of-service weight no longer applies; a dismissal or not-guilty finding removes it. Full walkthrough: how to dispute a DOT violation and file a DataQ. If the violation is accurate, no filing removes it, and it ages off at 24 months.

Sources

• FMCSA, SMS Methodology, Version 3.21 (methodology revised May 2026): out-of-service weight (p. 3-11 and the equivalent section of each BASIC), time weights, the cap of 30, one count per inspection, relevant inspections (p. 3-14), intervention thresholds (Table 2-2), court outcomes (Table 2-1), the Tires group weight (Table B-10) and 396.3A1BOS (Table B-8).
• eCFR, 49 CFR 396.9: vehicles declared out of service, and the 15-day certification.
• eCFR, 49 CFR 395.13: drivers ordered out of service.
• CVSA, April 1, 2026: 2026 Out-of-Service Criteria in effect.