FMCSA · Safety Ratings (Safety Fitness Determination)

The rating a carrier earns from an actual audit.

A safety rating is FMCSA's verdict after it investigates a carrier — Satisfactory, Conditional, or Unsatisfactory. It's the deepest safety signal there is, and also the rarest: most carriers have never been audited and carry no rating at all. This guide covers what each rating means, why "unrated" isn't a bad sign, and the change FMCSA has been proposing for years.

The four states

BestSatisfactory

WarningConditional

ShutdownUnsatisfactory

Most carriersUnrated

What it takes

TriggerA compliance review

ExaminesSix factors

RealityMost never audited

Read this first

A safety rating only exists after FMCSA investigates a carrier — and most never get investigated, so they show no rating. "Unrated" means "never audited," not "unsafe." When a rating does exist it's the strongest signal you'll find: Satisfactory passed the audit, Unsatisfactory is being shut down, and Conditional was found deficient but is still running.

Carriers only — not driversFrom a compliance reviewPublic on SAFERIn effect since 1982

What it is

The deepest, rarest safety signal FMCSA produces — a verdict it only reaches after actually investigating the carrier.

A verdict after an investigation

A safety rating is FMCSA's evaluation of a carrier's compliance with the federal safety fitness standard (49 CFR Part 385, Appendix B). It's assigned only after a compliance review — an investigation of the carrier's records and operations, done on-site or remotely. It is not generated automatically and it is not a score.

Three truths up front

FMCSA rates carriers, not drivers. Not every investigation produces a rating. And most carriers are unrated — roughly 90% have no rating at all, simply because they've never been reviewed. Final ratings are public on SAFER, the same place as the Company Snapshot.

The four ratings

Three rating letters plus the "unrated" default. The two that get misread most are Conditional and Unrated.

The four states · 49 CFR Part 385

What each one means

How a safety rating reads — and what it does to a carrier's ability to operate.

SatisfactoryAdequate safety management controls — the carrier met the standard (§385.5).PASSED

ConditionalControls found deficient in at least one area, but not to the Unsatisfactory level. The carrier may still operate — but it's a documented breakdown, and it raises insurance and limits shipper/broker access.WATCH

UnsatisfactoryA preliminary "unfit." If it becomes final, §385.13 puts the carrier out of service — 60 days after notice for general freight, and just 45 days for passenger and hazmat carriers (higher risk, less runway).SHUTDOWN

UnratedNo rating assigned — the carrier has never had a compliance review. Not a grade, and not a warning.NOT AUDITED

Unrated ≠ unsafe. It's the default for most carriers — never audited, not flagged.

Conditional still operates. Don't read it as "shut down" — but do read it as a real flag worth a closer look.

PASSED met the standardFLAG deficient or unfitNOT AUDITED no rating

How a rating happens

A rating is the output of an investigation — and investigations are targeted, not routine.

What triggers a review, and what it weighs

A rating comes out of a compliance review, triggered by things like a complaint, a crash pattern, high SMS results, or a new-entrant safety audit. The review examines six factors — General, Driver, Operational, Vehicle, Hazardous Materials, and the Accident (crash) factor — and the combination produces the rating.

A rating isn't permanent

A carrier can request an upgrade after corrective action, and a later review can change the rating either way. New carriers go through a safety audit during their 18-month provisional period — that's an audit, not a rating.

Rating vs. score — and the coming change

A safety rating and an SMS score are different tools that people constantly conflate — and FMCSA has spent years trying to merge them.

A rating is not an SMS score

A safety rating is rare and investigation-based (Part 385); SMS scores are continuous and built from inspection and crash data. Different tools, different cadence — a carrier can have great SMS percentiles and still be unrated, or carry a rating while its SMS looks middling.

The change FMCSA keeps proposing

For years FMCSA has proposed replacing the three tiers with a single "unfit" determination drawn from on-road data — the same inspection and crash data behind SMS — run monthly instead of only after an audit. A 2016 version was withdrawn in 2017; a 2023 advance proposal reopened it and is still under review. As of 2026 nothing has been adopted: the audit-based, three-tier system is still the law. We'll update this guide when that changes.

Reference

Plain definitions for the safety-rating terms you'll run into.

Glossary

Safety rating: FMCSA's verdict on a carrier's safety fitness after a compliance review: Satisfactory, Conditional, or Unsatisfactory.
Safety fitness standard: The federal standard (49 CFR 385.5, Appendix B) a carrier must meet to be rated Satisfactory.
Compliance review: An on-site or remote investigation of a carrier's records and operations that produces a rating.
Satisfactory: Adequate safety management controls — the carrier met the standard.
Conditional: Controls deficient in at least one area but not to the Unsatisfactory level; the carrier may still operate.
Unsatisfactory: A preliminary "unfit" determination; becomes an out-of-service order if not corrected.
Unrated: No rating on file — the carrier has never had a compliance review. The default for most carriers.
The six factors: The areas a review weighs: General, Driver, Operational, Vehicle, Hazardous Materials, and Accident (crash).
Out-of-service order (§385.13): The order removing an Unsatisfactory carrier from operation — 60 days after notice for general freight, 45 for passenger/hazmat carriers.
Safety Fitness Determination (SFD): FMCSA's term for the rating — also the name of the long-proposed rewrite to a single "unfit" determination drawn from on-road data.
Compliance review vs. SMS: A rating is rare and audit-based; SMS percentiles are continuous and built from inspections and crashes. Different tools.
New-entrant safety audit: The audit a new carrier undergoes during its 18-month provisional period — an audit, not a letter rating.

Related guides

About this guide

Current as of June 2026. Describes the three-tier safety-rating system in effect under 49 CFR Part 385; the proposed SMS-based "unfit" methodology (Safety Fitness Determination) is not adopted.

This guide is educational. It explains how FMCSA's carrier safety ratings work and does not modify any regulation, and it is not legal advice. A rating reflects a point-in-time investigation; "unrated" means a carrier has not been reviewed, not that it is unsafe. No real carrier data appears on this page.