Nearly 150 data quality and information system specialists attended CVSA Data Management, Quality and FMCSA Systems Training, Jan. 29-31, 2019, in San Antonio, Texas. This three-day training course, jointly supported by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), was offered to state partners who report inspection and crash records to support federal and state safety programs.
CVSA’s Information Systems Committee and FMCSA worked together to assemble the customer-focused curriculum for attendees. Most sessions were delivered by two instructors – one state and one federal – who provided technical information, encouraged discussion and led hands-on system training.
The general session, moderated by CVSA Information Systems Committee Chair Holly Skaar, research analyst senior for the Idaho State Police Commercial Vehicle Safety Department, kicked off the three-day training event with comments from:
- CVSA Executive Director Collin Mooney
- FMCSA IT Customer Engagement Manager Joel Hiatt
- FMCSA Chief of IT Operations Everett Dowd
- FMCSA Privacy Officer Pam Gosier-Cox
- FMCSA Data Quality Program Manager, Analysis Division, Scott Valentine
“As state users within your organization, I hope you realize the important role you play in transportation safety,” said Skaar to attendees during her general session remarks. “Everything we do is data driven. Every decision made that affects public safety is thoroughly researched and supported by data. Those solutions wouldn’t be possible without those of you who work hard every day to ensure the data is accurate and data systems are reliable.”
Each day of the training workshop featured double-track breakout sessions where attendees chose to attend one of two training options. This allowed each attendee to select the sessions that offered the training and information they found most useful and valuable.
Attendees also had the opportunity to meet one-on-one with their state data quality specialist to talk specifically about their state’s data quality performance measures.
This event offered hands-on training on FMCSA’s software systems, such as:
- Configuring SAFETYNET for Improved Efficiency and Improved Data Quality
- Understanding the SSDQ Measures
- Writing Basic and Advanced Queries for Inspections and Crashes
- Running and Using the Inspection and Crash Data Quality Tool
- Improving Accuracy and Completeness in Inspections and Crashes
- SAFETYNET Tips and Tricks
Sessions also included important and relevant topics such as FMCSA cybersecurity and privacy compliance, adjudicated citations, A&I Online, MCMIS and Query Central, FMCSA Portal, DataQs crash topics and Aspen 3.2.
This event also featured a state panel on exploring crash processing issues. During the panel, individuals shared their challenges and offered solutions to improve state crash processes. Through the facilitated discussion, participants learned from one another by sharing examples of how they successfully navigated and solved common problems.
During the closing session, the group worked together to address topics brought up during the previous days of training. Participants proposed ideas about what they wanted to see in future FMCSA systems, asked questions of FMCSA and CVSA representatives during the open forum, and shared their thoughts and opinions about the training overall.