Appendix B of the PRISM System Specification Documentation has been updated to reflect the changes that involve Out of Service steps (Steps 52 to 68).
Changes to the steps will be happening in a sequential manner, i.e. not all changes will happen at the same time. A description of all changes is being included to assist States in their planning. It is expected that these changes will require minimum programming by PRISM States. Programming changes might need to be done for checking the Carrier safety status automatically without operator intervention on each IRP registration or renewal.
Read a summary of the changes:
1. The current New Entrant OOSO Step 63 is being split into two steps (63 and 64) to distinguish new entrants who were put out of service due to failure of a safety audit versus those who were put out of service due to refusal of audit or no contact. This change is planned to go into effect in July. In the May 2008 PRISM Procedure Manual, instructions for checking the Carrier safety status automatically were to check for MCSIP Steps between 54 and 65 inclusive and issue a message that says --the USDOT Number entered is step xx- plus the literal message for that step. At that time step 64 did not exist but it was anticipated that new step would be defined. Depending on how States implemented this check, it is possible that no programming will be required by the State.
2. The second change is more extensive and planned for a follow-on release. The existing Step 59 (State Registration Suspension/Revocation Only) is being redefined as “Intrastate Out of Service”. Also the prior steps indicating both Federal OOS and State action (Steps 60, 61, and 62) are being redefined to indicate both Federal Out of Service and Intrastate Out of Service. Additionally two new steps (Steps 67 and 68) are being defined as companion steps for the New Entrant OOS steps indicating both Federal and Intrastate Out of Service. For this change States should check for MCSIP Steps between 54 and 68 inclusive.
3. The third change is to implement OOSO steps 65 and 66 for “Revocation or Suspension of Operating Authority” and “Revocation or Suspension of For Hire Operating Authority” along with the companion steps for Intrastate Out of Service (Steps 52 and 53). For this change States should check for MCSIP Steps between 52 and 68 inclusive. Although this change is not yet being scheduled, it is suggested that States check for MCSIP Steps between 52 and 68 inclusive when initially making any changes. For Steps 66 and 53, States need to also check the carrier operation on the IRP account. If it is a for-hire operation, then the IRP safety check should indicate that there is an out-of-service on the carrier. Otherwise steps 66 and 53 should be ignored for the IRP safety check since they can legally operate as long as it is not for-hire, e.g. private.
If there are any questions or concerns about this announcement, please reply to PRISMTechnicalSupport@dot.gov