Credentials and approach

The Safety Scientist

"Safety Scientist" is how Justin Seyl signs his name, and the handle he uses on TikTok (@safetyscientist). It describes how he approaches the job: look at the evidence, know the regulation behind every rule, and explain it so a driver can act on it.

Credentials

Certified Director of Safety (CDS), NATMI

The North American Transportation Management Institute's certification for transportation safety leaders.

Certified Safety Professional

A professional safety designation.

Certified Audit Specialist

A professional auditing designation.

Education

Associate degree in psychology, University of Tennessee at Martin.

What he focuses on

• FMCSA and DOT compliance under Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations
• CSA and SMS scores, and DataQs challenges to correct inaccurate inspection data
• CDL citation defense and preventing disqualifications
• Hours of Service auditing, including the software that helps auditors do it
• DOT audit readiness, driver qualification files and safety management plans

Where the experience comes from

Justin founded CDL Consultants in 2012 and leads it as President and CEO. He is also CEO of CDL 360, which provides fleet compliance to more than 2,500 carriers, and of CDL Manager, an outsourced compliance department for fleets. Each company deals with a different part of a driver's or carrier's safety record, which gives him an unusually complete view of how the system works in practice. The companies are described in full at justinseyl.net.

His plain-English guides to the rules are collected at justinseyl.info, and his videos at justinseyl.live.