How to Read a Carrier's Roadside Inspection History Before You Book
Inspections and crashes tell you how a carrier really runs. Here is what to look for in the last 24 months, and what not to read too much into.
Authority and insurance tell you a carrier is allowed to haul. Roadside inspections tell you how it actually runs. Every time a truck is pulled in at a scale or on the roadside, the result goes to FMCSA, and it stays on the carrier's record.
Inspection levels in plain English
- Level I is a full inspection of the driver and the vehicle.
- Level II is a walk-around: driver and vehicle, without getting under the truck.
- Level III is driver only: license, medical card, hours of service.
- Level V is vehicle only, often done at the carrier's terminal.
A Level III with no violations says the paperwork was in order. It says nothing about brakes. A clean Level I says much more.
What out of service means
An out-of-service result means the officer found a problem serious enough that the truck or the driver could not continue until it was fixed. Vehicle out-of-service is usually brakes, tires or lights. Driver out-of-service is usually hours of service, a missing or invalid license, or a medical card issue.
Five things to look for
- The trend. Are out-of-service results getting less common, or more? A carrier that had a bad spring and a clean summer is different from one getting worse every month.
- Rates, not counts. A 300-truck fleet will have far more inspections than a 3-truck one. Compare the share of inspections that ended out of service. FMCSA shows national averages on each carrier's SAFER page.
- The same violation again and again. One brake problem is a bad day. Brakes on every other inspection is a maintenance program problem.
- Driver versus vehicle. Driver out-of-service results point at hiring and logs. Vehicle results point at the shop.
- Recent crashes with injuries. Look at when and where. Tow-away crashes are common on busy lanes. Several injury crashes in a short time are worth a question.
What not to read too much into
Crash records do not say who was at fault. A carrier that was rear-ended at a light gets the same crash record as one that caused the crash. For some crash types FMCSA reviews preventability, but most records do not show it.
No inspections is not the same as a clean record. A new or very small carrier may have no history at all. That is not a red flag, but it means you are trusting other checks: authority age, insurance, identity and references.
Recent events weigh more. FMCSA's Safety Measurement System counts the last 24 months and gives the most recent events the most weight, so a carrier's scores can improve as old problems age out.
Timing
Inspections reach FMCSA a few days after they happen, sometimes longer. The record you see today may be missing last week's inspection.
Every Haulock carrier report now lists each roadside inspection and crash from the last 24 months, from FMCSA's daily inspection and crash files: a month-by-month chart, the latest inspections with each violation, and whether a truck or driver was put out of service.