Truck Companies

Methodology

Every figure on this site comes from public FMCSA data on data.transportation.gov, refreshed weekly. Figures we compute are labeled as derived and are not official FMCSA ratings.

In short

Which carriers are included

A carrier is included when it has active property-carrier operating authority (FMCSA Motus status where Motus holds a record for the docket, otherwise the legacy authority file), an active USDOT status, a US physical address, is operating (power units or recent mileage), and had at least one roadside inspection in the last 24 months.

We do not use the MCS-150 filing date as a recency test. Since FMCSA moved registration to Motus on May 14, 2026, most MCS-150 updates no longer appear in the public census file, so the inspection test is our activity signal.

Washington, DC (33 carriers) has no page. It is counted in the national total of 230,881 included carriers but on no state page, so the 50 state pages add up to 230,848.

Which carriers get a card

Carrier cards list for-hire freight carriers: registered as authorized for hire and not also as a private fleet, at least 1 inspection per 100 power units in 24 months, not an FMCSA passenger carrier, and not registered to haul currency or valuables. Page figures include every included carrier, whether or not it has a card. Cards are sorted by power units, then name. We never rank carriers by quality.

On a state page where half or more of the 50 largest carriers would also appear on one of our metro pages, the carrier list starts outside that metro area and links to the metro page, so the two pages do not repeat each other. The page's figures still cover the whole state. This currently applies to Arizona (Phoenix), Georgia (Atlanta), Illinois (Chicago), Minnesota (Minneapolis), Nevada (Las Vegas) and Washington (Seattle).

Fleet concentration

Power units are the trucks registered to carriers based in a place, wherever those trucks operate, so one large fleet based in a place can dominate that place's figures. This week the largest share is in the Atlanta metro area, where UNITED PARCEL SERVICE INC holds 69% of registered power units. Each state and metro page therefore names its largest carrier when it holds 10% or more of the power units registered there, and otherwise gives the share held by the 10 largest carriers. When the largest carrier accounts for 20% or more of a place's inspections, the Safety record says so, because the out-of-service rates are then weighted toward that carrier. This week the largest carrier is named on 36 of 75 state and metro pages, and the inspection note appears on 14: Arizona, Arkansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, Atlanta metro, Chattanooga metro, Nashville metro, Omaha metro, Phoenix metro, Tampa metro and Tulsa metro. When the largest carrier holds 20% or more of a place's power units but its share of inspections is less than a fifth of that, the page states both shares. This week that applies to Colorado, Kansas and Kansas City metro. Where the largest carrier holds 20% or more of a place's power units, the crash panel notes that crashes per 100 power units is weighted toward it, and "What stands out here" leaves out crash rate and average fleet size. This week that applies to Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Washington, Atlanta metro, Chattanooga metro, Kansas City metro, Omaha metro, Phoenix metro, Seattle metro, Tampa metro and Tulsa metro.

Census and BLS figures

State and metro pages add two public datasets, stored when released and re-fetched only when a newer annual release is published. Census Bureau County Business Patterns (2023, updated Mar 6, 2025) counts establishments with paid employees classified in truck transportation (NAICS 484), and their employees; Census adds noise to employee counts for confidentiality. Owner-operators without employees, and private fleets classified in other industries, are not in it. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025) gives jobs and annual wages for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers (SOC 53-3032) in all industries, including private fleets, from the BLS survey of employers. Metro figures use each agency's figures for the same metropolitan area code (CBSA) as our metro page, and we check every join against the Census place name. "Active carriers per establishment" divides the carriers listed on a page by the Census establishment count, and is our combination. The two count different things: Census counts every trucking establishment with paid employees, each physical location, including businesses that operate only within one state; we count carriers with FMCSA interstate property authority, placed by headquarters location. We fetch both through the official APIs (api.census.gov and api.bls.gov) with every weekly refresh, and a refresh that needs a new release and cannot fetch it publishes nothing.

What stands out here

"What stands out here" lists up to 3 metrics on which a state or metro page is in the highest or lowest 20% of the 75 state and metro pages, and differs from the national figure the same way, the most extreme first. The metrics are active carriers per Census trucking establishment, median truck driver pay, share of carriers running a single truck, vehicle out-of-service rate, driver out-of-service rate, crashes per 100 power units, share of carriers with FMCSA's hazmat flag and average power units per carrier. Out-of-service rates are compared with FMCSA's published national averages, the same figures the Safety record uses, and a sentence appears only when the place is on the same side of that average. The other metrics are compared with the national figure for every carrier on this site (carriers per establishment, single-truck share, crashes, hazmat share, average fleet size) or with the BLS national median (pay), and each sentence names its basis. Figures built from carriers are checked again without the place's largest carrier, and a sentence is left out if that would change its direction. Crash rate and average fleet size are left out where one carrier holds 20% or more of the place's power units, because that one fleet would drive the figure. A crash sentence always says that crash involvement is not an indication of fault. A metric whose value the page already states in another sentence is skipped, and the next one is used. Each sentence states the two figures side by side; it does not rank places. A page with no such metric shows no list. This week 28 pages show none, 29 show 1, 13 show 2 and 5 show 3.

Metro areas that cross state lines

Metro pages follow the federal metro area definitions (core-based statistical areas), so a metro page counts every included carrier in the metro area, whichever state it is in. 7 of 25 metro areas cross state lines: Charlotte (NC, SC), Chattanooga (TN, GA), Chicago (IL, IN), Kansas City (MO, KS), Minneapolis (MN, WI), Omaha (NE, IA) and St. Louis (MO, IL). The "Compared with" share on a metro page counts only the metro's carriers based in the page's state, so it compares like with like.

Out-of-service rates

Vehicle out-of-service rate: inspections with a vehicle out-of-service order divided by inspections that examine the vehicle (levels 1, 2, 5 and 6). Driver out-of-service rate: inspections with a driver out-of-service order divided by inspections that examine the driver (levels 1, 2, 3 and 6). Levels 4 and 9 are excluded. A place rate is shown only when it rests on at least 30 inspections.

National averages

Pages compare each place with FMCSA's published national out-of-service averages (vehicle 22.26%, driver 6.67%, hazmat 4.44%, as of 2026-08-28). Our own calculation over every inspection in FMCSA's SMS inspection file gives vehicle 22.48% and driver 6.08% (checked 2026-09-25); over only the carriers listed on this site it gives lower rates, because listed carriers are active, authorized and inspected, which excludes many higher-risk operators. We cannot reproduce FMCSA's exact national method from the public file, so we show FMCSA's figure.

FMCSA national averages used: vehicle 22.26%, driver 6.67%, hazmat 4.44%, as of Aug 28, 2026.

Inspection and crash windows

Inspection and crash figures cover the 24 months in FMCSA's monthly SMS files. That window ends about four weeks before the window on FMCSA's SAFER Company Snapshot, so counts differ slightly from SAFER; rates match closely.

Crash rates

Crashes per 100 power units: distinct crash reports in 24 months divided by the carriers' power units. FMCSA's crash file can hold more than one row for the same crash report; we count distinct crash reports. Crash involvement is not fault; we show the share FMCSA judged not preventable.

Cargo classes and equipment pages

Cargo classes come from FMCSA's census file. Cargo classes on file with FMCSA may include classes the carrier no longer hauls: in our checks against FMCSA's SAFER records, the census file sometimes listed classes a carrier had removed, and never missed a class SAFER showed. Check the SAFER record for current details. FMCSA does not record trailer type, so equipment pages list carriers by the cargo classes they have on file, and because those can include classes a carrier no longer hauls, an equipment page can list carriers that no longer haul that freight. Columns that are identical to another column on every row are treated as defective and excluded; currently refrigerated food, meat, building materials and construction. Meat and building materials are never displayed or used, even if that changes. On equipment pages, the carrier cards list carriers with fewer than 10 cargo classes on file first, then larger registrations; carriers that list many classes are the most likely to include freight they no longer haul. The carrier counts on those pages still include every carrier with the class on file.

The four equipment pages are not indexed by search engines yet. FMCSA records the cargo classes a carrier registers, not its trailer types, so these lists include large fleets that register many classes alongside specialists. The pages stay open to visitors and will be indexed once carrier-reported equipment exists.

New carriers and the Motus switch

New operating authorities are counted from FMCSA's legacy authority history before May 14, 2026 and from Motus records after it. Motus figures reflect current status and may undercount; June and July 2026 reflect the migration. Charts mark the switch.

Official records

Carrier cards link to the carrier's FMCSA SAFER Company Snapshot by USDOT number.

Datasets and as-of dates