fleetfax RESEARCH

What the raw record hides.

Original findings from our own investigations of the federal carrier datasets.

7 REPORTS UPDATED JULY 14, 2026 SOURCE · FMCSA REGISTRATION, SAFETY, AND INSURANCE RECORDS

USING THIS RESEARCHFree to quote and republish figures with credit to fleetfax research and a link to the report. For methodology, underlying data, or questions: [email protected].

FEATURED · FRAUD · JUN 23, 2026

Cargo theft has gone white-collar: the load is stolen on paper, with a borrowed identity, a purchased MC number, or a hijacked FMCSA registration account. Strategic, identity-based theft grew from 8% of cargo crime in 2020 to about a third by 2024, and reported losses reached $725 million last year. The playbook, the numbers, and fourteen years of federal warnings.

READ THE FINDING → 8 min read
$725M
in cargo-theft losses reported to CargoNet in 2025, up from $223 million in 2022
$0 $223M $725M 2022 2023 2024 2025
cargo-theft losses reported to CargoNet, US and Canada · Verisk CargoNet annual analyses
the theft that grew is the paper kind: fleetfax reads the federal record behind a carrier identity before the load is booked

MORE FINDINGS

INSURANCE · JUL 14, 2026

When the record goes quiet

FMCSA moved carrier registration to a new system in May 2026, and the public feeds can now drop insured carriers with no marker. We re-checked 9,849 lapsed-looking carriers against the live federal record: 541, about 1 in 18, were insured all along.

carriers marked “insurance lapsed” in the public files, re-checked against the live federal record
6 min read Read →

CARRIER VETTING · JUL 7, 2026

The new-authority washout

New carriers crash less per truck than seasoned ones, not more. The real early-life risk is the washout: about one in seven new authorities is revoked within 18 months, almost always for never completing the mandatory federal audit.

1 of every 7 new authorities is revoked within 18 months
5 min read Read →

INSURANCE · JUN 30, 2026

Active, authorized, uninsured

When a carrier's insurance is cancelled, the federal record keeps showing it as active for roughly eight weeks before FMCSA acts. We measured that window, and counted the carriers sitting inside it right now.

insurance is cancelledauthority revoked
≈8 weeks in between, still showing as bookable
4 min read Read →

FRAUD · JUN 16, 2026

Reopened, not reformed

Carriers shut down for cause quietly reopen under a new USDOT number. FMCSA's own disclosure field caught 1 of 175; the public record surfaces the rest, and they already crash at 3.6× the rate.

9.1% reopened 2.55% typical new
share of reopened carriers already carrying a crash record, versus typical new authorities · 3.6× the rate
4 min read Read →

CARRIER VETTING · JUN 9, 2026

The carrier-vetting blind spot

Some carriers declare one or two trucks while hundreds operate under their authority, and the inspection history brokers trust as proof of a real fleet cannot tell the difference. The most extreme cases cluster overwhelmingly in one state.

7 min read Read →

SAFETY RATINGS · JUN 2, 2026

Most carriers have no safety rating

Roughly 94% of interstate freight carriers have never received a federal safety rating, so an empty rating field proves nothing in either direction. What the number actually means, and how to vet the unrated majority.

93.7% never ratedrated
3 min read Read →

LIVE DATA

DAILY DIGEST · UPDATED NIGHTLY

What changed in the federal record

New carriers registered, operating authorities granted and revoked, and out-of-service orders, counted by the day each record entered the federal file. A 90-day trend for each.

Live tracker View →

OUT OF SERVICE · UPDATED NIGHTLY

Truck out-of-service rates

The share of recorded roadside inspections that placed a vehicle or driver out of service, national and by state, with a 24-month trend.

Live tracker View →

FLEET AGE · UPDATED MONTHLY

How old is the US truck fleet

The age of the power units that show up in recorded roadside inspections, measured as inspection year minus model year.

Live tracker View →

METHODOLOGY

These reports draw on the same federal data that powers fleetfax: FMCSA registration, SAFER, and Licensing & Insurance filings. We publish patterns, not names. No individual carrier is identified, and every report shows exactly how we got its numbers.

Press & data requests · [email protected]