Carrier profile · USDOT 134697 · MC-115554 · Updated Jul 18, 2026

Heartland Express Inc of Iowa

DBA HEARTLAND EXPRESS

3,320 power unitsavg 4.8 yrNational · 47 statesNORTH LIBERTY, IA88/100
CARRIER ACTIVEMC-115554 ACTIVERATED SATISFACTORYHAZMAT
Verified linksheartlandexpress.comFMCSA SAFER

Safety

Roadside out-of-service rates versus the national benchmark, inspection and crash trends, decoded violation themes, and ELD / hours-of-service integrity — the full safety picture behind the verdict.

Out-of-service rate· 24-mo cumulative · vs national

Vehicle OOS 15.6%24-mo cumulative
050%nat'l 22.26%
Driver OOS 0.8%24-mo cumulative
030%nat'l 6.67%

Every inspection in the window pooled — 1,587 vehicle and 2,943 driver inspections over 24 months.

Vehicle OOS rate· vehicle OOS · vehicle-level inspections · 6-month trailing

19.2% · latest 6-mo window● Steady

Share of vehicle-level roadside inspections in each trailing six-month window that resulted in a vehicle out-of-service order. Holding steady across the window. The national vehicle benchmark uses the same metric and is shown on the chart.

Roadside inspection history· 24 charted calendar months · vehicle / driver level · any-OOS overlay

2,861 inspections in the charted months · busiest month Apr '26 · 154

Vehicle-levelDriver-levelAny OOS

Monthly FMCSA roadside inspections across the 24 charted calendar months. Bars show level-qualified vehicle and driver populations; one inspection can qualify for both. The line shows inspections with any out-of-service result.

Inspection coverage· expected vs observed · the fraud signal

Inspection coverage

How heavily FMCSA inspects this fleet for its size — it tells you how much to trust the safety signals above. Thin coverage on a young authority is a fraud signal nobody else surfaces.

Expected band
Under-inspected
Expected
Well-monitored
Heavily inspected
≈0.4 / unit·yr
thin signalabundant signal
Roadside-inspection volume is about what you'd expect for a 3,320-unit fleet — enough signal to read the safety record, though not a heavy sample.
Registered power units
3,320
Inspections · 24 mo
2,944
Annualized
≈1,472 / yr
Coverage
≈0.4 inspections / unit · yr

BASIC categories· CSA SMS · Aug 2026

48%
Unsafe Driving
Vektor peer est.
47%
Hours-of-Service
Vektor peer est.
12%
Driver Fitness
Vektor peer est.
Controlled Substances
0violations
clean · per-BASIC
38%
Vehicle Maintenance
Vektor peer est.

Percentile = standing among same-exposure peers (higher = worse). FMCSA publishes percentiles for only some carriers (shown official); elsewhere we show a Vektor peer-percentile estimate, or the absolute SMS measure when there are too few inspections to rank.

Violation themes· decoded · grouped by BASIC

What this carrier actually gets cited for — FMCSA violation codes decoded into plain English, ranked by frequency.

  • 392.2 State/local traffic law violation (speeding, etc.)Unsafe Driving801 · 3 OOS
  • 393.75 Tires (defective / underinflated / worn)Vehicle Maintenance261 · 241 OOS
  • 393.9 Inoperative required lampsVehicle Maintenance141 · 37 OOS
  • 393.45 Brake tubing / hose defectsVehicle Maintenance122 · 34 OOS
  • 395.24 ELD — record edits / dataHOS Compliance86 · 0 OOS
  • 395.22 ELD — provider/registration/malfunctionHOS Compliance84 · 0 OOS
  • 393.47 Brake actuators / linings / componentsVehicle Maintenance68 · 1 OOS
  • 396.3 Inspection / repair / maintenance not performedVehicle Maintenance64 · 24 OOS
  • 392.22 Driving of commercial motor vehiclesUnsafe Driving47 · 0 OOS
  • 395.30 ELD — use / data transferHOS Compliance47 · 0 OOS

ELD & hours-of-service

263 hours-of-service / ELD violations on record · most recent Jun 1, 2026. FMCSA does not publish the ELD device brand; these are the carrier's logging-compliance signals.

219ELD device issues
2No log / no ELD
6False logs
20Drove over hours

Trending worse — 63% of ELD violations are in the last 24 months. Falsified-log violations are a serious integrity flag.

Crash history· 3,720 total · 123 in 24 mo

3,720
Total crashes
123
In last 24 mo
112
Fatal
1,548
Injury
YearCrashesFatalInjuryTow
2026271726
20257021869
20246912668
20238613184
20227332671
20217432571
2020108433103
2019148234144
2018146444138
2017146142142
2016131337126
2015124334123
2014126348123
2013111547106
2012137353130
2011116638112
2010112456104
2009142461129
2008159564148
2007150556138
2006161476140
2005187697167
2004143063124
2003152583130
200211255199
200110366690
20008834977
19998735071
19989835187
19978343575
19967414066
19955323847
19944122634
19933001822
19923421523
199112166
19907245
DateStateFatalitiesInjuriesTow-away
Jul 21, 2026MI00Yes
Jul 11, 2026LA00Yes
Jun 21, 2026MO00Yes
Jun 21, 2026GA00Yes
May 23, 2026OR00Yes
May 23, 2026CA01Yes
May 20, 2026AL10Yes
May 17, 2026GA00Yes
May 13, 2026MS02Yes
May 13, 2026CA03Yes
May 12, 2026GA00Yes
May 8, 2026AZ00Yes
May 7, 2026FL02Yes
May 6, 2026GA00Yes
May 5, 2026TX02No
Apr 13, 2026OH00Yes
Apr 12, 2026LA00Yes
Apr 2, 2026TX00Yes
Apr 1, 2026GA00Yes
Mar 31, 2026AZ01Yes
Feb 20, 2026WI00Yes
Feb 19, 2026GA00Yes
Feb 15, 2026AR01Yes
Jan 30, 2026TX00Yes
Jan 30, 2026AR00Yes