Carrier profile · USDOT 1299125 · MC-504038 · Updated Jul 18, 2026

KOVAC EXPRESS INC

29 power unitsavg 9.5 yrMulti-region · 15 statesMISHAWAKA, IN94/100
CARRIER ACTIVEMC-504038 ACTIVERATED SATISFACTORY
Verified linkskovacexpress.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 21.7%24-mo cumulative
050%nat'l 22.26%
Driver OOS 0.0%24-mo cumulative
030%nat'l 6.67%

Every inspection in the window pooled — 23 vehicle and 51 driver inspections over 24 months.

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

20.0% · latest 6-mo window▲ Rising

Share of vehicle-level roadside inspections in each trailing six-month window that resulted in a vehicle out-of-service order. Trending up 4.7 pts 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

50 inspections in the charted months · busiest month May '25 · 6

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.

Well-monitored
Under-inspected
Expected
Well-monitored
Heavily inspected
≈0.9 / unit·yr
thin signalabundant signal
Within the expected band for a 29-unit fleet — FMCSA has inspected this carrier often enough that the out-of-service and violation signals above are statistically trustworthy.
Registered power units
29
Inspections · 24 mo
51
Annualized
≈26 / yr
Coverage
≈0.9 inspections / unit · yr

BASIC categories· CSA SMS · Aug 2026

79%
Unsafe Driving
Vektor peer est.
19%
Hours-of-Service
Vektor peer est.
Driver Fitness
0violations
clean · per-BASIC
Controlled Substances
0violations
clean · per-BASIC
64%
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 Driving19 · 0 OOS
  • 395.24 ELD — record edits / dataHOS Compliance12 · 0 OOS
  • 393.9 Inoperative required lampsVehicle Maintenance11 · 0 OOS
  • 393.45 Brake tubing / hose defectsVehicle Maintenance7 · 1 OOS
  • 393.75 Tires (defective / underinflated / worn)Vehicle Maintenance5 · 4 OOS
  • 395.22 ELD — provider/registration/malfunctionHOS Compliance4 · 0 OOS
  • 396.17 Periodic (annual) inspectionVehicle Maintenance3 · 0 OOS
  • 393.11 Required lamps/reflectors missingVehicle Maintenance3 · 0 OOS
  • 396.3 Inspection / repair / maintenance not performedVehicle Maintenance3 · 1 OOS
  • 393.47 Brake actuators / linings / componentsVehicle Maintenance3 · 0 OOS

ELD & hours-of-service

17 hours-of-service / ELD violations on record · most recent Apr 28, 2026. FMCSA does not publish the ELD device brand; these are the carrier's logging-compliance signals.

17ELD device issues
0No log / no ELD
0False logs
0Drove over hours

Trending worse — 71% of ELD violations are in the last 24 months.

Crash history· 36 total · 2 in 24 mo

36
Total crashes
2
In last 24 mo
0
Fatal
8
Injury
YearCrashesFatalInjuryTow
20252022
20233003
20222002
20213013
20191001
20181011
20173003
20151011
20143013
20131001
20115005
20102002
20096026
20082002
20071001
DateStateFatalitiesInjuriesTow-away
May 4, 2025AZ01Yes
Apr 1, 2025IN01Yes
Mar 10, 2023MO00Yes
Mar 3, 2023MO00Yes
Jan 27, 2023IN00Yes
May 10, 2022IN00Yes
Feb 9, 2022IN00Yes
Sep 15, 2021IN00Yes
Sep 8, 2021IN01Yes
Jun 15, 2021OH00Yes
Oct 31, 2019MO00Yes
May 31, 2018TX01Yes
Dec 29, 2017IN00Yes
Mar 4, 2017IN00Yes
Feb 8, 2017IN00Yes
Mar 31, 2015IN01Yes
Dec 23, 2014ID00Yes
Oct 16, 2014OH01Yes
Apr 25, 2014IN00Yes
Oct 9, 2013OH00Yes
Nov 21, 2011IL00Yes
Nov 3, 2011KY00Yes
Jun 24, 2011IN00Yes
May 5, 2011OH00Yes
Jan 4, 2011IN00Yes