Carrier profile · USDOT 526091 · MC-208662 · Updated Jun 13, 2026

LIGHTNING EXPRESS INC

7 power unitsavg 7.8 yrMulti-region · 12 statesHAM LAKE, MN100/100
CARRIER ACTIVEMC-208662 ACTIVERATED SATISFACTORY

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 0.0%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 — 5 vehicle and 18 driver inspections over 24 months.

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

0.0% · latest 6-mo window▼ Falling

Share of vehicle-level roadside inspections in each trailing six-month window that resulted in a vehicle out-of-service order. Trending down 30.6 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

18 inspections in the charted months · busiest month Nov '24 · 2

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
1.3 / unit·yr
thin signalabundant signal
Within the expected band for a 7-unit fleet — FMCSA has inspected this carrier often enough that the out-of-service and violation signals above are statistically trustworthy.
Registered power units
7
Inspections · 24 mo
18
Annualized
9 / yr
Coverage
1.3 inspections / unit · yr

BASIC categories· CSA SMS · 2026-08-01

64%
Unsafe Driving
Vektor peer est.
40%
Hours-of-Service
Vektor peer est.
Driver Fitness
0violations
clean · per-BASIC
Controlled Substances
0violations
clean · per-BASIC
26%
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 Driving17 · 0 OOS
  • 396.3 Inspection / repair / maintenance not performedVehicle Maintenance10 · 9 OOS
  • 393.203 Parts & accessories (vehicle condition)Vehicle Maintenance6 · 0 OOS
  • 393.9 Inoperative required lampsVehicle Maintenance6 · 4 OOS
  • 395.3 Driving beyond hours-of-service limitsHOS Compliance5 · 0 OOS
  • 393.45 Brake tubing / hose defectsVehicle Maintenance5 · 0 OOS
  • 393.207 Parts & accessories (vehicle condition)Vehicle Maintenance4 · 4 OOS
  • 395.24 ELD — record edits / dataHOS Compliance2 · 0 OOS
  • 393.48 Brakes inoperativeVehicle Maintenance2 · 1 OOS
  • 393.78 Windshield wipersVehicle Maintenance1 · 0 OOS

ELD & hours-of-service

10 hours-of-service / ELD violations on record · most recent Mar 24, 2025. FMCSA does not publish the ELD device brand; these are the carrier's logging-compliance signals.

3ELD device issues
0No log / no ELD
1False logs
5Drove over hours

0 ELD violations in the last 24 months. Falsified-log violations are a serious integrity flag.

Crash history· 18 total · 0 in 24 mo

18
Total crashes
0
In last 24 mo
1
Fatal
6
Injury
YearCrashesFatalInjuryTow
20241011
20222112
20211011
20201001
20191001
20181011
20171001
20161001
20152002
20131001
20111010
20101011
20021001
20001001
19991001
19981001
DateStateFatalitiesInjuriesTow-away
Apr 21, 2024GA01Yes
May 26, 2022FL31Yes
Apr 16, 2022IL00Yes
Mar 12, 2021GA01Yes
Sep 10, 2020CA00Yes
Feb 4, 2019MN00Yes
Aug 24, 2018FL01Yes
Aug 13, 2017TX00Yes
Jan 20, 2016FL00Yes
Mar 11, 2015CA00Yes
Mar 5, 2015TN00Yes
Aug 25, 2013MN00Yes
Apr 18, 2011FL02No
Dec 30, 2010MN02Yes
Aug 6, 2002GA00Yes
Aug 17, 2000FL00Yes
Sep 11, 1999IL00Yes
Apr 29, 1998TN00Yes