Carrier profile · USDOT 243805 · MC-173948 · Updated Jun 13, 2026

Mel Easton and Sons Inc

40 power unitsavg 12.5 yrMulti-region · 8 statesCOUNCIL BLUFFS, IA74/100
CARRIER ACTIVEMC-173948 ACTIVERATED SATISFACTORY
Verified linkseastontrucking.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 37.5%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 — 8 vehicle and 41 driver inspections over 24 months.

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

33.3% · 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 35.7 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

40 inspections in the charted months · busiest month Jun '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.

Expected band
Under-inspected
Expected
Well-monitored
Heavily inspected
≈0.5 / unit·yr
thin signalabundant signal
Roadside-inspection volume is about what you'd expect for a 40-unit fleet — enough signal to read the safety record, though not a heavy sample.
Registered power units
40
Inspections · 24 mo
41
Annualized
≈21 / yr
Coverage
≈0.5 inspections / unit · yr

BASIC categories· CSA SMS · Aug 2026

59%
Unsafe Driving
Vektor peer est.
15%
Hours-of-Service
Vektor peer est.
Driver Fitness
0violations
clean · per-BASIC
Controlled Substances
0violations
clean · per-BASIC
68%
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 Driving20 · 0 OOS
  • 393.9 Inoperative required lampsVehicle Maintenance9 · 0 OOS
  • 396.3 Inspection / repair / maintenance not performedVehicle Maintenance4 · 2 OOS
  • 393.47 Brake actuators / linings / componentsVehicle Maintenance4 · 0 OOS
  • 393.53 Automatic brake adjusters / indicatorsVehicle Maintenance3 · 0 OOS
  • 393.11 Required lamps/reflectors missingVehicle Maintenance3 · 0 OOS
  • 393.45 Brake tubing / hose defectsVehicle Maintenance3 · 0 OOS
  • 396.5 Oil and/or grease leakVehicle Maintenance2 · 0 OOS
  • 392.16 Failure to use seat beltUnsafe Driving2 · 0 OOS
  • 393.60 Windshield / glazingVehicle Maintenance2 · 0 OOS

ELD & hours-of-service

2 hours-of-service / ELD violations on record · most recent Feb 4, 2026. FMCSA does not publish the ELD device brand; these are the carrier's logging-compliance signals.

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

Trending worse — 100% of ELD violations are in the last 24 months.

Crash history· 32 total · 2 in 24 mo

32
Total crashes
2
In last 24 mo
1
Fatal
14
Injury
YearCrashesFatalInjuryTow
20261001
20251011
20241001
20231001
20221001
20202012
20173003
20161001
20141011
20131001
20112012
20073013
20051011
20031001
20021101
19982021
19971001
19962021
19952022
19942021
19922002
DateStateFatalitiesInjuriesTow-away
Feb 18, 2026IA00Yes
Aug 4, 2025NE01Yes
Mar 26, 2024MN00Yes
Nov 26, 2023IA00Yes
Mar 7, 2022NE00Yes
Oct 28, 2020IL00Yes
Jul 31, 2020MI01Yes
Dec 21, 2017NE00Yes
Dec 15, 2017IA00Yes
Jan 2, 2017MN00Yes
Nov 20, 2016FL00Yes
May 6, 2014IA02Yes
Dec 27, 2013NE00Yes
Nov 3, 2011NE04Yes
Jun 14, 2011IA00Yes
Oct 20, 2007IA00Yes
Sep 12, 2007IA00Yes
May 29, 2007IA02Yes
May 19, 2005IN01Yes
Dec 30, 2003IA00Yes
Feb 2, 2002IN10Yes
Mar 4, 1998WI01Yes
Jan 5, 1998NJ01No
Apr 23, 1997MO00Yes
Sep 26, 1996KS02No