Carrier profile · USDOT 75545 · Updated Jun 13, 2026

Northstar Materials Inc

DBA KNIFE RIVER MATERIALS

107 power unitsavg 9.4 yrRegional · 3 statesBEMIDJI, MN86/100
AUTHORITY STATUS UNKNOWNRATED SATISFACTORYHAZMAT
Verified linkskniferiver.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 50.0%24-mo cumulative
050%nat'l 22.26%
Driver OOS 3.3%24-mo cumulative
030%nat'l 6.67%

Every inspection in the window pooled — 16 vehicle and 30 driver inspections over 24 months.

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

44.4% · 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

25 inspections in the charted months · busiest month May '25 · 5

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.

Thin coverage
Under-inspected
Expected
Well-monitored
Heavily inspected
≈0.1 / unit·yr
thin signalabundant signal
Few roadside inspections for a 107-unit fleet — the out-of-service and violation signals above rest on a small sample, so weight them cautiously. Thin coverage on a young authority is itself a flag.
Registered power units
107
Inspections · 24 mo
30
Annualized
≈15 / yr
Coverage
≈0.1 inspections / unit · yr

BASIC categories· CSA SMS · Aug 2026

13%
Unsafe Driving
Vektor peer est.
66%
Hours-of-Service
Vektor peer est.
40%
Driver Fitness
Vektor peer est.
Controlled Substances
0violations
clean · per-BASIC
81%
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 Driving27 · 0 OOS
  • 393.9 Inoperative required lampsVehicle Maintenance15 · 6 OOS
  • 393.75 Tires (defective / underinflated / worn)Vehicle Maintenance4 · 4 OOS
  • 393.47 Brake actuators / linings / componentsVehicle Maintenance4 · 0 OOS
  • 392.16 Failure to use seat beltUnsafe Driving3 · 0 OOS
  • 395.3 Driving beyond hours-of-service limitsHOS Compliance3 · 0 OOS
  • 393.45 Brake tubing / hose defectsVehicle Maintenance3 · 0 OOS
  • 396.3 Inspection / repair / maintenance not performedVehicle Maintenance2 · 2 OOS
  • 393.78 Windshield wipersVehicle Maintenance2 · 0 OOS
  • 393.11 Required lamps/reflectors missingVehicle Maintenance2 · 0 OOS

ELD & hours-of-service

7 hours-of-service / ELD violations on record · most recent Mar 27, 2026. FMCSA does not publish the ELD device brand; these are the carrier's logging-compliance signals.

2ELD device issues
1No log / no ELD
0False logs
3Drove over hours

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

Crash history· 21 total · 0 in 24 mo

21
Total crashes
0
In last 24 mo
0
Fatal
9
Injury
YearCrashesFatalInjuryTow
20223023
20211001
20191001
20181001
20171001
20162012
20151001
20141001
20132012
20122012
20091001
20043033
20021001
19941011
DateStateFatalitiesInjuriesTow-away
Oct 11, 2022MN01Yes
Aug 8, 2022ND01Yes
Jul 8, 2022MN00Yes
Jun 7, 2021MN00Yes
Dec 23, 2019MN00Yes
Aug 24, 2018MN00Yes
Sep 19, 2017ND00Yes
Nov 8, 2016ND00Yes
Apr 27, 2016ND01Yes
Jul 1, 2015MN00Yes
Oct 13, 2014MN00Yes
Nov 4, 2013MN00Yes
Jul 5, 2013MN01Yes
Jun 7, 2012MN00Yes
Apr 18, 2012MN01Yes
Sep 3, 2009MN00Yes
Oct 27, 2004MN01Yes
Aug 25, 2004MN01Yes
Aug 20, 2004MN01Yes
Sep 5, 2002MN00Yes
Aug 15, 1994MN02Yes