Carrier profile · USDOT 285525 · MC-193781 · Updated Jun 13, 2026

Rist Transport Ltd

DBA HOWARD'S EXPRESS

219 power unitsavg 5.9 yrMulti-region · 10 statesPHELPS, NY88/100
CARRIER ACTIVEMC-193781 ACTIVERATED SATISFACTORYHAZMAT
Verified linkswadhams.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 9.7%24-mo cumulative
050%nat'l 22.26%
Driver OOS 1.2%24-mo cumulative
030%nat'l 6.67%

Every inspection in the window pooled — 155 vehicle and 248 driver inspections over 24 months.

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

10.8% · 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 2.9 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

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

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
≈0.6 / unit·yr
thin signalabundant signal
Roadside-inspection volume is about what you'd expect for a 219-unit fleet — enough signal to read the safety record, though not a heavy sample.
Registered power units
219
Inspections · 24 mo
248
Annualized
≈124 / yr
Coverage
≈0.6 inspections / unit · yr

BASIC categories· CSA SMS · Aug 2026

38%
Unsafe Driving
Vektor peer est.
61%
Hours-of-Service
Vektor peer est.
32%
Driver Fitness
Vektor peer est.
Controlled Substances
0violations
clean · per-BASIC
54%
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 Driving87 · 0 OOS
  • 393.9 Inoperative required lampsVehicle Maintenance58 · 8 OOS
  • 393.45 Brake tubing / hose defectsVehicle Maintenance33 · 1 OOS
  • 393.55 Antilock brake system (ABS)Vehicle Maintenance21 · 0 OOS
  • 395.8 Record of duty status (log / ELD) not current or missingHOS Compliance15 · 1 OOS
  • 395.22 ELD — provider/registration/malfunctionHOS Compliance13 · 0 OOS
  • 395.30 ELD — use / data transferHOS Compliance13 · 0 OOS
  • 393.47 Brake actuators / linings / componentsVehicle Maintenance9 · 0 OOS
  • 395.3 Driving beyond hours-of-service limitsHOS Compliance9 · 0 OOS
  • 390.21 USDOT number marking on vehicleUnsafe Driving8 · 0 OOS

ELD & hours-of-service

57 hours-of-service / ELD violations on record · most recent May 22, 2026. FMCSA does not publish the ELD device brand; these are the carrier's logging-compliance signals.

33ELD device issues
2No log / no ELD
8False logs
9Drove over hours

Trending worse — 79% of ELD violations are in the last 24 months. Falsified-log violations are a serious integrity flag.

Crash history· 264 total · 20 in 24 mo

264
Total crashes
20
In last 24 mo
7
Fatal
108
Injury
YearCrashesFatalInjuryTow
20264033
2025140314
20249069
20233013
2022140613
2021131313
2020120212
20198058
2018130812
20176046
2016141614
20156026
20146036
20132112
20127157
20118047
2010140514
20099029
20085025
2007200618
20067065
20056015
20043013
2003101610
20024004
20015025
20003013
19998038
19982002
19976036
19966026
19956016
19949159
19921100
19911000
DateStateFatalitiesInjuriesTow-away
Jul 31, 2026PA01Yes
Jun 20, 2026PA00Yes
Mar 10, 2026NY03No
Feb 28, 2026NJ01Yes
Dec 10, 2025PA00Yes
Nov 16, 2025MA01Yes
Nov 13, 2025PA00Yes
Oct 11, 2025NY01Yes
Oct 9, 2025PA00Yes
Aug 23, 2025NY02Yes
Jul 21, 2025PA00Yes
Jul 11, 2025PA00Yes
May 23, 2025MA00Yes
Apr 2, 2025WI00Yes
Mar 12, 2025NJ00Yes
Feb 20, 2025NJ00Yes
Feb 19, 2025NY00Yes
Jan 6, 2025PA00Yes
Nov 11, 2024PA01Yes
Sep 25, 2024NY00Yes
Jun 22, 2024MA01Yes
Jun 5, 2024PA00Yes
Apr 1, 2024PA01Yes
Mar 4, 2024NY01Yes
Feb 16, 2024NY01Yes