Carrier profile · USDOT 678969 · MC-145996 · Updated Jun 13, 2026

Sterling Freight Lines Inc

1 power unitavg 10.5 yrRegional · 5 statesTAYLOR, MI84/100

CARRIER ACTIVEMC-145996 ACTIVEHAZMAT

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 0.0%24-mo cumulative

030%nat'l 6.67%

Every inspection in the window pooled — 31 vehicle and 34 driver inspections over 24 months.

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

6.7% · 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 14.3 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

34 inspections in the charted months · busiest month Jul '26 · 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.

Heavily inspected

Under-inspected

Expected

Well-monitored

Heavily inspected

≈17.0 / unit·yr

thin signalabundant signal

Among the more heavily-inspected carriers for its size — abundant roadside signal. Coverage isn't the question here; the out-of-service and crash record is.

Registered power units: 1
Inspections · 24 mo: 34
Annualized: ≈17 / yr
Coverage: ≈17.0 inspections / unit · yr

BASIC categories· CSA SMS · Aug 2026

Unsafe Driving

0violations

clean · per-BASIC

Hours-of-Service

0violations

clean · per-BASIC

Driver Fitness

0violations

clean · per-BASIC

Controlled Substances

0violations

clean · per-BASIC

28%

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.

393.11 Required lamps/reflectors missingVehicle Maintenance6 · 0 OOS
393.45 Brake tubing / hose defectsVehicle Maintenance4 · 2 OOS
392.2 State/local traffic law violation (speeding, etc.)Unsafe Driving2 · 0 OOS
393.9 Inoperative required lampsVehicle Maintenance2 · 0 OOS
396.5 Oil and/or grease leakVehicle Maintenance2 · 1 OOS
393.55 Antilock brake system (ABS)Vehicle Maintenance1 · 0 OOS
390.21 USDOT number marking on vehicleUnsafe Driving1 · 0 OOS
393.75 Tires (defective / underinflated / worn)Vehicle Maintenance1 · 1 OOS
393.78 Windshield wipersVehicle Maintenance1 · 0 OOS
393.95 Emergency equipment (extinguisher, triangles)Vehicle Maintenance1 · 0 OOS

ELD & hours-of-service

1 hours-of-service / ELD violation on record · most recent Nov 27, 2025. FMCSA does not publish the ELD device brand; these are the carrier's logging-compliance signals.

0ELD device issues

0No log / no ELD

0False logs

0Drove over hours

Crash history· 20 total · 3 in 24 mo

Total crashes

In last 24 mo

Fatal

Injury

Year	Crashes	Fatal	Injury	Tow
2026	1	0	1	1
2025	2	0	1	2
2013	1	0	1	1
2010	1	0	0	1
2008	1	0	0	1
2007	1	0	1	1
2006	1	1	1	1
2004	2	0	1	1
2002	3	0	0	3
2001	3	0	0	3
1999	2	1	1	2
1997	2	0	2	1

Date	State	Fatalities	Injuries	Tow-away
May 11, 2026	TX	0	1	Yes
Mar 12, 2025	TX	0	0	Yes
Feb 12, 2025	TX	0	1	Yes
Feb 25, 2013	KY	0	1	Yes
May 18, 2010	IL	0	0	Yes
Jun 25, 2008	OH	0	0	Yes
Sep 12, 2007	AR	0	1	Yes
Mar 3, 2006	KY	1	2	Yes
Jun 13, 2004	GA	0	0	Yes
May 1, 2004	OH	0	1	No
Oct 15, 2002	NJ	0	0	Yes
Mar 1, 2002	OH	0	0	Yes
Jan 31, 2002	KY	0	0	Yes
Aug 14, 2001	KY	0	0	Yes
Mar 13, 2001	KY	0	0	Yes
Mar 3, 2001	KY	0	0	Yes
Sep 23, 1999	KY	0	0	Yes
Mar 9, 1999	OH	1	1	Yes
Sep 11, 1997	PA	0	1	Yes
Sep 9, 1997	MI	0	1	No