Carrier profile · USDOT 594048 · Updated Jun 13, 2026

Universal Scrap Metals Inc

33 power unitsavg 11 yrRegional · 3 statesCHICAGO, IL62/100
AUTHORITY STATUS UNKNOWN
Verified linksusmrecycles.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 46.2%24-mo cumulative
050%nat'l 22.26%
Driver OOS 13.6%24-mo cumulative
030%nat'l 6.67%

Every inspection in the window pooled — 13 vehicle and 22 driver inspections over 24 months.

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

50.0% · 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 2.4 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

21 inspections in the charted months · busiest month Jul '25 · 3

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
≈0.3 / unit·yr
thin signalabundant signal
Few roadside inspections for a 33-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
33
Inspections · 24 mo
22
Annualized
≈11 / yr
Coverage
≈0.3 inspections / unit · yr

BASIC categories· CSA SMS · Aug 2026

39%
Unsafe Driving
Vektor peer est.
71%
Hours-of-Service
Vektor peer est.
86%
Driver Fitness
Vektor peer est.
Controlled Substances
0violations
clean · per-BASIC
86%
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 Driving24 · 0 OOS
  • 393.9 Inoperative required lampsVehicle Maintenance17 · 1 OOS
  • 393.47 Brake actuators / linings / componentsVehicle Maintenance10 · 0 OOS
  • 396.3 Inspection / repair / maintenance not performedVehicle Maintenance7 · 4 OOS
  • 393.75 Tires (defective / underinflated / worn)Vehicle Maintenance6 · 6 OOS
  • 393.55 Antilock brake system (ABS)Vehicle Maintenance5 · 0 OOS
  • 396.17 Periodic (annual) inspectionVehicle Maintenance4 · 0 OOS
  • 396.5 Oil and/or grease leakVehicle Maintenance4 · 1 OOS
  • 393.45 Brake tubing / hose defectsVehicle Maintenance4 · 0 OOS
  • 393.11 Required lamps/reflectors missingVehicle Maintenance4 · 0 OOS

ELD & hours-of-service

No hours-of-service or ELD violations on record across 35 inspections — a clean logging history.

Crash history· 17 total · 2 in 24 mo

17
Total crashes
2
In last 24 mo
1
Fatal
6
Injury
YearCrashesFatalInjuryTow
20243003
20232012
20201011
20193013
20183012
20172002
20161001
20141111
19981010
DateStateFatalitiesInjuriesTow-away
Dec 6, 2024IL00Yes
Sep 6, 2024IL00Yes
Feb 13, 2024IN00Yes
Apr 28, 2023IL01Yes
Feb 21, 2023IL00Yes
Oct 26, 2020IL01Yes
Dec 3, 2019IL00Yes
Apr 25, 2019IL00Yes
Mar 20, 2019IL02Yes
Dec 11, 2018IL00Yes
Nov 21, 2018IL01No
Feb 23, 2018IL00Yes
Aug 14, 2017IL00Yes
Jul 27, 2017IL00Yes
Oct 3, 2016IL00Yes
Jun 10, 2014IL12Yes
Mar 11, 1998IL01No