Watkins Express Freight Inc
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 rate· vehicle OOS · vehicle-level inspections · 6-month trailing
Roadside inspection history· 24 charted calendar months · vehicle / driver level · any-OOS overlay
123 inspections in the charted months · busiest month Jan '25 · 9
Inspection coverage· expected vs observed · the fraud signal
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.
- Registered power units
- 65
- Inspections · 24 mo
- 127
- Annualized
- ≈64 / yr
- Coverage
- ≈1.0 inspections / unit · yr
BASIC categories· CSA SMS · Aug 2026
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 Driving58 · 0 OOS
- 395.8 Record of duty status (log / ELD) not current or missingHOS Compliance18 · 1 OOS
- 393.75 Tires (defective / underinflated / worn)Vehicle Maintenance17 · 16 OOS
- 395.3 Driving beyond hours-of-service limitsHOS Compliance9 · 1 OOS
- 393.9 Inoperative required lampsVehicle Maintenance9 · 5 OOS
- 393.45 Brake tubing / hose defectsVehicle Maintenance6 · 2 OOS
- 395.24 ELD — record edits / dataHOS Compliance5 · 0 OOS
- 393.53 Automatic brake adjusters / indicatorsVehicle Maintenance4 · 0 OOS
- 396.3 Inspection / repair / maintenance not performedVehicle Maintenance4 · 1 OOS
- 393.47 Brake actuators / linings / componentsVehicle Maintenance4 · 0 OOS
ELD & hours-of-service
36 hours-of-service / ELD violations on record · most recent May 11, 2026. FMCSA does not publish the ELD device brand; these are the carrier's logging-compliance signals.
4 ELD violations in the last 24 months. Falsified-log violations are a serious integrity flag.
Crash history· 46 total · 8 in 24 mo
| Year | Crashes | Fatal | Injury | Tow | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 5 | |
| 2024 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 4 | |
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 2022 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| 2021 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 5 | |
| 2020 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 2019 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 5 | |
| 2018 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | |
| 2017 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
| 2016 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| 2015 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2014 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 2012 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 2009 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 2006 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 2004 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Date | State | Fatalities | Injuries | Tow-away |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2, 2025 | WV | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| Jul 6, 2025 | MS | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| Apr 30, 2025 | PA | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| Jan 21, 2025 | TN | 1 | 1 | Yes |
| Jan 14, 2025 | GA | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| Oct 29, 2024 | IL | 0 | 1 | No |
| Oct 11, 2024 | TN | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| Aug 12, 2024 | KY | 0 | 3 | Yes |
| Jun 20, 2024 | TN | 0 | 1 | Yes |
| Apr 1, 2024 | KY | 0 | 1 | Yes |
| Oct 31, 2023 | LA | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| Aug 23, 2022 | AR | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| Apr 17, 2022 | MO | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| Mar 29, 2022 | AR | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| Oct 26, 2021 | TX | 1 | 2 | Yes |
| May 5, 2021 | PA | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| Apr 23, 2021 | TN | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| Feb 17, 2021 | KY | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| Jan 28, 2021 | KY | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| Oct 15, 2020 | AL | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| Oct 31, 2019 | TN | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| Oct 27, 2019 | MO | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| Sep 29, 2019 | TX | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| Jul 31, 2019 | KY | 0 | 0 | Yes |
| Apr 19, 2019 | TX | 0 | 1 | Yes |