How the US trucking industry moves
Live charts built from millions of FMCSA roadside inspections and carrier records — how inspection volume is growing, where trucks get stopped, how often they fail, and how the carrier population breaks down by fleet size. Updated every day.
Most trucking data sits locked behind paywalled industry reports or buried in raw federal data dumps that take an analyst to open. This page is the opposite: the headline trends of the US trucking industry, charted from the same public FMCSA records we use to power carrier verification, and free for anyone to read.
For freight brokers, these charts are context for the decision in front of you. A national out-of-service rate tells you what “normal” looks like before you judge a single carrier’s safety record. The fleet-size distribution shows just how much of US capacity is owner-operators and small fleets. The state-by-state inspection counts trace where enforcement — and freight — is concentrated. Each chart links to a deep-dive page with the full data series, a methodology note, and a CSV download.
Explore the charts
FMCSA roadside inspections charted since 2023
average out-of-service rate across all inspections
of US carriers run five trucks or fewer
roadside inspections in CA — the busiest state
average violations recorded per roadside inspection
of inspections are thorough Level 1 inspections
of registered carriers ran a roadside inspection in the last 90 days
of US carriers are authorized to haul hazardous materials
observed truck trips on TX→NM, the busiest lane
inspections logged by SWIFT TRANSPORTA…, the most-inspected carrier
distinct carriers inspected in the latest full month
distinct trucks inspected in the latest full month
distinct carriers observed in inspections since 2023
distinct trucks observed in inspections since 2023
About this data
Source: FMCSA roadside inspection and carrier registration records from data.transportation.gov, ingested daily. Charts are recomputed once a day by a scheduled job; each page shows its last-refreshed timestamp. Inspection time-series charts treat the most recent month as partial — federal records continue to arrive for several weeks after an inspection takes place.
Frequently asked questions
Where does this trucking data come from?
Every chart is built from FMCSA roadside inspection and carrier registration records published on data.transportation.gov. We ingest the feeds daily, so the trends reflect the most recent inspections available from the federal government.
How often are the charts updated?
A scheduled job recomputes every chart once a day. Each page shows the exact timestamp of its last refresh, so you always know how current the numbers are.
Can I download or cite this data?
Yes. Every trend page has a CSV download of the underlying series. The data originates from public FMCSA records, so you are free to cite and republish it — a link back to the page is appreciated.
Why does the most recent month look low?
Roadside inspections take several weeks to fully propagate into the FMCSA feed. The latest month on any time-series chart is therefore partial and will rise as more records arrive.