Unsafe Trucking: Who's Watching the Watchers?

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is supposed to keep our roads safe by checking on trucking companies and drivers. But the numbers tell a different story. In 2021, there were 690, 091 interstate freight carriers, and 94% of them had no safety rating at all. That means no one from the FMCSA had checked them out. They could be running trucks with bad brakes, drivers who don't know the rules, and no one would know until it's too late. The FMCSA has a big budget, almost $1 billion, but they're not using it to check on most carriers. Only 6% of carriers get a compliance review or on-site inspection. That's like having a teacher who only checks 6 out of every 100 homework assignments. How can they know if everyone is doing their work? One big problem is non-domicile CDLs. These are commercial driver's licenses given to people who don't live in the state where they got their license. Some states have become hotspots for CDL mills, where people can get a license without really knowing how to drive a truck safely. When a crash happens, it's often too late to find out the driver wasn't qualified. When you see "No Safety Rating Available" on the FMCSA portal, it doesn't mean the carrier is safe. It just means no one has checked them out. There are only four safety ratings: Satisfactory, Conditional, Unsatisfactory, and Not Rated. If a carrier is Not Rated, it's a red flag. It means no one has looked under the hood—literally or figuratively. The data shows what happens when enforcement is loose. For example, one carrier had only 31. 8% compliance with hours-of-service rules and 7. 6% compliance with controlled substances rules. These aren't cherry-picked stats. They're part of publicly accessible inspection data. And they show what happens when the system isn't working. Brokers are also part of the problem. Some brokers avoid carriers who follow the rules because they want to pay less. They look for the cheapest carriers, even if they're not safe. This rewards bad behavior and punishes the carriers who are trying to do things the right way. There are also scams involving insurance fraud and shell companies. Someone gets authority under a fake company name, runs up insurance claims, and then burns that MC number and opens a new one next month. No audit. No background check. No consequences. This scam loop keeps spinning because the FMCSA isn't structured to stop it. So what can be done? The FMCSA needs to close the non-domicile CDL loophole, require safety audits before issuing permanent operating authority, and make sure every active carrier undergoes a full compliance review within 6 months. They also need to restrict broker access to carriers with no safety rating and use technology to identify fraud loops. Right now, the FMCSA is like a housing inspector that only checks 1 out of every 20 homes being built—and doesn’t even follow up if someone complains. That’s not regulation. That’s neglect. And in an industry where lives are on the line every day, neglect isn’t just dangerous. It’s deadly.