CRITICAL EXPRESS INC
USDOT 2787078MC-Docket MC929020LAKE STATION, IN
Review before tendering14 power units
CRITICAL EXPRESS INC (USDOT 2787078) in LAKE STATION, IN — has findings to review before tendering. FMCSA authority, fleet size, BASIC safety measures, crash and inspection history.
- Has active operating authority that's tenderable today (common or contract).
- No pending authority revocation.
- Not under an uncleared federal out-of-service or safety action.
- BIPD on file is $750,000 — below your $1,000,000 floor (federal general-freight minimum is $750,000).
- No cargo insurance on file. Required for many shipper contracts.
- No history of insurance lapses.
- Current BIPD policy (SPINNAKER INSURANCE COMPANY) was filed 27 day(s) after the last involuntary revocation (2023-09-21) — a refile-to-reinstate pattern worth a closer look.
- Unrated by FMCSA. Most carriers are unrated — unrated is not the same as unsafe.
- No BASIC alerts in any of the five public SMS categories.
- Driver out-of-service rate is above the national roadside average.
- 1 preventable crash(es) in the last 24 months; recordable crash rate 0.
- No fatal crashes in the last 24 months.
- No link to a prior revoked authority.
- Authority involuntarily revoked 10 times, most recent 2023-09-21 — recurring instability (typically insurance-lapse / reinstate cycles).
- Crash Indicator and Hazmat Compliance BASICs are statutorily withheld from public SMS under the FAST Act — their absence is not a clean record; use the crash-risk signals above instead.
Built from FMCSA's public Safety Management System data — guidance, not legal advice. Verify directly with the carrier and your cargo policy before tendering.
Authority
- Common authority
- Active
- Contract authority
- Active
Safety & BASIC scorecard
BASIC safety measures
Unsafe driving
No alert
measure 4.73
Hours of service
No alert
measure 1.6
Driver fitness
No alert
measure 0.9
Controlled substance
No alert
measure 0.9
Vehicle maintenance
No alert
measure 7.38
Under the FAST Act, FMCSA publishes an absolute per-category measure (not a 0–100 percentile) for these five BASICs — the alert flag, not the raw number, is the risk signal. The Crash Indicator and Hazmat Compliance BASICs are statutorily withheld from public view.
Last 24 months
0
Fatalities
1
Injuries
1
Crashes
19
Inspections
4
OOS inspections
5
OOS violations
Insurance
- BIPD on file
- $750,000 below $1M baseline
- Cargo insurance
- No
- Bond on file
- No
Fleet
- Power units
- 14
- Total drivers
- 10
- Years in business
- 11
- Hazmat authority
- No
Crash risk
- Preventable crashes (24 mo)
- 1 of 1 total crash(es)
- Recordable crash rate
- 0
- Driver OOS rate
- 15%Above national
- Vehicle OOS rate
- 14.3%
The official Crash Indicator BASIC is withheld from public SMS under the FAST Act — these derived signals stand in for it; their absence is not a clean record.
Compliance & history
- Reincarnation / chameleon
- No prior revoked authority
- Involuntary revocations
- 10 times last 2023-09-21
- Physical address
- No address flags
- Federal OOS / safety action
- None on file
- MCS-150 self-report
- 2025-09-24
- Insurance lapse history
- No lapses on record
- Last compliance review
- None on file
Inspection history (all-time)
33
Inspections
5
OOS inspections
55
Violations
6
OOS violations
1
Post-accident
Record spans 2023-07-19 → 2026-06-08.
Crash history (last 24 months)
2025-12-17
MO
1 injuredTow-away
Violation pattern (all-time, by area)
| Area (49 CFR part) | Violations | Out of service | Most recent |
|---|---|---|---|
Hours of service 395
|
17 | 0 | 2026-06-08 |
Vehicle parts & maintenance 393
|
15 | 2 | 2025-11-10 |
Unsafe driving 392
|
15 | 1 | 2026-06-08 |
Vehicle inspection & repair 396
|
4 | 0 | 2025-12-17 |
CDL standards 383
|
3 | 3 | 2025-02-28 |
General safety regulations 390
|
1 | 0 | 2025-03-27 |
Recent violations (last 24 months, worst first)
| Date | Category | Violation | OOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-04-14 | Unsafe Driving | State/Local Laws - Failure to maintain lane | — |
| 2026-04-14 | Hours-of-Service Compliance | HOS (ELD) - ELD Form and Manner | — |
| 2025-12-17 | Vehicle Maintenance | Brake - Audible air leak from a brake chamber | — |
| 2025-12-17 | Vehicle Maintenance | Lubrication - Oil or grease leak | — |
| 2025-12-12 | Controlled Substances/​Alcohol | Driver Prohibited from Performing Safety Sensitive Functions per 382.501(a) in the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse | OOS |
| 2025-11-10 | Vehicle Maintenance | Tires - All others leaking or inflation less than 50% of the maximum inflation pressure on tire not equipped with ATIS | OOS |
| 2025-11-10 | Vehicle Maintenance | Tires - Less than 2/32 inch tread depth | — |
| 2025-11-10 | Vehicle Maintenance | Lighting - Tail lamp - Any inoperative | — |
| 2025-11-10 | Vehicle Maintenance | Lighting - Stop lamps - Any inoperative. | — |
| 2025-11-10 | Vehicle Maintenance | Lighting - Turn signal -Any inoperative on a unit that is not the rearmost unit | — |
| 2025-11-10 | Vehicle Maintenance | Air Brake - ABS malfunction lamp defective on truck-tractor manufactured on or after March 1 1997 and each single unit C | — |
| 2025-07-17 | Unsafe Driving | State/Local Laws - Failed to obey a traffic control device - Permanent or Temporary - e.g. safety official signal sign l | — |
| 2025-07-17 | Hours-of-Service Compliance | HOS (ELD) - In-Vehicle Information - Failing to have a supply of blank driver's records of duty status graph-grids suffi | — |
| 2025-07-08 | Unsafe Driving | State/Local Laws - Speeding 15 or more miles per hour over the speed limit | — |
| 2025-07-08 | Hours-of-Service Compliance | HOS - False record of duty status driver improper use of Personal Conveyance - Not OOS | — |
| 2025-07-08 | Unsafe Driving | State/Local Laws - Improper lane change | — |
| 2025-02-28 | Driver Fitness | Operating a CMV without a CDL | OOS |
| 2025-02-28 | Driver Fitness | Driving a CMV while CDL is suspended for a safety-related or unknown reason and in state of driver's license issuance | OOS |
| 2025-01-08 | Hours-of-Service Compliance | False Record of Duty Status - Improper use of Personal Conveyance Exception | — |
| 2024-12-22 | Driver Fitness | Driving a CMV while CDL is suspended for a safety-related or unknown reason and in state of driver's license issuance | OOS |
| 2024-12-22 | Hours-of-Service Compliance | Driving beyond 14 hour duty period (Property carrying vehicle) | — |
| 2024-12-22 | Hours-of-Service Compliance | Driving beyond 11 hour driving limit. (Property Carrying Vehicle) | — |
| 2024-12-22 | Hours-of-Service Compliance | False report of drivers record of duty status | — |
| 2024-12-22 | Vehicle Maintenance | Inoperable head lamps | — |
| 2024-12-22 | Vehicle Maintenance | Operating a CMV without proof of a periodic inspection | — |
| 2024-12-22 | Vehicle Maintenance | No or defective lighting devices or reflective material as required | — |
| 2024-12-22 | Vehicle Maintenance | Emergency Equipment - Stopped vehicle warning devices missing or improper | — |
| 2024-12-22 | Hours-of-Service Compliance | Driver failed to manually add shipping document number | — |
| 2024-12-22 | Hours-of-Service Compliance | Driver failed to certify the accuracy of the information gathered by the ELD | — |
| 2024-12-22 | Hours-of-Service Compliance | Driving beyond 14 hour duty period (Property carrying vehicle) - Nominal Violation | — |
| 2024-12-22 | Hours-of-Service Compliance | Driving beyond 11 hour driving limit in a 14 hour period. (Property carrying vehicle) - Nominal Violation | — |
| 2024-09-20 | Unsafe Driving | State/Local Laws - Failed to obey a traffic control device - Permanent or Temporary - e.g. safety official signal sign l | — |
| 2024-09-20 | Hours-of-Service Compliance | HOS (ELD) - ELD Form and Manner | — |
| 2024-07-08 | Hours-of-Service Compliance | HOS (ELD) - A portable ELD is not mounted in a fixed position and visible to the driver when seated in the normal drivin | — |
Recent inspections (with violations, newest first)
Showing the 19 most-recent inspections that had violations. Clean inspections aren't listed here — they're counted in the all-time inspection totals above.
2026-06-08 4 viols
| Area (part) | Section | OOS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unsafe driving 392 | 2-SLLTCD | — | — |
| Hours of service 395 | 24D-ELDPT | — | — |
| Hours of service 395 | 22H1-ELDNUM | — | — |
| Unsafe driving 392 | 2-SLLSR | — | — |
2026-05-26 1 viol
| Area (part) | Section | OOS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unsafe driving 392 | 2-SLLTCD | — | — |
2026-04-14 3 viols
| Area (part) | Section | OOS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unsafe driving 392 | 2-SLLS1 | — | — |
| Hours of service 395 | 24 | — | — |
| Unsafe driving 392 | 2-SLLML | — | — |
2025-12-17 2 viols
| Area (part) | Section | OOS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vehicle inspection & repair 396 | 3A1-BALAC | — | — |
| Vehicle inspection & repair 396 | 5B-L | — | — |
2025-12-12 1 viol· 1 OOS
| Area (part) | Section | OOS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unsafe driving 392 | 15 | OOS | — |
2025-11-10 6 viols· 1 OOS
| Area (part) | Section | OOS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 75A3-TAOL | OOS | — |
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 9A-LTSIR | — | — |
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 55D1-B | — | — |
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 9A-LRLI | — | — |
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 9A-LSLI | — | — |
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 75C-TAOTD-LT2/32 | — | — |
2025-07-17 2 viols
| Area (part) | Section | OOS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unsafe driving 392 | 2-SLLTCD | — | — |
| Hours of service 395 | 22H4-ELDBRODS | — | — |
2025-07-08 4 viols
| Area (part) | Section | OOS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unsafe driving 392 | 2-SLLS4 | — | — |
| Unsafe driving 392 | 2-SLLILC | — | — |
| Hours of service 395 | 8E1PC | — | — |
| Hours of service 395 | 8E1PC | — | — |
2025-03-27 1 viol
| Area (part) | Section | OOS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| General safety regulations 390 | 21TB2-DOT | — | — |
2025-02-28 2 viols· 2 OOS
| Area (part) | Section | OOS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| CDL standards 383 | 23A2 | OOS | — |
| CDL standards 383 | 51A-SIN | OOS | — |
2025-01-08 1 viol
| Area (part) | Section | OOS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hours of service 395 | 8E1-PC | — | — |
2024-12-22 14 viols· 1 OOS
| Area (part) | Section | OOS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 9H | — | — |
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 11 | — | — |
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 95F | — | — |
| Vehicle inspection & repair 396 | 17C | — | — |
| Unsafe driving 392 | 2RG | — | — |
| Vehicle inspection & repair 396 | 17C | — | — |
| CDL standards 383 | 51A-SIN | OOS | — |
| Hours of service 395 | 24C2III | — | — |
| Hours of service 395 | 30B1 | — | — |
| Hours of service 395 | 8E | — | — |
| Hours of service 395 | 3A2-PROP | — | — |
| Hours of service 395 | 3A2-PROPN | — | — |
| Hours of service 395 | 3A3-PROP | — | — |
| Hours of service 395 | 3A3-PROPN | — | — |
2024-09-20 2 viols
| Area (part) | Section | OOS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unsafe driving 392 | 2 | — | — |
| Hours of service 395 | 24 | — | — |
2024-08-19 1 violPost-accident
| Area (part) | Section | OOS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unsafe driving 392 | 2 | — | — |
2024-07-08 1 viol
| Area (part) | Section | OOS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hours of service 395 | 22(g) | — | — |
2024-06-22 1 viol
| Area (part) | Section | OOS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unsafe driving 392 | 2 | — | — |
2024-04-02 1 viol
| Area (part) | Section | OOS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hours of service 395 | 24 | — | — |
2023-12-22 7 viols· 1 OOS
| Area (part) | Section | OOS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 51C-BAPG | OOS | — |
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 9A-LRLI | — | — |
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 9A-HLLH | — | — |
| Unsafe driving 392 | 2 | — | — |
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 95(f) | — | — |
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 45D-B | — | — |
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 45B2-B | — | — |
2023-10-02 1 viol
| Area (part) | Section | OOS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unsafe driving 392 | 2 | — | — |
Verify on FMCSA
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