LIGHTNING EXPRESS INC
USDOT 526091MC-Docket MC208662HAM LAKE, MN
Review before tendering7 power units
LIGHTNING EXPRESS INC (USDOT 526091) in HAM LAKE, MN — 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.
- Satisfactory safety rating.
- No BASIC alerts in any of the five public SMS categories.
- Driver and vehicle out-of-service rates are at or below the national roadside average.
- No preventable crashes in the last 24 months; recordable crash rate not available not elevated.
- No fatal crashes in the last 24 months.
- No link to a prior revoked authority.
- 1 other active carrier(s) operate from this exact street + ZIP. High counts are often legitimate registered-agent / virtual-office addresses — treat as context, not a verdict.
- FMCSA compliance review on file dated 2009-11-24 (C).
- 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
- Not applicable
- Contract authority
- Active
Safety & BASIC scorecard
BASIC safety measures
Unsafe driving
No alert
measure 4.44
Hours of service
No alert
measure 0.57
Driver fitness
No alert
measure 0
Controlled substance
No alert
measure 0
Vehicle maintenance
No alert
measure 2.88
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
0
Injuries
0
Crashes
17
Inspections
0
OOS inspections
0
OOS violations
Insurance
- BIPD on file
- $750,000 below $1M baseline
- Cargo insurance
- No
- Bond on file
- No
Fleet
- Power units
- 7
- Total drivers
- 7
- Years in business
- 33
- Hazmat authority
- No
Crash risk
- Preventable crashes (24 mo)
- 0 of 0 total crash(es)
- Recordable crash rate
- Not available
- Driver OOS rate
- 0%
- Vehicle OOS rate
- 0%
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
- None on file
- Physical address
- 1 other carrier(s) at this address
- Federal OOS / safety action
- None on file
- MCS-150 self-report
- 2025-04-11
- Insurance lapse history
- No lapses on record
- Last compliance review
- 2009-11-24 · C
Inspection history (all-time)
29
Inspections
2
OOS inspections
72
Violations
2
OOS violations
1
Post-accident
Record spans 2023-06-30 → 2026-02-28.
Crash history (last 24 months)
No crashes recorded in the last 24 months.
Violation pattern (all-time, by area)
| Area (49 CFR part) | Violations | Out of service | Most recent |
|---|---|---|---|
Vehicle parts & maintenance 393
|
27 | 11 | 2025-06-14 |
Unsafe driving 392
|
17 | 1 | 2026-02-28 |
Vehicle inspection & repair 396
|
10 | 9 | 2023-11-11 |
Hours of service 395
|
8 | 0 | 2025-03-24 |
Recent violations (last 24 months, worst first)
| Date | Category | Violation | OOS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-02-28 | Unsafe Driving | State/Local Laws - Lane restriction violation | — |
| 2025-07-29 | Unsafe Driving | State/Local Laws - Failed to obey a traffic control device - Permanent or Temporary - e.g. safety official signal sign l | — |
| 2025-07-29 | Unsafe Driving | State/Local Laws - Unlawfully parking /leaving vehicle on roadway | — |
| 2025-07-11 | Unsafe Driving | State/Local Laws - Speeding 6-10 miles per hour over the speed limit | — |
| 2025-06-14 | Vehicle Maintenance | Brake connections with leaks or constrictions | — |
| 2025-03-24 | Unsafe Driving | State/Local Laws - Speeding 6-10 miles per hour over the speed limit | — |
| 2025-03-24 | Unsafe Driving | Driver - Unauthorized passenger(s) on-board a CMV | — |
| 2025-03-24 | Hours-of-Service Compliance | Driving beyond 14 hour duty period. (Property carrying vehicle) - Nominal Violation | — |
| 2025-01-07 | Unsafe Driving | State/Local Laws - Speeding 6-10 miles per hour over the speed limit | — |
| 2025-01-06 | Vehicle Maintenance | Tires - All others leaking in tread area with inflation more than 50% of the maximum inflation pressure on tire equipped | — |
| 2025-01-06 | Hours-of-Service Compliance | HOS (Property) - Driving more than 11 hours following 10 consecutive hours off duty during the current 8 consecutive day | — |
| 2025-01-06 | Hours-of-Service Compliance | HOS (Property) - Driving beyond the 14 hour after coming on duty following 10 consecutive hours off duty during the curr | — |
| 2025-01-06 | Vehicle Maintenance | Air Brake - Audible air leak at a proper connection | — |
| 2025-01-06 | Vehicle Maintenance | Air Brake - ABS malfunction lamp defective on trailers manufactured on or after March 1 1998 | — |
| 2024-09-30 | Hours-of-Service Compliance | Motor carrier failed to ensure that the ELD automatically recorded the required data elements. | — |
| 2024-05-09 | Vehicle Maintenance | Inoperable Required Lamp | — |
Recent inspections (with violations, newest first)
Showing the 15 most-recent inspections that had violations. Clean inspections aren't listed here — they're counted in the all-time inspection totals above.
2026-02-28 1 viol
| Area (part) | Section | OOS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unsafe driving 392 | 2-SLLLR | — | — |
2025-10-02 1 viol
| Area (part) | Section | OOS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unsafe driving 392 | 2-SLLSR | — | — |
2025-07-29 2 viols
| Area (part) | Section | OOS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unsafe driving 392 | 2-SLLTCD | — | — |
| Unsafe driving 392 | 2-SLLUP | — | — |
2025-07-11 1 viol
| Area (part) | Section | OOS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unsafe driving 392 | 2-SLLS2 | — | — |
2025-06-14 1 viol
| Area (part) | Section | OOS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 45D | — | — |
2025-03-24 4 viols
| Area (part) | Section | OOS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unsafe driving 392 | 60A-D | — | — |
| Unsafe driving 392 | 2-SLLS2 | — | — |
| Hours of service 395 | 3A2-HOSPRNP | — | — |
| Hours of service 395 | 3A2-HOSPRNP | — | — |
2024-09-30 1 viol
| Area (part) | Section | OOS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hours of service 395 | 26(b) | — | — |
2024-05-09 2 viols
| Area (part) | Section | OOS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unsafe driving 392 | 2 | — | — |
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 9(a) | — | — |
2024-03-09 3 viols
| Area (part) | Section | OOS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unsafe driving 392 | 2 | — | — |
| Hours of service 395 | 3(a)(3)(i) | — | — |
| Hours of service 395 | 8(e)(1) | — | — |
2024-03-04 3 viols· 1 OOS
| Area (part) | Section | OOS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 45(b)(2) | — | — |
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 47(a) | OOS | — |
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 48(a) | — | — |
2023-12-11 2 viols
| Area (part) | Section | OOS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unsafe driving 392 | 2 | — | — |
| Hours of service 395 | 24(d) | — | — |
2023-11-11 33 violsPost-accident
| Area (part) | Section | OOS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unsafe driving 392 | 2 | — | — |
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 78 | — | — |
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 60(c) | — | — |
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 203(a) | — | — |
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 203(e) | — | — |
| Vehicle inspection & repair 396 | 3(a)(1) | OOS | — |
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 201(a) | OOS | — |
| Vehicle inspection & repair 396 | 3(a)(1) | OOS | — |
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 207(e) | OOS | — |
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 207(a) | OOS | — |
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 80 | — | — |
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 207(c) | OOS | — |
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 48(a) | OOS | — |
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 67 | OOS | — |
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 207(a) | OOS | — |
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 203(b) | — | — |
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 203 | — | — |
| Vehicle inspection & repair 396 | 3(a)(1) | OOS | — |
| Vehicle inspection & repair 396 | 3(a)(1) | OOS | — |
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 83(h) | — | — |
| Vehicle inspection & repair 396 | 3(a)(1) | OOS | — |
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 9(a) | OOS | — |
| Vehicle inspection & repair 396 | 3(a)(1) | OOS | — |
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 9(a) | — | — |
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 9(a) | OOS | — |
| Vehicle inspection & repair 396 | 3(a)(1) | OOS | — |
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 203(a) | — | — |
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 203(c) | — | — |
| Vehicle inspection & repair 396 | 3(a)(1) | OOS | — |
| Vehicle inspection & repair 396 | 3(a)(1) | OOS | — |
| Vehicle inspection & repair 396 | 3(a)(1) | — | — |
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 9(a) | OOS | — |
| Unsafe driving 392 | 9(a) | OOS | — |
2023-09-21 2 viols
| Area (part) | Section | OOS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unsafe driving 392 | 2-SLLS3 | — | Not Guilty/Dismissed |
| Unsafe driving 392 | 2LV | — | — |
2023-08-28 5 viols
| Area (part) | Section | OOS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unsafe driving 392 | 2 | — | — |
| Vehicle parts & maintenance 393 | 95(a) | — | — |
| Unsafe driving 392 | 2 | — | — |
| Hours of service 395 | 30(b)(1) | — | — |
| Hours of service 395 | 24(c)(2)(iii) | — | — |
2023-07-03 1 viol
| Area (part) | Section | OOS | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unsafe driving 392 | 2 | — | — |
Verify on FMCSA
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