How I got here
I came into trucking through the logistics side and gradually moved deeper into safety and compliance. Today I’m a Safety Manager at Best Way Logistics, and my day-to-day is DOT/FMCSA compliance, roadside inspections, CSA violations, driver-qualification files, DataQs, driver training, audits — and all the random safety problems that come up when you’re actually running a fleet.
A lot of VioCodes came straight from that job. I’d get an inspection report, see a violation code, and then have to dig through FMCSA PDFs, Appendix A spreadsheets, regulations, and a handful of different websites just to figure out what actually happened and how it hit the carrier. Eventually I thought: why isn’t there just one good website for this?
That question is how VioCodes started — and I keep expanding it whenever I hit another problem worth solving.
Why it’s free
Because I genuinely want it to be useful to the industry. No subscriptions, no paywall, no ads. I already research this stuff for my own work — if it saves another safety manager, dispatcher, or driver time, I’d rather everyone have it. There should be more genuinely useful free software in trucking.
Make trucking safety & compliance information easier to find, easier to understand, and easier to actually use. And keep it free.
Not a corporate compliance site written by people who’ve never dealt with a real roadside inspection — built by someone who works in fleet safety and uses this every day.
How it’s grown
VioCodes started as one thing: a faster way to search CSA violation codes. Then I kept adding to it whenever I hit another problem worth solving — a calculator, carrier lookup, a national map, DataQs tools, driver packets, guides. It’s still growing.
What I didn’t expect was watching people from all over — different states, and different countries — actually use it every day. Seeing thousands of safety managers, dispatchers, owner-operators, and drivers lean on something I built is genuinely what drives me to keep expanding it, keep it alive, and see just how useful I can be to our trucking community.
A huge thank-you to Sam
Sam was one of the first people to really catch onto this project. Completely on his own, he started sharing VioCodes across platforms and groups — and that word-of-mouth is a big part of how it reached so many people. I appreciate it more than he probably knows.
And even though we live thousands of miles apart, this project actually turned us into real friends — which might be my favorite thing to come out of building it.
What I’ve built
Violation Lookup
Every FMCSA CSA code — severity, BASIC, OOS, points.
OpenCSA Calculator
Model real point impact by inspection, with the true SMS math.
OpenCarrier Lookup
Live FMCSA scorecard for any of 600,000+ carriers.
OpenFleet Map
Truck stops, scales & parking, with a national inspection heat-map.
OpenDataQs Drafter
AI-assisted Request for Data Review, grounded in 49 CFR.
OpenDriver Coaching
Turn a violation into a printable, multilingual coaching packet.
OpenStraight answers
The best thing you can do? Use it.
Search a violation, check a carrier, calculate points, generate a packet — whatever helps you do your job. It’s all free.
Like it? Follow what I’m building
I build in public and love hearing from other safety folks and drivers. Connect or just say hi.
My paid project
If VioCodes helps you understand violations, FleetTrained helps you prevent the next one.
A driver-training platform for trucking: assign from 170+ safety videos, drivers quiz and sign in their own language, and you get a branded DOT/insurance certificate for every completion. One flat monthly rate, unlimited drivers — plans from $69.99/mo (full library $129.99/mo), cancel anytime.