Between August 2023 and August 2026, FMCSA inspectors in Mississippi completed 104,276 roadside inspections. That's a lot of data. More important: it's concrete ground truth about what inspectors find and how they're enforcing.
One number jumps out immediately. Of those 104,276 inspections, 17,160 ended with an out-of-service (OOS) order. That's a 21.9% OOS rate. The national average sits at 17.6%. Mississippi runs about 4 percentage points hotter. That's not a margin of error. That's a real gap in enforcement intensity and in what's actually rolling down the road.
OOS Rates and What They Mean
A 21.9% out-of-service rate means one out of every five vehicles inspected in Mississippi was ordered off the road. That's your baseline risk picture if you operate there.
VioCodes state insights tool breaks this down by carrier and violation type, but the aggregate number tells you something important: Mississippi inspectors aren't running a gentle program. The inspection volume is high. The enforcement bar is higher than the national norm.
Why does the OOS rate matter more than the violation count? Because OOS citations carry consequences that extend far beyond the roadside. They appear in your SafetyNet record. They damage your CSA scores. They trigger follow-up audits by state and federal investigators. A driver or vehicle that gets OOS'd in Mississippi doesn't just lose a few hours—it carries a compliance mark that affects your operation's profile for months.
The data shows 16.5 out-of-service citations per inspection event—some inspections produce multiple OOS violations, others produce none. But cumulatively, across 104,276 inspections, that rate compounds.
Where the Violations Actually Come From
The 78,293 total violations in Mississippi split into three buckets:
Vehicle violations: 47,915. These are the mechanical and structural failures—brakes that don't meet spec, tires below minimum depth, lighting defects, coupling devices, frame damage, or cargo securement failures. They're governed by 49 CFR Part 393, and they're the largest category of violations in Mississippi, accounting for roughly 61% of all violations.
Driver violations: 30,100. Hours-of-service violations, licensing failures, medical certificate issues, logbook falsifications, and fitness assessments. These are harder to hide because they're operator behavior, not equipment condition. They're also the most directly controllable through hiring, training, and monitoring.
Hazmat violations: 298. Fewer in absolute number but potentially catastrophic in consequence. Improper placarding, shipping paper documentation failures, packaging defects, and licensing issues for hazmat endorsement. One hazmat violation can ground an entire shipment.
The breakdown tells you something crucial: most compliance problems originate in the maintenance bay, not the cab. If your shop isn't catching brake defects or lighting issues before an inspector does, you're running reactive—and reactive always loses to proactive.
The Violation Density Picture
VioCodes state map shows where inspections concentrate geographically, but the aggregate density is instructive: 0.75 violations per inspection in Mississippi.
Don't mistake that for a clean slate. The 0.75 average masks the real distribution. Some inspections find zero violations. Others find one, two, or three. Level 1 inspections—the most comprehensive audits—often uncover dozens. The average exists somewhere in the middle. What matters is whether your fleet is on the zero end or the violation end of that spectrum.
What This Baseline Tells You
A 21.9% OOS rate in Mississippi communicates three hard facts:
1. Enforcement is sustained and thorough. This isn't seasonal or spotlight inspection activity. The volume—104,276 inspections over 37 months—reflects consistent roadside presence. Inspectors are active. You cannot assume a pass.
2. Vehicle condition is the front line of defense. With 47,915 vehicle violations versus 30,100 driver violations, your maintenance program decides whether you pass or fail. That's not opinion. That's the data.
3. Cumulative records matter in regulatory scoring. Each violation goes into your CSA history. Each OOS citation affects your profile. Mississippi's inspection volume means operators and carriers in the state face higher statistical exposure. One violation is recoverable. Five violations across 12 months becomes a pattern.
Using the Data
VioCodes insights portal lets you compare your violation profile against these state benchmarks. If you operate in Mississippi or plan to, you're competing against carriers that pass 78% of the time. That's the baseline you're measured against.
The mechanics are straightforward: systematic inspection and maintenance programs—required under 49 CFR Part 396—catch defects before the roadside does. Driver training, logbook audits, and equipment tracking reduce driver and vehicle violations before they become OOS citations.
The numbers from 104,276 inspections show you what works and what doesn't. If you're seeing violations cluster in specific areas—brake systems, lighting, cargo securement—that's a signal about where your program needs teeth. If OOS citations are landing on your record, that's a signal your screening or maintenance isn't matching Mississippi's enforcement intensity.
When you're ready to analyze your own violation patterns against Mississippi's baseline, the VioCodes state tool breaks down exactly what inspectors are finding and where.