THE MERRILL COMPANY
Risk factors
Low riskVioCodes scoreA weighted read of the public FMCSA signals below — authority, insurance, out-of-service, crashes, roadside OOS rates, and carrier connections. A starting point for vetting, not a guarantee.
Roadside inspection performance
Out-of-service rate vs national average. Lower is better.
CSA performance breakdown
FMCSA · Sep 202616 inspections · 16 violations (1 OOS) · 4% of inspections had an OOS finding.
Violations by BASIC
click to filter codes
Top cited codes
score = count × severity weight
- 1392.2-SLLSWZUnsafe Driving
State/Local Laws - Speeding work/construction zone
20
2× · sev 10
- 2392.2-SLLS3Unsafe Driving
State/Local Laws - Speeding 11-14 miles per hour over the speed limit
14
2× · sev 7
- 3393.9HVehicle Maintenance
Inoperable head lamps
6
1× · sev 6
- 4393.9TVehicle Maintenance
Inoperable tail lamp
6
1× · sev 6
- 5393.95A
No/discharged/unsecured fire extinguisher
2
2×
- 6396.17C
Operating a CMV without proof of a periodic inspection
1
1×
- 7177.817E
Shipping paper accessibility
1
1×
- 8172.602A
Emergency Response information not complete
1
1×
- 9392.2RGNot in SMS
State vehicle registration or License Plate violation
1
1×
- 10393.45B2
Brake hose or tubing chafing and/or kinking
1
1×
Most inspected in · top 3 states
- IA19
- NE4
- US1
Latest FMCSA SMS snapshot. Codes link to the lookup — severity weighting, contest angles, and the DataQs Drafter for each. Click a BASIC to filter the codes.
Safety trends & next-run projection
Where each BASIC sits today, how it ranks against peers, and where it’s heading at the next monthly SMS run.
FMCSA keeps the Crash Indicator percentile private, and its measure needs a power-unit history public data doesn’t expose — so it can’t be estimated yet. VioCodes now records power units monthly, so a calibrated Crash estimate should light up over time. These are the public crash facts (all state-reportable crashes count, regardless of fault).
“Projected” estimates the next monthly SMS run from inspections on record now. FMCSA marks the BASIC percentile itself “Not Public,” so the percentile shown is a VioCodes estimate of how the carrier ranks against its peers, presented as a likely range (shaded on the gauge) and calibrated against real carriers. Crash Indicator has no public estimate — FMCSA keeps its measures fully private. Estimates, not official FMCSA figures. Not affiliated with FMCSA.
Recommendations
What’s driving each score, what to do about it, and where it could go.
Hours-of-Service Compliance needs attention
Low impactEstimated Hours-of-Service Compliance percentile of 0% is under the 60% line. In decent shape, but here's what's driving it.
- Review recent inspections with violations in this BASIC and take remedial action with drivers/equipment
Driver Fitness needs attention
Low impactEstimated Driver Fitness percentile of 0% is under the 75% line. In decent shape, but here's what's driving it.
- Review recent inspections with violations in this BASIC and take remedial action with drivers/equipment
Controlled Substances/Alcohol needs attention
Low impactEstimated Controlled Substances/Alcohol percentile of 0% is under the 75% line. In decent shape, but here's what's driving it.
- Review recent inspections with violations in this BASIC and take remedial action with drivers/equipment
Recommendations are generated from the carrier’s public FMCSA roadside-inspection record. Percentiles and projections are VioCodes estimates, not official FMCSA figures. Informational, not legal advice.
90-day safety improvement plan
What this carrier has struggled with most in the last 90 days — where to focus now.
Inspection & crash map
live · FMCSA MCMISEvery inspection and crash on record — hover a point for the summary, click for full detail (codes, severity, CSA points).
CSA points = violation severity weight × FMCSA time weight (3× in the last 6 months, 2× at 6–12, 1× at 12–24). Points are spread within each state — FMCSA records the inspection state, not an exact location. Source: FMCSA MCMIS.
Equipment
VINs via NHTSA16 distinct vehicles seen in this carrier’s roadside inspections.
Equipment is inferred from VINs recorded on roadside inspections (FMCSA MCMIS), decoded via the NHTSA vPIC API — it reflects vehicles inspected, not a current fleet roster.
Company profile
FMCSA censusPRIVATE PROPERTY
- Interstate · 100+ mi2 drivers
- Interstate · <100 mi12 drivers
- Company officer
- ERIC JOHNSON
- Operation
- Interstate · Hazmat
- Registered since
- 1974-06-01
- Last MCS-150 update
- 2026-01-20
- Census status
- Active
Fleet: 21 trucks · 4 owned tractors · 4 owned trailers.
Source: FMCSA Company Census File (data.transportation.gov). Fleet and driver counts are self-reported on the carrier’s most recent MCS-150 filing.
Connections
carrier graphThis carrier shares VINs or officers with 64 other carriers — review the connections below as part of your vetting.
Shared VINs come from FMCSA roadside-inspection records — a vehicle inspected under more than one carrier, often a fleet transfer or trailer interchange. Other links come from the FMCSA census. Shared identifiers are common and often legitimate — treat these as leads to investigate, not proof of wrongdoing.
Activity history
2 events- 01/20/2026MCS-150 update filed
0.5M mi reported (2024)
- 06/01/1974Registered with FMCSA
PRIVATE PROPERTY
Merged from FMCSA authority, insurance, out-of-service, and census records.
Operations
Classification
- PRIVATE PROPERTY
Area served
- Interstate
FMCSA safety rating
- Rating
- Conditional
- Type
- Safety audit
- Rated
- 1991-08-22
- Last review
- 1991-06-27
MCS-150 registration
- Form date
- 2026-01-20
- Reported mileage
- 546,640 mi (2024)
Changes on file
FMCSA census historyJanuary, 2021
First on-record entry — THE MERRILL COMPANY, SPENCER, IA
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