CSA
UnknownUSDOT 471547· CARRIER· EIN 51-0300588
⬇ PDF report

NICHOLS EXCAVATION

Legal: NICHOLS NURSERY INC

324 MARKUS CT, NEWARK, DE, 19713(302) 224-3032bethm@nicholsconstructiongroup.comSTEPHEN J NICHOLS
Vetting snapshot
Authority
Unknown
per SAFER
Insurance
No active filing
not required
Vehicle OOS
23.1%
above 22% national avg
Driver OOS
4.8%
below 6.7% national avg
Crashes 24mo
0
clean
Red flags
None
nothing flagged
100
/ 100

Risk factors

Low riskVioCodes score
No red flags in the public FMCSA record

A 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.

Vehicle13 inspections · 23.1% OOS · National 22%
Driver21 inspections · 4.8% OOS · National 6.7%

CSA performance breakdown

FMCSA · Sep 2026

21 inspections · 18 violations (5 OOS) · 13% of inspections had an OOS finding.

21
Inspections
18
Violations
5
OOS violations
9
Distinct codes

Violations by BASIC

click to filter codes

11
total

Most inspected in · top 2 states

  • DE17
  • MD13

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.

Recommendations

What’s driving each score, what to do about it, and where it could go.

Vehicle out-of-service rate exceeds the national average

High impact

Vehicle OOS rate is 23.1% vs the 22% national average. Carriers above the national OOS average draw more enforcement attention (audits, roadside stops) and can see higher insurance premiums.

What to do
  • Review recent inspections with out-of-service violations and fix the root causes with equipment and drivers
  • Run a preventative-maintenance program; periodically inspect tires, brakes and lights
  • Reinforce thorough pre-trip and post-trip inspections; retrain where needed

A high share of violations are occurring in New Castle County, DE

Medium impact

5 of 7 violations in the last 12 months (71%) came from inspections in New Castle County, DE. That can mean tougher enforcement there or simply more of your miles run through it — either way it's worth a look.

What to do
  • Review the inspections from New Castle County, DE to spot recurring issues
  • Brief drivers running that lane; consider rerouting around the toughest enforcement corridors where practical

Speeding violations are the leading contributor to Unsafe Driving

Low impact

Estimated Unsafe Driving percentile of 29% is under the 60% line. In decent shape, but here's what's driving it.

What’s contributing4 violations (24 mo)
Speeding2 viol77%
  • 392.2-SLLS3State/Local Laws - Speeding 11-14 miles per hour over the speed limit1× · 49%
  • 392.2-SLLS2State/Local Laws - Speeding 6-10 miles per hour over the speed limit1× · 28%
Following / lane / reckless2 viol23%
  • 392.2-SLLTCDState/Local Laws - Failed to obey a traffic control device - Permanent or Temporary - e.g., safety official, signal, sign, light, lane marking, other2× · 23%
What to do
  • Coach the drivers with speeding violations directly — Unsafe Driving points are weighted heavily
  • Set and enforce a governed road speed; review telematics/dashcam speed events weekly
Projected estimatecould improve up to 16 pts in ~12 mo
nowin 12 months
Current trend 50% followed 100% followed 60% line

Hours-of-Service Compliance needs attention

Low impact

Estimated Hours-of-Service Compliance percentile of 0% is under the 60% line. In decent shape, but here's what's driving it.

What to do
  • Review recent inspections with violations in this BASIC and take remedial action with drivers/equipment

Controlled Substances/Alcohol needs attention

Low impact

Estimated Controlled Substances/Alcohol percentile of 0% is under the 75% line. In decent shape, but here's what's driving it.

What to do
  • 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.

▼ Improving
2
Inspections
1
Violations
0
Out-of-service
1
Clean
Where the violations are
Other 100%
Focus here first
1Other
1 violation · 100% of recent
Do this
  • Review these violations with drivers and add the fix to your pre-trip and PM routine
🎓
Turn these into driver coaching — and prove it
FleetTrained (my companion project) makes branded, multilingual training videos for these exact violations — your driver watches and gets a completion certificate for the file.

Based on roadside inspections in the last 90 days, ranked by what recurs most. Informational, not legal advice.

Inspection & crash map

live · FMCSA MCMIS

Every inspection and crash on record — hover a point for the summary, click for full detail (codes, severity, CSA points).

34
Inspections
21
Violations
6
Out-of-service
127
CSA points
6
Crashes
2
States
cleanviolOOS

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 NHTSA

21 distinct vehicles seen in this carrier’s roadside inspections.

15 incomplete vehicle 4 trailer 1 truck 1 other
2021 PETERBILT 348seen 6×
2NP3LJ0X5MM732505· CL121329 DE
2021 GLOBE TRAILER MANUFACTURING Globe Trailer Manufacturingseen 5×
1G9BN5333MB336397· 2930946 ME
2020 MACK Pinnacleseen 4×
1M2PN4GYXLM006688· CL122369 DE
2018 FORD F-550seen 4×
1FD0X5HT6JEC48874· C65440 DE
2019 KENWORTH T8 Seriesseen 3×
3BKDL40X0KF304226· CL121663 DE
2019 KENWORTH T8 Seriesseen 3×
3BKDL40XXKF304217· CL120843 DE
2020 KRUGER TRAILERS Kruger Trailersseen 3×
1K9FS2434LD057911· T68426 DE
2006 MACK CV (Granite)seen 2×
1M2AG11C46M033644· E65824D MD
1999 KENWORTH T800seen 2×
3BKDL40XXXKF30422· CL120844 DE
2025 MACK Pinnacleseen 2×
1M1PN4GY4SM016409· CL124722 DE
2006 MACK CV (Granite)
1M2AG11C26M033643· E658230 MD
2004 FORD F-550
1FDAW56PX4ED56819· CL33901 DE
UNPUBLISHE
4JADS2025XG000172· T105505 DE
2007 TRAIL KING INDUSTRIES TRAIL KING INDUSTRIES
1TKU019297B041665· T2959 DE
2015 KENWORTH T8 Series
1NKDL40X5FJ429603· CL119986 DE
2022 FORD F-550
1FD0X5HT3NEC82146· C118939 DE
2022 FORD F-550
1FD0W5HT1NEC94993· C45728 MD
2015 KENWORTH T8 Series
1NKDL40X5FR471299· CL119987 DE
2020 MACK Granite
1M2GR4GC9LM016167· CL123814 DE
2022 HICKS MANUFACTURING Hicks Manufacturing, LLC
1H9A30A34NM686069· 5038036 ME
2020 MACK Granite
1M2GR4GC5LM016165· CL123813 DE

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 census

PRIVATE PROPERTY

Power units
21
on file (MCS-150)
Drivers
41
28 hold a CDL
Annual mileage
0.7M mi
reported 2024
Recordable crash rate
—
per million miles
How far they run · drivers by operating lane
  • Interstate · <100 mi41 drivers
Company officer
STEPHEN J NICHOLS
Operation
Interstate · Hazmat
D-U-N-S
151226867
Registered since
1992-02-18
Last MCS-150 update
2026-03-16
Census status
Active

Fleet: 19 trucks · 3 owned tractors · 22 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 graph

This carrier shares phone numbers, officers or emails with 2 other carriers — review the connections below as part of your vetting.

2
Connected carriers
0
Fleet-transfer links
0
Most shared VINs
2
Strong links
Strong· 2
1
H I E CONTRACTORS INC
USDOT 451247Active· NEWARK, DE
Strong
OfficerEmailPhone
2
NICHOLS NURSERY INC
USDOT 4412993Inactive· NEWARK, DE
Strong
OfficerEmailPhone

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
  1. 03/16/2026MCS-150 update filed

    0.7M mi reported (2024)

  2. 02/18/1992Registered 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
Not rated
Type
Non-ratable review
Rated
—
Last review
2023-03-08
📄

MCS-150 registration

Form date
2026-03-16
Reported mileage
664,069 mi (2024)
⚡

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Data sourced from public FMCSA records via safer.fmcsa.dot.gov · Latest FMCSA update: Sep 2026 · Page refreshed: Sep 25, 2026, 10:51 AM. VioCodes is not affiliated with FMCSA. To dispute incorrect data, file a DataQs Request for Data Review.