Data Methodology
How we process millions of federal records to calculate the Trucking Record Safety Score™.
Last updated: August 2026
Data Sources
Trucking Record aggregates data exclusively from official government sources to ensure the highest level of accuracy and integrity. Our primary data pipeline connects to:
- FMCSA Company Census (data.transportation.gov): Over 4.4 million carrier records including registration status, fleet size, safety ratings, and operational classification via the Socrata Open Data API.
- FMCSA Crash File (data.transportation.gov): Federal crash reports including fatalities, injuries, and tow-away incidents from DOT-reportable accidents.
- NHTSA FARS: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Fatality Analysis Reporting System for state-level traffic fatality context and trends. State fatality counts come from the FARS 2024 Annual Report File (DOT HS 813 791) and large-truck involvement from Traffic Safety Facts “Large Trucks: 2024 Data” (DOT HS 813 816); 2025 figures are NHTSA statistical projections (DOT HS 813 800) and are subject to revision.
- BEA & BLS: Bureau of Economic Analysis GDP by state data and Bureau of Labor Statistics trucking employment figures for economic context.
The Safety Score Algorithm
The Trucking Record Safety Score™ is a proprietary risk assessment metric designed to translate complex raw data into a simple 0-100 rating.
Update Frequency
Our database is updated periodically by querying the FMCSA datasets on data.transportation.gov via the Socrata Open Data API. Census and crash data are refreshed on a monthly cycle to reflect the latest federal records. State-level economic and fatality statistics are updated annually when new government data becomes available.
Why Trust Us?
Unlike lead-generation sites, Trucking Record is an independent data journalism project committed to road safety transparency. We do not accept payments from carriers to remove or alter negative crash records.