Carrier profile · USDOT 1033744 · MC-438283 · Updated Aug 20, 2026

Knucklehead Choochoo Express Ltd

19 power unitsavg 8 yrRegional · 7 statesBELLEFONTAINE, OH86/100

CARRIER ACTIVEMC-438283 ACTIVE

Observed fleet · trailing 24 mo daily

19Power units

15 observed · MCS-150

34Trailers seen

Decoded · vPIC

8.0Avg age (yr)

1997–2026 · vPIC

Call dispatch(937) 592-9951 Email dispatchkcedispatch@knuckleheadexp.com

Click to see how we scored it

Load decision · FMCSA snapshot · Aug 20, 2026

Clear to load

Clear under the current scoring — review the flagged signal below before loading.

Watch · 1

Vehicle out-of-service rate well above average39.1% of vehicle inspections were placed out of service vs the 22.26% national average.

In good standing · 3

Active operating authorityActive for-hire authority is on file with FMCSA.Insurance on fileBIPD (liability) insurance is on file with FMCSA.Established 24 yearsOperating authority has been on file since 2002.

USDOT registration

yr registered

Active for-hire

Insurance (BIPD)$750K in force

FMCSA L&I

Vehicle OOS · 24-mo39.1%

▲ 22.26% nat'l

Crashes · fatal

3 in 24 mo

USDOT registration

yr registered

Active for-hire

Insurance (BIPD)$750K in force

FMCSA L&I

Vehicle OOS · 24-mo39.1%

▲ 22.26% nat'l

Crashes · fatal

3 in 24 mo

Vektor intelligence · beyond the federal recordProprietary signals computed from VIN-decoded inspections & daily FMCSA snapshots

Fleet typeIdentity

Small fleet

19 power units. Brokers price each fleet type apart.

Fleet age vs peersTypical

8 yr

Model years 1997–2026 · peer benchmark unavailable.

Identity stabilityStable

24 yr unchanged

Same registration since 2002 — no chameleon / reincarnation signal.

Safety

40 inspections · 24 mo · vs national benchmarks

Out-of-service rate· 24-mo cumulative · vs national

Vehicle OOS 39.1%24-mo cumulative

050%nat'l 22.26%

Driver OOS 0.0%24-mo cumulative

030%nat'l 6.67%

Every inspection in the window pooled — 23 vehicle and 40 driver inspections over 24 months.

Vehicle OOS rate· vehicle OOS · vehicle-level inspections · 6-month trailing

28.6% · latest 6-mo window▲ Rising

Share of vehicle-level roadside inspections in each trailing six-month window that resulted in a vehicle out-of-service order. Trending up 20.2 pts across the window. The national vehicle benchmark uses the same metric and is shown on the chart.

Roadside inspection history· 24 charted calendar months · vehicle / driver level · any-OOS overlay

38 inspections in the charted months · busiest month Sep '25 · 4

Vehicle-levelDriver-levelAny OOS

Monthly FMCSA roadside inspections across the 24 charted calendar months. Bars show level-qualified vehicle and driver populations; one inspection can qualify for both. The line shows inspections with any out-of-service result.

Inspection coverage· expected vs observed · the fraud signal

Inspection coverage

How heavily FMCSA inspects this fleet for its size — it tells you how much to trust the safety signals above. Thin coverage on a young authority is a fraud signal nobody else surfaces.

Well-monitored

Under-inspected

Expected

Well-monitored

Heavily inspected

≈1.1 / unit·yr

thin signalabundant signal

Within the expected band for a 19-unit fleet — FMCSA has inspected this carrier often enough that the out-of-service and violation signals above are statistically trustworthy.

Registered power units: 19
Inspections · 24 mo: 40
Annualized: ≈20 / yr
Coverage: ≈1.1 inspections / unit · yr

Violation themes· decoded · grouped by BASIC

What this carrier actually gets cited for — FMCSA violation codes decoded into plain English, ranked by frequency.

392.2 State/local traffic law violation (speeding, etc.)Unsafe Driving12 · 0 OOS
393.75 Tires (defective / underinflated / worn)Vehicle Maintenance9 · 8 OOS
393.9 Inoperative required lampsVehicle Maintenance7 · 2 OOS
392.16 Failure to use seat beltUnsafe Driving6 · 0 OOS
395.8 Record of duty status (log / ELD) not current or missingHOS Compliance3 · 0 OOS
393.55 Antilock brake system (ABS)Vehicle Maintenance3 · 0 OOS
395.22 ELD — provider/registration/malfunctionHOS Compliance3 · 0 OOS
393.11 Required lamps/reflectors missingVehicle Maintenance2 · 0 OOS
393.47 Brake actuators / linings / componentsVehicle Maintenance2 · 2 OOS
396.17 Periodic (annual) inspectionVehicle Maintenance2 · 0 OOS

Explore full safety record — inspections, BASICs, crashes

Authority & Insurance

Can they legally + adequately haul your load?

Operating authority· 49 CFR · per type

Operating authority

Common: Active
Contract: None
Broker: None

Insurance & bonds

BIPD / liability$750,000 in force

Cargo filing (census)Not recorded per census

Surety bond (census)Not recorded per census

Insurance adequacy· filed BIPD vs the $750K federal floor

$750K in forcegeneral-freight federal minimum

$750K floor

Filed BIPD coverage of $750K meets or exceeds the $750K federal minimum for general freight (49 CFR 387.9). Some commodities (hazmat, larger vehicles) require $1M–$5M — confirm against your load.

Insurance continuity· insurer · policy · lapses

$750K BIPD last filed ’20 · 3 insurers · 0 lapsesContinuous

Northland’02–’04

Northland’06–’20

beyond this history

2002200820142020now

Shorter eras are too brief to label at this scale — all 5 insurers are named in the list below.

BIPD in force — $750,000 · AUTO OWNERS INSURANCE COMPANY · since Jun 2020

All 5 insurer eras · dates, limits, renewals

Insurer	Period	Limit	Renewals
NORTHLAND INSURANCE COMPANY	Jun 2006 → Jun 2020	$750K	1
EMPIRE FIRE & MARINE INSURANCE CO.	Jun 2005 → Jun 2006	$750K	1
NORTHLAND INSURANCE COMPANY	Sep 2004 → Jul 2005	$750K	2
CANAL INSURANCE CO.	Sep 2004 → Sep 2004	$750K	1
NORTHLAND INSURANCE COMPANY	Jun 2002 → Sep 2004	$750K	1

Explore full authority & insurance record

Equipment

VIN-decoded · NHTSA vPIC

Capacity· power units = haulable capacity; trailers are towed

Registered power units (MCS-150): 19
Observed power (24 mo): 15
Trailers (towed): 34

Capacity is power units only — trailers are towed equipment and are never summed into a fleet-size figure.

Fleet age· model years · decoded VINs

8.0 yr

Average age

2026

Newest model yr

1997

Oldest model yr

38.8%

VINs decoded

Explore full fleet — VIN roster, equipment mix, age distribution

Operations & Lanes

Revealed by inspection density across 7 states · 24 mo

Operating footprint· revealed by roadside-inspection geography

Operating radiusRegional

revealed

States observed

US states

Inspections · 24 mo

OH busiest

Inspection density by state· each tile = a state · shade = inspections, last 24 mo

Home base

BELLEFONTAINE, OH

2681 STATE ROUTE 47 EAST

Top corridor

OH 17 · IN 9 · KY 8

Density

fewermore

Shade = roadside inspections, last 24 mo.

See the full operating map — state density, top lanes

Network & Fraud

Affiliated entities & reincarnation signals · for review, not a verdict

Last 12 months: 1 truck also ran under 1 other carrier

VINs inspected under this carrier were recently inspected under other USDOTs too — the active double-broker / shared-equipment signal: USDOT 187774Some overlap is legitimate (leased or sold equipment); review alongside the other signals.

Show all-time history (15 trucks · 14 carriers)

Across all inspections on record: USDOT 478080 USDOT 951560 USDOT 2373352 USDOT 1371987 USDOT 3268673 USDOT 444507 USDOT 3411498 USDOT 187774

Shares a company officer with other carriers

brent williamson — 2 carriers: USDOT 1222383

Capacity consistency· registered vs roadside-observed power units

Registered (MCS-150)

Observed (24 mo)

Shared w/ other carriers

Registered and roadside-observed capacity are broadly consistent.

Explore the carrier network & VIN cross-links

Identity & Federal

FMCSA census + L&I dossier

Location

Physical address: 2681 STATE ROUTE 47 EAST, BELLEFONTAINE, OH, 43311
Operation: Interstate

Contact

Phone: (937) 592-9951
Email: kcedispatch@knuckleheadexp.com
Web domain: knuckleheadexp.com

Registration

Officer: Brent Williamson
USDOT / docket: 1033744 · MC-438283
First registered: Jun 10, 2002
Last MCS-150: Dec 6, 2025 · 919,682 mi (2024)
FMCSA safety rating: Not rated
D-U-N-S: —

Fleet (self-reported · MCS-150)

Power units

Drivers

CDL drivers

919,682

Annual mileage

Open the full identity & federal record

Federal activity

Daily-captured FMCSA licensing & insurance changes — monitored by Vektor

Federal record activity· monitored daily by Vektor

No licensing or insurance changes captured since Vektor began monitoring this carrier (June 2026). Quiet is usually good.

Open the full federal-record activity feed

Reviews

Verified broker, shipper & driver reviews — moderated

Performance ratings only — never the Vektor risk score

No verified reviews yet

Be the first broker or shipper to rate KNUCKLEHEAD CHOOCHOO EXPRESS LTD. Reviews cover performance only — on-time delivery, payment speed, communication — and never affect the Vektor risk score.

Leave a review

Open reviews

Verification summaryAuthority, insurance, safety and identity facts for KNUCKLEHEAD CHOOCHOO EXPRESS LTD.

KNUCKLEHEAD CHOOCHOO EXPRESS LTD (USDOT 1033744) has a Vektor safety score of 86/100 and a Clear to load verdict, from the carrier's FMCSA record refreshed Aug 20, 2026.

The carrier holds active common for-hire operating authority per FMCSA L&I as of Aug 20, 2026.

It has an active BIPD insurance filing with a $750,000 limit in force from AUTO OWNERS INSURANCE COMPANY effective Jun 26, 2020 in FMCSA L&I's current snapshot as of Aug 20, 2026.

Its vehicle out-of-service rate was 39.1% over the last 24 months, versus the 22.26% CVSA national average, from FMCSA roadside-inspection data refreshed Aug 20, 2026.

The carrier received 40 roadside inspections in the last 24 months — 23 vehicle-level and 40 driver-level — across 7 states, according to FMCSA roadside-inspection data refreshed Aug 20, 2026.

The carrier has 3 reportable crashes in the last 24 months and 0 fatal crashes across the full FMCSA crash record available as of Aug 20, 2026.

It reports 19 power units and 18 drivers in its most recent MCS-150 filing dated Dec 6, 2025.

It has no FMCSA-assigned safety rating in the federal record refreshed Aug 20, 2026.

Frequently asked

What is KNUCKLEHEAD CHOOCHOO EXPRESS LTD's USDOT number?

KNUCKLEHEAD CHOOCHOO EXPRESS LTD's USDOT number is 1033744, and its motor carrier number is MC-438283.

Is KNUCKLEHEAD CHOOCHOO EXPRESS LTD authorized to operate?

As of Aug 20, 2026, KNUCKLEHEAD CHOOCHOO EXPRESS LTD is active in the FMCSA register with common, contract, broker operating authority on file.

What is KNUCKLEHEAD CHOOCHOO EXPRESS LTD's safety record?

KNUCKLEHEAD CHOOCHOO EXPRESS LTD has a 39.1% vehicle out-of-service rate (national average 22.26%) across 60 roadside inspections, with 3 reportable crashes in the last 24 months, and is not currently rated by FMCSA. Vektor's computed risk score is 86/100 (tier: clear).

How big is KNUCKLEHEAD CHOOCHOO EXPRESS LTD's fleet?

KNUCKLEHEAD CHOOCHOO EXPRESS LTD operates 19 power units and 18 drivers per its most recent MCS-150 filing.

Where is KNUCKLEHEAD CHOOCHOO EXPRESS LTD based?

KNUCKLEHEAD CHOOCHOO EXPRESS LTD is based in BELLEFONTAINE, OH, with roadside inspections recorded across 7 states.

Similar carriers in Ohio

Comparable carriers operating in Ohio

Maximum Cargo LLC Clear · 100Mason, OH · 19 power units

Mcguire & Sons Trucking LLC Clear · 100Findlay, OH · 19 power units

Pride Delivery and Installation LLC Clear · 100Parma, OH · 19 power units

JPC Trucking LLC Clear · 100Chillicothe, OH · 19 power units

Dayco Express LLC Clear · 100Millbury, OH · 19 power units

Turbo LLC Clear · 100Lebanon, OH · 20 power units

Ram Haulage LLC Clear · 100Dayton, OH · 20 power units

Malin Transport LLC Clear · 100Columbus, OH · 20 power units

More in Ohio →Top safety in Ohio →Veteran carriers in Ohio →

More Ohio carriers

Other FMCSA-registered carriers near this one in the directory, by USDOT number.

Minster Farmers Cooperative Exchange IncReviewMinster · 12 power units Stuckey Trucking LLCLeesburg · 2 power units Dotterer Trucking LLCSterling · 4 power units MRL Express LLCOxford · 1 power unit Howard Transport IncHamilton · 2 power units MRX Delivery CorpGirard · 5 power units