Carrier profile · USDOT 1162977 · MC-468507 · Updated Jul 18, 2026

Universal Intermodal Services Inc

DBA UNIVERSAL

124 power unitsavg 10.5 yrNational · 38 statesWARREN, MI81/100
CARRIER ACTIVEMC-468507 ACTIVEHAZMAT
Verified linksuniversallogistics.comLinkedInFacebookInstagramXFMCSA SAFER

Safety

Roadside out-of-service rates versus the national benchmark, inspection and crash trends, decoded violation themes, and ELD / hours-of-service integrity — the full safety picture behind the verdict.

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

Vehicle OOS 27.7%24-mo cumulative
050%nat'l 22.26%
Driver OOS 0.6%24-mo cumulative
030%nat'l 6.67%

Every inspection in the window pooled — 343 vehicle and 472 driver inspections over 24 months.

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

8.8% · latest 6-mo window▼ Falling

Share of vehicle-level roadside inspections in each trailing six-month window that resulted in a vehicle out-of-service order. Trending down 6.8 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

431 inspections in the charted months · busiest month Feb '25 · 65

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.

Heavily inspected
Under-inspected
Expected
Well-monitored
Heavily inspected
≈1.9 / unit·yr
thin signalabundant signal
Among the more heavily-inspected carriers for its size — abundant roadside signal. Coverage isn't the question here; the out-of-service and crash record is.
Registered power units
124
Inspections · 24 mo
473
Annualized
≈237 / yr
Coverage
≈1.9 inspections / unit · yr

BASIC categories· CSA SMS · Aug 2026

19%
Unsafe Driving
Vektor peer est.
58%
Hours-of-Service
Vektor peer est.
Driver Fitness
.01measure
SMS · per-BASIC
Controlled Substances
0violations
clean · per-BASIC
73%
Vehicle Maintenance
Vektor peer est.

Percentile = standing among same-exposure peers (higher = worse). FMCSA publishes percentiles for only some carriers (shown official); elsewhere we show a Vektor peer-percentile estimate, or the absolute SMS measure when there are too few inspections to rank.

Violation themes· decoded · grouped by BASIC

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

  • 393.9 Inoperative required lampsVehicle Maintenance445 · 143 OOS
  • 392.2 State/local traffic law violation (speeding, etc.)Unsafe Driving409 · 10 OOS
  • 393.45 Brake tubing / hose defectsVehicle Maintenance194 · 65 OOS
  • 393.75 Tires (defective / underinflated / worn)Vehicle Maintenance128 · 98 OOS
  • 393.47 Brake actuators / linings / componentsVehicle Maintenance122 · 9 OOS
  • 396.3 Inspection / repair / maintenance not performedVehicle Maintenance113 · 56 OOS
  • 393.55 Antilock brake system (ABS)Vehicle Maintenance72 · 0 OOS
  • 393.11 Required lamps/reflectors missingVehicle Maintenance70 · 1 OOS
  • 393.53 Automatic brake adjusters / indicatorsVehicle Maintenance59 · 0 OOS
  • 393.95 Emergency equipment (extinguisher, triangles)Vehicle Maintenance52 · 0 OOS

ELD & hours-of-service

201 hours-of-service / ELD violations on record · most recent Apr 16, 2025. FMCSA does not publish the ELD device brand; these are the carrier's logging-compliance signals.

132ELD device issues
11No log / no ELD
9False logs
27Drove over hours

26 ELD violations in the last 24 months. Falsified-log violations are a serious integrity flag.

Crash history· 718 total · 31 in 24 mo

718
Total crashes
31
In last 24 mo
21
Fatal
261
Injury
YearCrashesFatalInjuryTow
20261001
2025210620
20243911934
20233911438
20226432563
20215522152
20204401244
20194211240
20184311641
2017380938
20164111140
20154231639
20143001230
2013200619
20122701125
2011173315
2010200819
20091801115
20082911226
20073321132
20063321627
2005160616
20046046
DateStateFatalitiesInjuriesTow-away
Apr 21, 2026CA00Yes
Nov 12, 2025CA00Yes
Sep 30, 2025CA00Yes
Jul 30, 2025CA00Yes
Jun 24, 2025CA01Yes
May 27, 2025TX01Yes
May 13, 2025PA00Yes
Apr 15, 2025SD00Yes
Apr 10, 2025GA00Yes
Mar 31, 2025OH03Yes
Mar 27, 2025FL01Yes
Feb 18, 2025MI00Yes
Feb 14, 2025MN00Yes
Feb 13, 2025IL00Yes
Feb 11, 2025TN01No
Feb 10, 2025WA00Yes
Feb 7, 2025GA00Yes
Feb 6, 2025TX00Yes
Feb 6, 2025NJ00Yes
Jan 20, 2025IL01Yes
Jan 17, 2025OH00Yes
Jan 13, 2025MI00Yes
Dec 23, 2024KY01Yes
Dec 3, 2024MI10No
Nov 19, 2024MI01Yes