Data Methodology & Principles

Data Sourcing

TruckCodex uses only official government datasets as primary sources. Carrier census and safety data come from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). Recall, complaint, and investigation records come from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Diesel fuel prices come from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). No scraped, crowdsourced, or third-party commercial data is used.

Provenance

Every fact displayed on TruckCodex links back to its upstream source. Each data table shows a source identifier and an as-of date indicating when the data was last refreshed. This lets users verify any claim against the original government record.

Update Cadence

• Carrier census: daily delta sync plus weekly full refresh from FMCSA SAFER.
• Recalls and complaints: daily sync from NHTSA ODI flat files.
• Diesel prices: weekly from EIA Weekly Petroleum Status Report.
• Inspections: daily from the FMCSA SMS database (data is 24 hours old at minimum).

Known Limitations

• All inspection data has a minimum 24-hour lag from the time of the roadside event.
• Carrier census contact information (phone, address) may lag behind real-world changes by days or weeks.
• Inspections conducted under tribal or military jurisdiction are not included in the FMCSA dataset.
• NHTSA recall data covers only federally reportable safety defects, not voluntary service campaigns.

Entity Resolution

• Carriers are identified by their USDOT number, which is a unique federal identifier assigned by FMCSA.
• Vehicles are identified by 17-character VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) decoded via the NHTSA vPIC service.
• Recalls are identified by NHTSA campaign number, a unique identifier for each safety recall.

Trust Tiers

• Tier 1 — Official Primary Source: Data taken directly from the issuing agency's authoritative dataset (e.g., FMCSA carrier census, NHTSA recall flat files).
• Tier 2 — Official Derived/Aggregated: Data computed from official sources (e.g., state rollup counts, inspection rate calculations).
• Tier 3 — Third-Party Verified: Data from external providers that has been validated against official records. Currently not used.

Corrections

TruckCodex does not modify source data. Data corrections flow through official government channels. For inspection disputes, carriers use the FMCSA DataQs system. For recall or complaint corrections, contact the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI). When upstream corrections are published, they are reflected in TruckCodex at the next scheduled sync.