What 392.2UCR means in plain language
Code 392.2UCR targets a specific condition: an officer has determined that your physical state — whether from fatigue, illness, or some other impairing cause — has degraded your ability to safely operate a commercial motor vehicle. The regulation doesn't require a crash or a near-miss to apply. If an inspector believes your alertness or physical capability is compromised enough to make continued operation unsafe, that judgment alone is sufficient grounds for the citation.
In practical terms, this means inspectors are watching for visible signs during a stop: bloodshot or glazed eyes, slurred speech, slow reaction times, admission of hours without sleep, obvious illness symptoms, or erratic driving behavior that triggered the stop in the first place. The threshold is not incapacitation — it's impairment significant enough to make operating the CMV a safety risk.
This is an Unsafe Driving category violation carrying a CSA severity weight of 8, which puts it among the heavier-scoring violations in that category. That score feeds directly into your Safety Measurement System (SMS) profile and can affect your carrier's Unsafe Driving BASIC percentile for 24 months after the inspection date.
What our enforcement data actually shows
Across our database of 13 million+ inspections, 392.2UCR has accumulated 4,112 all-time citations, ranking it #380 out of 3,036 FMCSR codes by citation volume. That places it in the top 13% of all codes by frequency — this is not a rarely-enforced regulation.
Enforcement is clearly accelerating. Our inspection records show 613 citations in the last 90 days alone, and 2,104 citations in the last 12 months. To put that in context, roughly half of all historical 392.2UCR citations on record have occurred within the past year.
The out-of-service picture for this code is notably different from the broader enforcement landscape. Of the 4,112 all-time citations, only 35 resulted in an out-of-service order — an OOS rate of 0.9%. The all-FMCSR average OOS rate across our database is 31.4%, meaning 392.2UCR places drivers out of service at a rate roughly 35 times lower than the average violation. This code is OOS-eligible, but inspectors rarely invoke that authority. In most cases you will be cited and allowed to continue — but the CSA weight still sticks.
Looking at the monthly trend, citation volume spiked sharply in early 2026: January 2026 alone saw 450 citations and 7 OOS orders, February brought 286 citations and 6 OOS orders, and March logged 222 citations with 4 OOS orders. That cluster suggests either a coordinated enforcement initiative or seasonal factors — winter conditions and post-holiday fatigue patterns are a plausible contributor.
Who gets cited most
Our data for the last 180 days shows the three highest-volume states are Texas (454 citations), Iowa (359 citations), and Illinois (168 citations). Those three states alone account for the bulk of recent enforcement activity.
The OOS-rate variation across those states is worth paying attention to. Texas and Iowa sit at 0.4% and 0.0% OOS rates respectively — well below already-low national norms for this code. Illinois, however, shows an 8.9% OOS rate on 168 citations. That's a meaningful gap: if you're stopped in Illinois under 392.2UCR, our records indicate inspectors there are more than 20 times as likely to place you out of service compared to Iowa. Kentucky (125 citations, 0.0% OOS) and Mississippi (52 citations, 0.0% OOS) round out the active enforcement states in this window.
On the carrier side, our data shows fleets such as HAULDEX LLC (USDOT 4489350) with 13 all-time citations and AUTO HAUL EXPRESS LLC (USDOT 4329325) with 11 all-time citations appearing at the top of the frequency list. Fleet safety managers should note that even 10–13 citations concentrated at one USDOT number will register clearly in SMS BASIC calculations.
How severe is this compared to similar codes
Within the same Unsafe Driving category, 392.2UCR is a low-volume code relative to its closest relatives. The base 392.2 code — covering the same general condition — has accumulated 1,208,164 citations in our database at a 0.8% OOS rate. That's roughly 294 times more citations than 392.2UCR, suggesting that 392.2UCR is a specific sub-classification applied in particular circumstances rather than the default charge.
Code 392.2RG, which also addresses operating while ill or fatigued, shows 96,652 citations at a 0.1% OOS rate — still 23 times more volume than 392.2UCR. Interestingly, 392.2RG appears in 168 shared inspections within our last-90-days co-occurrence data, meaning it is frequently written alongside 392.2UCR on the same inspection report. Receiving both codes on a single inspection doubles the CSA severity impact.
Code 392.2-SLLEQP carries a notably higher OOS rate of 2.4% on 72,352 citations. While that's still low in absolute terms, it underscores that sub-variants of the 392.2 family can trigger OOS outcomes at meaningfully different rates depending on the specific circumstances an inspector documents.
How to avoid it
The co-occurring violations in our last-90-day data tell a clear story: 392.2UCR rarely shows up alone. Inspections that include this citation are frequently loaded with mechanical defects that suggest the vehicle wasn't pre-tripped carefully. Use these concrete steps before every dispatch:
- Sleep before you drive, not instead of stopping. The citation requires an inspector's judgment call — but that call is most often triggered by erratic driving or visible fatigue signs. A minimum 7–8 hours of actual sleep before a dispatch removes the primary evidence an inspector is looking for.
- Walk your lamps before departure. 393.9 (Inoperable Required Lamp) co-occurred in 130 inspections alongside 392.2UCR in the last 90 days. A burned marker, headlight, or brake light is exactly what draws a traffic stop that then escalates to a fitness evaluation.
- Carry and check your fire extinguisher. 393.95A (missing or defective fire extinguisher) appeared in 89 shared inspections. This is a 30-second pre-trip check that closes off a common secondary violation.
- Have your periodic inspection paperwork accessible. 396.17C (no proof of periodic inspection) showed up in 135 co-occurring inspections — the second most common companion violation in the dataset. If you can't produce that document, a routine stop gets more thorough fast.
- Check your windshield. 393.78 (defective windshield condition) co-occurred in 70 inspections. A cracked or obstructed windshield is a visible red flag from outside the cab that invites a closer look.
- Know your CDL status before dispatch. 383.23A2 (operating without a CDL) appeared in 62 shared inspections. This is an administrative check that takes seconds and eliminates a violation that carries its own severe consequences.
- If you're sick, say so before you roll. Dispatching while genuinely ill puts you in the worst position: a citation, a potential OOS order, and a CSA hit — with none of the protection that comes from flagging the condition through proper channels before departure. Freightliner (FRHT) vehicles account for 980 all-time citations under this code, the highest of any make in our records. If you operate a FRHT, your cab is statistically the most common location this violation gets written — pre-trip discipline matters.