What 393.104B-C means in plain language
This violation comes down to one straightforward issue: a tiedown or cargo securement device on your vehicle is in a condition where it can no longer do its job. That means the strap, chain, binder, or other securing component is damaged, defective, or otherwise compromised to the point that it cannot reliably hold cargo in place under load or road stress.
Inspectors don't need to see a catastrophic failure to write this citation. A frayed webbing strap, a bent ratchet that won't lock, a chain with a damaged link, or a binder with a cracked handle can all meet the threshold. The regulation covers the full range of securement hardware — if the device is supposed to hold something down and it demonstrably cannot, you're exposed.
The practical takeaway is that this isn't about whether your cargo is currently sitting still. It's about whether your securement equipment is capable of doing its job through the entirety of the trip, including hard braking, turns, and road vibration. Inspectors are trained to evaluate condition, not just current position of the load.
What our enforcement data actually shows
Across our database of 13 million+ inspections, 393.104B-C has accumulated 7,227 all-time citations, ranking it #275 out of 3,036 FMCSR codes by citation volume. That places it solidly in the upper tier of enforcement frequency — not the most commonly cited code, but far from obscure.
The enforcement pace is accelerating. Our inspection records show 4,618 citations in the last 12 months and 919 citations in just the last 90 days, suggesting this is an area of active inspector attention rather than a declining enforcement priority.
On the out-of-service question: 393.104B-C is not OOS-eligible as a standalone violation under standard criteria, and the data backs that up. Of 7,227 all-time citations, 394 resulted in an OOS placement — a 5.5% OOS rate. Compare that to the all-FMCSR average OOS rate of 31.4% across all codes in our database, and you can see this code sits well below average in terms of immediate operational shutdown risk. That said, 394 trucks were still parked, and as the co-occurring violation data below shows, this citation rarely travels alone.
Looking at the monthly trend, citations climbed sharply from 165 in April 2025 to a peak of 484 in July 2025, held above 440 through October 2025, then moderated through the winter before rebounding to 423 in March 2026. The pattern suggests summer and early fall roadside enforcement campaigns have a measurable impact on this code's citation volume.
Who gets cited most
In the last 180 days, California led all states with 222 citations — and stands out sharply from the rest of the list with a 40.5% OOS rate on those citations. That is a material difference from every other top state in our data. Alabama came in second with 117 citations at a 0.0% OOS rate, and Missouri third with 109 citations, also at 0.0%. The gap between California's OOS rate and the rest of the top states exceeds 40 percentage points, which is not a rounding difference — California inspectors are applying OOS criteria in combination with other violations at a significantly higher rate than other high-volume states.
Pennsylvania logged 97 citations and New York 88, both at 0.0% OOS rates, rounding out the top five states where drivers are most likely to encounter this citation.
Our data shows fleets such as SUPLICIUM TRANSPORT LLC (USDOT 4381255) with 24 all-time citations and SAKARA LLC (USDOT 4429530) with 19 all-time citations appearing at the top of the carrier list. Fleets operating high volumes of loads with tiedown-dependent securement will naturally appear more often in this data.
How severe is this compared to similar codes
Within the Vehicle Maintenance category, 393.104B-C's 7,227 citations look modest next to some of the high-volume peer codes in our database. Consider 393.9(a) — Inoperable Required Lamps, which carries 660,737 citations and a 15.4% OOS rate. That code is cited roughly 91 times more often than 393.104B-C, reflecting how universal lighting violations are across all vehicle types.
396.3(a)(1) — Inspection, Repair, and Maintenance (general) sits at 236,919 citations with a notably higher 45.3% OOS rate, nearly eight times the OOS rate of 393.104B-C. If your securement violation is accompanied by a general maintenance finding, the combined OOS exposure rises sharply.
396.17C-PI — No Proof of Periodic Inspection has 212,081 citations at a 0.0% OOS rate, similar to the standalone behavior of 393.104B-C but at dramatically higher volume. That code also shows up as the single most common co-occurring violation with 393.104B-C, appearing in 119 shared inspections in the last 90 days alone — a clear signal that carriers skipping or failing to document annual inspections are the same carriers showing up with damaged securement equipment.
How to avoid it
The co-occurring violation data from the last 90 days gives a direct map of what inspectors find alongside damaged tiedown citations. Use that pattern to build your pre-trip checklist:
- Inspect every tiedown before you load. Run each strap through your hands. Check ratchet mechanisms for proper locking, look for cuts, abrasion damage, or UV degradation on webbing, and verify that hooks and binders are not bent or cracked. 393.104B-C is entirely preventable at the pre-trip stage.
- Cross-check your annual inspection paperwork. With 396.17C-PI appearing in 119 shared inspections in the last 90 days, missing periodic inspection documentation is the most common companion to this violation. Carry your current periodic inspection record in the cab.
- Verify your aggregate securement, not just individual tiedowns. Code 393.100B-C — cargo securement aggregate working load — appeared in 84 shared inspections in the last 90 days. A single damaged strap doesn't just fail the condition test; it can also push your total working load below the minimum required, creating a second violation from one piece of bad equipment.
- Check tires during the same walk-around. Two tire-related codes appear in the co-occurring data: 393.75A3-TAOL (leaking or low tires) in 71 shared inspections and 393.75C-TAOTD-LT2/32 (insufficient tread depth) in 70 shared inspections. Inspectors doing a thorough walk of a cited truck check tires too.
- Don't ignore brake condition. 396.3A1-BOS — brakes out of service — appeared alongside this violation in 61 shared inspections in the last 90 days. A truck that hasn't had recent maintenance attention often accumulates multiple defects simultaneously. If your securement equipment is degraded, treat it as a flag to physically check your brake components as well.
- Pay extra attention on Freightliner, Ford, and Peterbilt equipment. Our inspection records show Freightliner vehicles leading all makes with 1,084 all-time citations under this code, followed by Ford at 690 and Peterbilt at 584. High citation counts on specific makes reflect fleet composition and usage patterns — if you operate these makes on cargo-heavy runs, your securement hardware is taking more wear cycles and needs more frequent inspection.