393.126(b) Cargo Securement Citation: Your Questions Answered

Yes—there's an 86.1% chance. Our inspection records show that of 527 all-time citations for unsecured flattened or crushed vehicles, 454 resulted in out-of-service placement. That's dramatically higher than the 31.4% average OOS rate across all FMCSR codes. An inspector citing this violation has found equipment or cargo handling that fails securement requirements, and most inspectors place the vehicle OOS until the issue is corrected. Don't drive further until the load is resecured or the defect is fixed.

This violation carries a severity weight of 6 CSA points. The actual points applied to your record depend on the 30-day multiplier: if it's your first occurrence in 30 days, you receive 6 points; a second occurrence within 30 days multiplies that. These points feed into your Unsafe Driving or Vehicle Maintenance BASIC categories on your CSA profile. The weight of 6 reflects that cargo securement is a critical safety issue—improperly secured flattened vehicles pose collision and roadway hazard risks.

Immediate steps:

1. Stop driving — the vehicle is likely already placed OOS (86.1% of these citations result in placement).
2. Inspect the cargo securement — verify straps, chains, or other restraints are rated for the load weight and properly tensioned.
3. Resecure or offload — reposition the flattened/crushed vehicle on your trailer or move it to another compliant rig.
4. Document the correction — take photos of the corrected load and have the inspector re-inspect before departure.
5. Request inspection clearance — the inspector must sign off in writing that the violation is resolved.
6. Report to your dispatcher and safety team — log what happened so patterns can be identified.

Yes, this is significantly more serious than most vehicle maintenance violations. Our database shows 393.126(b) has an 86.1% out-of-service rate—more than 2.7 times the 31.4% all-FMCSR average. In its Vehicle Maintenance category, only Inspection/Repair/Maintenance (396.3(a)(1)) exceeds it, at 45.3% OOS. Codes like Windshield condition (393.78) sit at 0.3% OOS. The high OOS rate reflects that unsecured cargo poses immediate crash and spillage risks. Inspectors treat this as a critical safety defect.

Yes, you can challenge the citation through FMCSA's DataQs (Request for Data Review) portal if you believe the inspector's finding was factually incorrect or misapplied. DataQs is most effective for documentation errors or equipment faults that can be proven repaired or wrong at inspection time. For 393.126(b), you'd need to show either that the cargo was properly secured (with photos/evidence) or that you corrected it immediately and can document that correction. Submit your challenge within a defined window; FMCSA will investigate and correct the record if warranted. Consult your carrier's compliance team or a transportation attorney for complex disputes.

Our inspection records show zero citations for unsecured flattened vehicles in the last 12 months and zero in the last 90 days. All 527 citations in our database are historical. This suggests the violation has become rare—likely because carriers, drivers, and manufacturers have improved securement standards and inspection practices for flattened or crushed vehicle transport. That rarity also means if you're cited, it signals a notable lapse in your cargo handling procedures that your fleet should urgently address.

Evans Delivery Company Inc (USDOT 38111) leads with 16 citations, followed by J B Hunt Transport Inc (USDOT 80806) with 6 citations. C & M Posse LLC, IMC Logistics LLC, and five other carriers each have 4–5 citations. These numbers span our entire database (13 million+ inspections). If you work for one of these carriers, your company has a known securement compliance issue—talk to your safety manager about additional training and load verification procedures before transport.

Fix it immediately—before moving the vehicle. With an 86.1% out-of-service placement rate, the truck is almost certainly already prohibited from operation. You cannot legally continue driving until the cargo is properly secured. Because zero citations have been issued in the last 90 days, inspectors rarely encounter this anymore, which means the violation is flagged as high-priority when found. Resecure the load on-site, document the correction, and request re-inspection for clearance. Failure to correct exposes you to additional penalties and places other road users at risk.