FMCSR 393.207(b) — Frame Cracked/Broken/Sagging: Driver Q&A

Yes — more likely than not. Across 13 million inspections in our database, 393.207(b) has a 58.1% out-of-service rate. That means inspectors placed trucks out of service in 2,644 of the 4,553 all-time citations recorded. For context, the average OOS rate across all FMCSR codes is 31.4%, so 393.207(b) runs nearly double the national average. If an inspector spots a cracked, broken, or sagging frame, there is better than a coin-flip chance your truck is going nowhere until the repair is documented and cleared.

393.207(b) carries a severity weight of 8 out of a maximum of 10. That places it among the heavier-weighted violations in the Vehicle Maintenance BASIC. The actual points applied to your CSA score depend on a time-based multiplier: violations within the most recent 6 months are weighted 3×, those between 6 and 12 months ago are weighted 2×, and anything older than 12 months is weighted 1×. A fresh 8-severity citation can therefore register as 24 weighted points while it sits in the acute window, which is meaningful movement inside a fleet's Vehicle Maintenance BASIC percentile.

Get the vehicle to a qualified frame repair facility before it moves in revenue service. Here is the priority sequence:

1. Do not drive the truck loaded if an OOS order was issued — reinspection and clearance are required first.
2. Document everything: photographs of the frame from multiple angles before any repair work begins.
3. Obtain a written repair order with a description of the defect and the corrective action taken — you will need this for DataQs or carrier review.
4. Notify your fleet safety department immediately — with a severity weight of 8 and a 58.1% OOS rate, this violation will surface quickly in FMCSA SMS data.
5. Request a post-repair inspection receipt so the roadside record can be annotated if needed.

Yes — it is significantly more serious than most peer codes. Our inspection records show the all-FMCSR average OOS rate is 31.4%. At 58.1%, 393.207(b) runs 26.7 percentage points above that baseline. Compare that to common high-volume Vehicle Maintenance codes: 393.9(a) (inoperable required lamps) has a 15.4% OOS rate across 660,737 citations, and 393.11 (lighting devices/reflectors) sits at just 1.8% across 179,734 citations. A cracked or broken frame is structurally catastrophic by definition, which is exactly why inspectors take it off the road at nearly 6-in-10 encounters.

Yes, you can submit a Request for Data Review (RDR) through FMCSA's DataQs system. Because 393.207(b) is an equipment-condition finding — not a paperwork or documentation issue — a successful challenge generally requires proof that the condition either did not exist at the time of inspection or was misidentified by the inspector. Useful evidence includes the pre-trip inspection record from that day, timestamped repair documentation, and photographs taken immediately after the stop. Note that DataQs does not remove a legitimate violation; it corrects factual errors in the record. If the frame truly was cracked, the citation will stand regardless of the challenge.

The data in our database does not break down 393.207(b)'s 4,553 all-time citations by state in the statistics provided, so naming specific states with specific counts would require inventing numbers — something we won't do. What the record does show is that this code ranks #359 out of 3,036 FMCSR codes by all-time citation volume nationally, meaning enforcement is spread across a broad range of inspection programs rather than concentrated in one corridor. Fleet managers operating in high-inspection-volume states or running older equipment should treat this code as an active risk regardless of geography.

It cannot wait. The 58.1% OOS rate means inspectors are pulling trucks immediately in the majority of encounters — 2,644 vehicles were placed out of service across 4,553 all-time citations in our database. Beyond the roadside stop, the CSA severity weight of 8 means every day the defect remains unrepaired and the violation sits on record, it is accumulating heavily weighted points in your Vehicle Maintenance BASIC. While citation volume over the last 12 months and last 90 days both read zero in current data, the historical enforcement pattern is clear: a frame defect is treated as an imminent hazard, not a deferred maintenance item.

It follows both, but in different ways. Under FMCSA's CSA methodology, equipment violations like 393.207(b) are attributed primarily to the carrier because the carrier is responsible for maintaining the vehicle. The violation appears in the carrier's Vehicle Maintenance BASIC. However, if the driver was the operator at the time of the inspection, the citation also appears on the driver's PSP (Pre-Employment Screening Program) report and can affect future employment screening. Carriers in our database with the most 393.207(b) citations include NEW PRIME INC with 86 citations and SWIFT TRANSPORTATION CO OF ARIZONA LLC with 80 citations — illustrating that high-volume fleets accumulate this exposure at the carrier level.