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VALIDATED

MEL NELSON TRANSPORTATION INC

Trust Score

Excellent Why this score?

Company CheckMEL NELSON TRANSPORTATION INC · DOT 557290

16821 WICKER AVENUE, LOWELL, IN, 46356

DOT# 557290 MC# 204046 Lowell, Indiana 36 years

CARRIER

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4

Power Units

2

Drivers

0

Crashes (24-Month)

$750,000

Insurance

Not Rated

Safety Rating

0

Inspections

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Company Information

Legal NameMEL NELSON TRANSPORTATION INC

DOT Number557290

MC Number204046

Entity TypeCarrier

Operating StatusA - Active

LocationLowell, Indiana

Added04/06/1994

MCS-15011/05/2025

Contact Details

PhoneSign in to view

EmailSign in to view

Physical Address16821 WICKER AVENUE, LOWELL, IN, 46356

Mailing Address16821 WICKER AVENUE, LOWELL, IN, 46356

Operating Authorities

Authority TypePRIVATE PROPERTY;AUTHORIZED FOR HIRE

Carrier OperationA - Interstate

DocketMC204046

CommonNot Active

ContractActive

BrokerNot Active

Operating36 years

Operation Classification

Authorized For HirePrivate (Property)

SMS BASIC Scores

FMCSA safety categories, last 24 months. Above Cutoff = FMCSA flags a problem · Below cutoff = within limits · Clean = no violations.

Unsafe Driving

measure 0 · 0 insp with violations

Clean

Hours-of-Service Compliance

measure 0 · 0 insp with violations

Clean

Driver Fitness

measure 0 · 0 insp with violations

Clean

Controlled Substances / Alcohol

measure 0 · 0 insp with violations

Clean

Vehicle Maintenance

measure 0 · 0 insp with violations

Clean

Source: FMCSA SMS, updated monthly.

Mileage

Annual Mileage26,000 miles

Mileage Year2023

VMT SourceMCS-150 Form

Drivers

2

Interstate

0

Intrastate

0

CDL

2

Total

Interstate >100mi0

Interstate <100mi0

Intrastate >100mi0

Intrastate <100mi0

Safety Summary

Safety RatingNot Rated

Total Crashes (24-mo)0

Fatal0

Driver OOS0.0% avg 5.5%

Vehicle OOS0.0% avg 20.7%

SmartWay PartnerNo

Insurance

Amount$750,000

Type91X

VerifiedFMCSA · 06/19/2026

CompanyTHE CINCINNATI INSURANCE CO.

Policy #EBA 035 21 51

Last checked09/11/2026

Quick Facts

StatusActive

TypeCarrier

Fleet4 units

Drivers2

Mileage26,000 mi

Operating36 years

MCS-15011/2025

Safety & Inspection Data

Crash Summary

Total Crashes (24-mo)0

Fatal0

Injury0

Tow-Away0

Driver Inspections

Total0

Out of Service0

OOS Rate0.0%

National Avg5.5%

Vehicle Inspections

Total0

Out of Service0

OOS Rate0.0%

National Avg20.7%

Licensing & Insurance

Form	Type	Insurance Company	Policy	Coverage	Effective	Cancel Date	Method
91X	BIPD/Primary	UNITED FIRE & CASUALTY CO.	60365347	$1,000,000	10/10/2009	10/10/2015	Replaced
91X	BIPD/Primary	GENERAL CASUALTY COMPANY OF WISCONSIN	CBA0377617	$1,000,000	10/10/2003	10/15/2009	Cancelled
91X	BIPD/Primary	WEST AMERICAN INSURANCE CO.	BAW 50 66 16 38	$1,000,000	05/05/1993	10/11/2002	Name Changed

No active insurance policies.

Docket	Type	Action	Served	Disposition	Disp Date
MC204046	MOTOR PROPERTY CONTRACT CARRIER	REINSTATED	12/14/2005	REVOKED	10/21/2009
MC204046	MOTOR PROPERTY CONTRACT CARRIER	REINSTATED	10/28/2009	-	-
MC204046	MOTOR PROPERTY CONTRACT CARRIER	REINSTATED	10/28/2003	REVOKED	12/13/2005
MC204046	CONTRACT	INVOLUNTARY REVOCATION	09/02/1993	DISCONTINUED REVOCATION	01/07/1994
MC204046	MOTOR PROPERTY CONTRACT CARRIER	GRANTED	01/22/1990	REVOKED	12/31/2002

No revocation records.

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100/100

Excellent

VERIFIED

Every carrier starts at 100. We subtract points for each missing requirement or risk factor below. Verified means all four core requirements pass.

Score breakdown

100, no deductions

Clean record, the bar stays full at 100.

Verification, 4 core requirements

Active operating authority

FMCSA shows the USDOT registration and authority are active.

Authorized for hire

Holds active for-hire (common or contract) authority.

Active insurance on file

Insurance coverage and carrier are on file with FMCSA.

Safety rating not Unsatisfactory

No Unsatisfactory rating on file.

What's lowering this score

Clean record, no deductions. This carrier starts and stays at 100.

How we calculate the Trust Score

Every company starts at 100

We subtract points for each missing requirement or risk factor. Verified means all the core requirements for that company's type pass. Nothing is added back, the score is a deduction model built only on public FMCSA data. No pay-to-play, no opinions.

Requirements differ by company type

Each company is judged fairly on its own FMCSA obligations. Anything that doesn't apply shows as a grey N/A, not required, never a penalty.

Carrier (for-hire)

Operating authority, authorized-for-hire, insurance on file, safety rating.

Broker

Broker authority + $75k surety bond (BMC-84/85). MCS-150 not required (no fleet).

Freight forwarder

FF authority + $75k bond + BOC-3. MCS-150 not required (no trucks).

Private carrier

Active USDOT + MCS-150 + safety. No operating authority / for-hire / insurance filing required (hauls its own goods).

Crashes are scaled, not flat

Crash history is proportional. We don't apply a flat penalty, we scale it to (a) crashes per vehicle in the fleet and (b) the share of those crashes that were fatal. So a big, safe fleet barely moves; a small fleet with many (and fatal) crashes takes a large hit.

0 pts deductedscaled by rate & severityup to −28 pts

Low end

50,000 vehicles + 1 crash → ~0 pts. A huge fleet with very few crashes per vehicle is almost untouched.

High end

5 vehicles + 3 crashes incl. fatal → large deduction (near the −28 cap). Many crashes per truck, fatal-heavy.

Mechanics: deduction is capped at 28 points, weighted roughly 60% on crashes-per-vehicle and 40% on the fatal ratio. Zero crashes = zero deduction. If fleet size is unknown, only crash severity can move the score (conservative).

Out-of-service rate vs. the national average

Driver and vehicle out-of-service rates are measured against the FMCSA national average, not a flat number. A company only takes the deduction when it sits above the national benchmark, for example “Vehicle OOS 37% vs national avg 20.7%”.

Point reference, the full menu

Every factor and exactly how many points it can remove. Knockout factors (they also fail Verification) are marked.

Factor	Points
USDOT / authority not active with FMCSA knockout	−25
Missing operating authority (when required) knockout	−15
No insurance or surety bond on file (when required) knockout	−25
Unsatisfactory safety rating knockout	−30
Conditional safety rating	−12
MCS-150 biennial update overdue (carriers)	−10
Crashes, rate-adjusted (per-vehicle & fatal share)	0 to −28
Driver OOS rate above national average	−5
Vehicle OOS rate above national average	−5
Very new carrier (under 1 year)	−10
Limited operating history (1-3 years)	−6
Moderate operating history (3-5 years)	−3
Operating history unknown	−3
No public phone number	−3
No public email address	−2

All inputs come from public FMCSA records (operating authority, insurance/bond filings, the SAFER/SMS safety profile, crash & inspection reports). If FMCSA updates a record, the score updates with it. For the full deduction table, see the methodology page.

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