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MERKEL'S ANYTIME TOWING INC

Trust Score

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Company CheckMERKEL'S ANYTIME TOWING INC · DOT 927842

DBA: MERKEL'S

925 MERKEL LOOP, SYLACAUGA, AL, 35151

DOT# 927842 MC# 449741 Sylacauga, Alabama 23 years

CARRIER

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Power Units

Drivers

Crashes (24-Month)

$1,000,000

Insurance

Not Rated

Safety Rating

Inspections

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Public record

3 events tracked · latest Jul 7, 2026 ↓ Show details ↓

Safety & compliance 2

Sep 30, 2025
Roadside inspection, 1 out-of-service violation.
Oct 8, 2024
Roadside inspection, 1 violation (no OOS).

Insurance 1

Current
Active insurance on file ($1,000,000).

Public FMCSA record · blue clean · orange change · red risk.

Contact Details

Phone(256) 245-6204

Email[email protected]

Physical Address925 MERKEL LOOP, SYLACAUGA, AL, 35151

Mailing Address925 MERKEL LOOP, SYLACAUGA, AL, 35151

Operating Authorities

Authority TypeAUTHORIZED FOR HIRE

Carrier OperationA - Interstate

DocketMC449741

CommonActive

ContractNot Active

BrokerNot Active

Operating23 years

Company Overview

MERKEL'S ANYTIME TOWING INC is a FMCSA-validated carrier based in Sylacauga, Alabama. The company has been in operation for 23 years, registered with the FMCSA on 01/24/2001. The fleet consists of 6 power units and 6 drivers. Annual mileage is reported at 45,000 miles (2023). With zero crashes across 2 inspections, MERKEL'S ANYTIME TOWING INC maintains an excellent safety record. Both driver and vehicle out-of-service rates are below the national average, indicating strong compliance. Insurance coverage of $1,000,000 is on file through PROGRESSIVE SPECIALTY INS. CO.. Active operating authorities include Common. Based on authority, insurance, safety, and compliance data, MERKEL'S ANYTIME TOWING INC has a Trust Score of 100/100 (Excellent).

Operation Classification

Authorized For Hire

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 3.5 · 2 insp with violations

Below cutoff

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 Mileage45,000 miles

Mileage Year2023

VMT SourceMCS-150 Form

Drivers

Interstate

Intrastate

CDL

Total

Interstate >100mi0

Interstate <100mi0

Intrastate >100mi0

Intrastate <100mi0

Equipment

No equipment breakdown on file with FMCSA.

HazMatYes

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$1,000,000

Type91X

VerifiedFMCSA · 07/07/2026

CompanyPROGRESSIVE SPECIALTY INS. CO.

Policy #CA2856179

Quick Facts

StatusActive

TypeCarrier

Fleet6 units

Drivers6

Mileage45,000 mi

Operating23 years

MCS-15009/2025

Safety & Inspection Data

Crash Summary

Total Crashes (24-mo)0

Fatal0

Injury0

Tow-Away0

Driver Inspections

Total2

Out of Service0

OOS Rate0.0%

National Avg5.5%

Below National Average

Vehicle Inspections

Total0

Out of Service0

OOS Rate0.0%

National Avg20.7%

Safety Trends by Year

Roadside inspections and crashes on file, year over year. The red portion of each inspection bar is the out-of-service share; ▲/▼ compares to the prior year.

Inspections · red = OOS

2023

1 · 0 OOS -

2024

1 · 0 OOS =

2025

1 · 1 OOS ▲

Crashes

No crashes on record.

Based on FMCSA crash and roadside inspection records (rolling 3-year window). The latest year may be partial.

Out-of-Service Summary Last 24 months

Live FMCSA roadside inspections through Sep 2025, 2 inspections, 1 resulted in out-of-service (50% OOS rate).

Vehicle Out-of-Service 1 OOS

Live FMCSA roadside inspection records, refreshed monthly.

Roadside Violations by Safety Category Last 24 months

3 roadside violations across 2 inspections, grouped into FMCSA safety-behavior categories. The shaded portion shows how many were serious enough to result in an out-of-service order.

ViolationsOut-of-service

Unsafe Driving 3 violations · 1 OOS

Categories follow FMCSR violation parts (Part 393/396 = Vehicle Maintenance, Part 395 = HOS; "Other" = general/administrative parts such as 390). Raw violation counts and out-of-service results, not FMCSA percentile rankings, which are not published for property carriers.

Inspection Records (3)

Date	State	Level	Location	Violations	OOS	Driver Viol	Vehicle OOS	HazMat
09/30/2025	GA	Driver-Only (Level III)	RUTLEDGE GA	2	1	0	1	-	▲Detail
10/08/2024	AL	Driver-Only (Level III)	ROADSIDE	1	0	1	0	-	▲Detail
07/15/2023	AL	Driver-Only (Level III)	US 280 W@SYLACAUGA	0	0	0	0	-	▲Detail

Safety Performance Percentiles

FMCSA SMS percentile rankings. Higher percentile = worse performance relative to peers.

Total Inspections2

Unsafe Driving 2 viols

Licensing & Insurance

Form	Type	Insurance Company	Policy	Coverage	Effective	Cancel Date	Method
91X	BIPD/Primary	PROGRESSIVE SPECIALTY INS. CO.	CA 4729151-6	$750,000	08/06/2004	02/06/2005	Cancelled
91X	BIPD/Primary	PROGRESSIVE SPECIALTY INS. CO.	CA 4729151-4	$750,000	08/06/2003	02/06/2004	Cancelled
91X	BIPD/Primary	PLAZA INSURANCE COMPANY	PTOWK004214-00	$1,000,000	03/27/2013	02/10/2014	Cancelled
91X	BIPD/Primary	PLAZA INSURANCE COMPANY	PTOWK004214-02	$1,000,000	02/10/2015	02/10/2016	Cancelled
91X	BIPD/Primary	PLAZA INSURANCE COMPANY	PTOWK004214-01	$1,000,000	02/10/2014	02/10/2015	Cancelled
91X	BIPD/Primary	PLAZA INSURANCE COMPANY	PTOWK004214-00	$1,000,000	02/10/2013	03/27/2013	Replaced
91X	BIPD/Primary	PLAZA INSURANCE COMPANY	PTOWK004214-00	$1,000,000	02/10/2013	04/22/2013	Name Changed
91X	BIPD/Primary	PROGRESSIVE SPECIALTY INS. CO.	CA 4729151	$1,000,000	02/10/2005	02/10/2013	Replaced
91X	BIPD/Primary	PROGRESSIVE SPECIALTY INS. CO.	CA 4729151-5	$750,000	02/06/2004	08/06/2004	Cancelled
91X	BIPD/Primary	PROGRESSIVE SPECIALTY INS. CO.	CA 4729151-3	$750,000	02/06/2003	08/06/2003	Cancelled

No active insurance policies.

Docket	Type	Action	Served	Disposition	Disp Date
MC449741	MOTOR PROPERTY COMMON CARRIER	REINSTATED	08/17/2005	-	-
MC449741	COMMON	INVOLUNTARY REVOCATION	07/12/2004	DISCONTINUED REVOCATION	08/16/2004
MC449741	MOTOR PROPERTY COMMON CARRIER	GRANTED	03/25/2003	REVOKED	02/14/2005
MC449741	COMMON	INVOLUNTARY REVOCATION	03/18/2013	DISCONTINUED REVOCATION	03/28/2013
MC449741	COMMON	INVOLUNTARY REVOCATION	01/14/2016	DISCONTINUED REVOCATION	02/03/2016
MC449741	COMMON	INVOLUNTARY REVOCATION	01/14/2015	DISCONTINUED REVOCATION	02/09/2015
MC449741	COMMON	INVOLUNTARY REVOCATION	01/14/2014	DISCONTINUED REVOCATION	02/05/2014

No revocation records.

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Trust Score over time and the complete authority and insurance timeline, not just today.

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

FMCSA shows active coverage on file as of 7/7/2026.

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.

MERKEL'S ANYTIME TOWING INC

Trust Score

Public record

Company Information

Contact Details

Operating Authorities

Company Overview

Operation Classification

SMS BASIC Scores

Mileage

Drivers

Equipment

Safety Summary

Insurance

Quick Facts

Safety & Inspection Data

Safety Trends by Year

Out-of-Service Summary Last 24 months

Roadside Violations by Safety Category Last 24 months

Inspection Records (3)

Safety Performance Percentiles

Licensing & Insurance

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