FMCSA Denies Miser Logistics Appeal of Conditional Safety Rating

FMCSA denied a petition from Miser Logistics LLC seeking to overturn its Conditional safety rating, the agency said in a final order. The rating stemmed from an April 2026 compliance review by FMCSA's Ohio Division that found an acute financial-responsibility violation and a pattern of noncompliance with vehicle inspection rules under 49 CFR 396.17(a).

Miser argued FMCSA miscalculated its vehicle out-of-service rate by using the wrong start date for the compliance review. The carrier said the review began July 16, 2025, when the safety investigator first called, emailed and visited its office, not July 28, 2025, as FMCSA used. Using the earlier date would have dropped the OOS rate below the 34 percent threshold for an unsatisfactory Factor 4 rating.

FMCSA's Deputy Administrator held that under the agency's field operations manual, an onsite investigation's start date is the day the investigator is physically present at the carrier's location, not the date of earlier phone or email contact. With the July 28 start date confirmed, the 36 percent OOS rate stood, and the Factor 4 rating remained unsatisfactory. The carrier's overall Conditional rating stays in place.

What's next

• The Conditional rating, effective since June 29, 2026, remains in force.
• No further administrative appeal route is described in the order.

All sources

• Other: In the Matter of Miser Logistics LLC - Final Order on Petition for Administrative Review of Conditional Safety Rating — Regulations.gov (FMCSA), 2026-10-30