DOTSON & SONS
FMCSA Live Status
Fleet & equipment
- Power units
- 6
- Drivers · CDL
- 6 · 6
- Annual miles
- 1 unreliable
| Type | Own | Term | Trip | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trucks | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Tractors | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Trailers | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
Registration
- Registered
- 04-13-2006 (20 yrs)
- MCS-150 Update
- 07-11-2024
- FRED Score Date
- Nov 08, 2026
- Officer
- MELVIN DOTSON
- Officer
- NETTIE DOTSON
Cargo
Estimated from the commodity types reported to FMCSA, not from loss history or the true cargo mix.
Fleets under 10 power units are graded against their size cohort (pu6_9) for reference, but sit outside the 10+ power-unit underwriting book the FRED rank covers.
MCS-150 annual mileage appears too low for fleet size given observed activity. The per-100k-mile rate benchmarks on this page are excluded; the FRED grade does not use mileage (crash exposure is power-unit-years, violation exposure is inspection counts).
Runs within Alabama only. Intrastate fleets in Alabama are inspected about 1 a year for every 5 trucks; interstate fleets, about 1 a year for every 2 trucks. So this record rests mainly on crash reports, which states file for intrastate trucks too, and few inspections are ordinary here.
Not enough record to grade yet.
7 inspections and 1 crash on the FMCSA record in 24 months fit anything from an Excellent fleet to a Poor one.
Similar fleets: intrastate fleets of 6–9 trucks with the same kind of operation, years in business and amount of road activity. Compared using its own crash record and roadside inspections.
Per truck, fleets like this one are expected to crash about 0.6× as often as the median active fleet of 6–9 trucks.
A record this thin can't pin that down: about a 1-in-4 chance it runs at Poor-level crash rates.
Worth a closer look
From the FMCSA record. The estimate already counts the safety items; insurance filings and links to other motor carriers are context only.
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Injury crashes1 crash with 1 person hurt in 24 months.Ask: claim status and driver history for these crashes.
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Driver qualification1 out-of-service violation against drivers: 1 no valid CDL (Jun 2025).Ask: driver qualification files and hiring standards.
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Cargo securement and lightsCargo securement are 5 of 15 violations (33%). Cargo securement or light defects led to 7 out-of-service orders.Ask: the preventive-maintenance schedule and shop records.
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Unreliable reported mileageThe motor carrier's self-reported annual mileage (MCS-150) looks implausible, so exposure- and mileage-based figures may be distorted.
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Estimated mileageNo usable mileage was reported, so exposure was estimated from similar motor carriers. Mileage-based metrics here are approximate.
Track record
Inspected more often than intrastate fleets of 6–9 trucks in Alabama (about 3 in 24 months would be typical; 60% of them had none).
| This motor carrier | Peers | |
|---|---|---|
| Crashes | 0.167 | 0.021 |
| Inspections | 1.08 | 0.71 |
| Violations | 1.25 | 1.02 |
| Critical violations | 0.42 | 0.13 |
Yearly rates from the last 24 months. Peers: intrastate fleets, Small (advisory) power units, minimal-risk cargo.
What they get cited for
15 violations · 24 months-
Vehicle maintenance No alert14 · 7 OOSCargo securement 5 · Lights 4 · Other parts 5
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Driver fitness No alert1 · 1 OOSNo valid CDL 1
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Unsafe driving No alert0
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Hours of service No alert0
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Drugs & alcohol No alert0
Violations by quarter
Tap a category to show or hide itCrashes
24 months-
Jan252025AlabamaInjury · 1 person hurtDaylight, two-way trafficway not divided.
No other reportable crashes on the FMCSA record.
Insurance filed with FMCSA
No MC, FF or MX docket on FMCSA's registration for this motor carrier, so there are no insurance filings to show. FMCSA collects filings only from registered for-hire authorities; other motor carriers keep proof of insurance (MCS-90) at their place of business.
FMCSA filings only, not a policy audit. Not part of the FRED grade. Wrong or out of date?
Where it happens
- Alabama (HQ) 7
How the estimate is calculated
The model, its inputs, the window it scored and its confidence. For actuaries and anyone checking the work.
Forward 12-Month Risk Outlook
The FRED Score predicts this motor carrier's crash risk over the next 12 months — how often they're likely to crash and how severe those crashes tend to be — versus a typical fleet of its size (6 power units: 6 filed, 6 seen roadside in 24 months).
We'd expect a typical fleet of 6 power units this active to have about 0.1 crashes a year. This motor carrier recorded 1 in its scoring window (Oct 1, 2023 → Sep 30, 2026, about 0.3 a year) — about 3.0× a typical fleet. Factoring in its inspection and violation record inside that window and the credibility of its own experience, the model projects about 0.1 over the next 12 — about 1.2× the typical fleet. When this motor carrier does crash, those crashes tend to be substantially more severe than average — roughly 3.3× the injury/fatal weight of a typical crash.
FRED multiplies three factors: the class rate a fleet of this size, class and activity is expected to run, a violation relativity from its roadside record, and its own crash experience over 36 months weighted by how much exposure stands behind it. The grade is the band of the resulting relativity to class, then the screens.
FMCSA records
BASIC measures and every inspection, violation and crash, sortable and filterable.
FMCSA BASIC Scores
C Property| BASIC | Insp w/ Viol | Measure | Alert |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unsafe Driving | 0 | 0.00 | |
| HOS Compliance | 0 | 0.00 | |
| Driver Fitness | 1 | 0.90 | |
| Controlled Substances | 0 | 0.00 | |
| Vehicle Maintenance | 5 | 16.00 |
SMS record data is sourced from FMCSA's Safety Measurement System (05-JAN-26 – 23-DEC-25) and may cover a different time window than the scoring window used for the FRED grade (Oct 1, 2023 → Oct 31, 2026). Counts here may differ from the grade's in-window counts.