BENCO STEEL INC

DOT# 613279 Hickory, NC Authorized For-Hire / Exempt For-Hire
(828) 328-1714 jmulligan@bencosteel.com 2710 Hwy 70 Se, Hickory NC 28602
9 power units 6 drivers
Satisfactory
FRED Score 65.7 / 100
Low confidence
31 yrs history · 33 roadside inspections

FMCSA Live Status

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Fleet & equipment

Power units
9
Drivers · CDL
6 · 6
Annual miles
176k unreliable
Type Own Term Trip Total
Trucks 5 0 0 5
Tractors 1 3 0 4
Trailers 3 0 0 3

Registration

Organization
CORPORATION
Registered
09-06-1995 (31 yrs)
MCS-150 Update
08-27-2025 (Address Change)
FRED Score Date
Nov 07, 2026
Officer
JAMES MULLIGAN

Cargo

33.0
low risk
Metal: Sheets/Coils/Rolls Building Materials Other: STEEL Construction

Estimated from the commodity types reported to FMCSA, not from loss history or the true cargo mix.

Advisory Grade — Outside the Ranked Book

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.

Mileage Unreliable

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).

Expected crash rate is probably lower than similar fleets (about a 70% chance), but the record is too thin to say by how much.

Similar fleets: for-hire 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.

This motor carrier 0.87×
ExcellentStrongSatisf.MarginalPoorCritical
▲ Similar fleets 1.0×
Expected crashes, next 12 months
0.3 vs 0.4 for similar fleets
Likely 0–1 crashes
This motor carrier
0.3
Similar fleets
0.4
Chance of a fatal crash, next 12 months
<1%
About typical for similar fleets.
What's driving the grade
Crash history
betterworse
About typical. 1 injury crash on the FMCSA record in 24 months (about 0.5 a year); similar fleets have about 0.4 a year.
Roadside inspections
betterworse
Better than peers. Unsafe-driving and hours-of-service violations 0.24×, violations 0.75× and out-of-service orders 0.79× the rate expected for its inspections. Together they move its crash estimate -18%. It's inspected more often than most fleets its size.

Worth a closer look

From the FMCSA record. The grade already counts the safety items; insurance filings and links to other motor carriers are not in it.

  • Injury crashes
    1 crash with 1 person hurt in 24 months.
    Ask: claim status and driver history for these crashes.
Strengths
  • Driver out-of-service rate 0.0% vs 6.7% national.
  • No FMCSA BASIC alerts.
  • 88% of inspections found no violations.
Data flags
  • Unreliable reported mileage
    The motor carrier's self-reported annual mileage (MCS-150) looks implausible, so exposure- and mileage-based figures may be distorted.
  • Estimated mileage
    No usable mileage was reported, so exposure was estimated from similar motor carriers. Mileage-based metrics here are approximate.

Track record

FMCSA record, Sep 2024 – Sep 2026 · grade scored on Sep 1, 2023 → Sep 30, 2026
Crashes
1
0 fatalities · 1 injury · 0 tow-aways
Inspections
33
88% clean (no violations)
Vehicle out-of-service
23.1%
3 of 13
National avg 22.3%
Driver out-of-service
0.0%
0 of 33
National avg 6.7%
Violations
6
3 out-of-service
Inspections per quarter With an out-of-service order
Q4 '24: 4 inspections, 1 out of service 4 Q4 '24 Q1 '25: 5 inspections, 0 out of service 5 Q1 '25 Q2 '25: 4 inspections, 2 out of service 4 Q2 '25 Q3 '25: 5 inspections, 0 out of service 5 Q3 '25 Q4 '25: 1 inspections, 0 out of service 1 Q4 '25 Q1 '26: 6 inspections, 0 out of service 6 Q1 '26 Q2 '26: 5 inspections, 0 out of service 5 Q2 '26 Q3 '26: 2 inspections, 0 out of service 2 Q3 '26
Sep 25–30, 2024 isn't charted (too little of that quarter is on file); the 24-month totals include its 1 inspection.
vs 3,355 peer fleets
This motor carrierPeers
Crashes 0.056 0.022
Inspections 2.61 0.66
Violations 0.33 0.65
Critical violations 0.00 0.10

Yearly rates from the last 24 months. Peers: Small (advisory) power units, low-risk cargo.

What they get cited for

6 violations · 24 months
  • Vehicle maintenance No alert
    6 · 3 OOS
    Cargo securement 4 · Brakes 1 · Other parts 1
  • Unsafe driving No alert
    0
  • Hours of service No alert
    0
  • Driver fitness No alert
    0
  • Drugs & alcohol No alert
    0
Out-of-service violations “No alert” = under FMCSA's BASIC intervention threshold

Violations by quarter

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No violation trend data

Crashes

24 months
  • Jun
    24
    2025
    North Carolina
    Injury · 1 person hurt
    Daylight, two-way trafficway divided unprotected median.

No other reportable crashes on the FMCSA record.

Insurance filed with FMCSA

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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

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Inspections by state
  • North Carolina (HQ) 33

Mostly inspected in its home state (100%).