Helm Michigan Trucking Pulse: Methodology

Version: 1.1.2

Sources

• FMCSA Vehicle Inspection File, data.transportation.gov dataset fx4q-ay7w (SODA API, free).
• FMCSA Crash File, dataset aayw-vxb3.
• US Census Bureau 2020 county FIPS codes for Michigan county names.

Measures

• Helm out-of-service share (Helm's measure, NOT FMCSA's official OOS rate): inspections with oos_total > 0 divided by all inspections, by insp_date month and state of inspection (report_state). US = all records.
• Crashes: crash records by report_date month and state of crash. Only months whose last day is at least 90 days before the pull date. Counts may still rise.
• Month selection: latest inspection month is the latest full month ending at least 14 days before the pull.
• Geography: where the inspection or crash happened, not where the carrier is based.
• Suppression: county rates with fewer than 30 inspections are suppressed. Counts below 10 are suppressed.
• Revisions: FMCSA data is preliminary. Each edition re-pulls all months, and archived editions are never changed.
• Scope: safety and enforcement statistics only. Not tied to any carrier, any insurance price or any underwriting decision.
• Safety ratings: counts only, labeled satisfactory, conditional, unsatisfactory or No rating listed. No rating listed means the carrier has no FMCSA safety rating on file. A new-entrant safety audit does not produce a safety rating.
• Census snapshot: each run freezes aggregated Company Census totals (by state, status, rating; Michigan by county and status) in pulse/snapshots/YYYY-MM-DD/. Counts under 10 suppressed. No carrier-level rows.
• Attribution: Helm Partners analysis of FMCSA public data. Statements attributed to Helm Partners. Any statement about the Pulse is from Helm Partners, not a named person.
• License: Source data: FMCSA and other U.S. government agencies (public domain). Our analysis, charts and text: CC BY 4.0, Helm Partners. Please credit "Helm Partners, Helm Michigan Trucking Pulse" and link to this page.
• Status: We are not licensed in any state yet. Our Michigan license is pending. We do not quote or sell insurance until licensed. This page is general information.

Reproduce

python3 build.py in the preview folder. Every number in data.csv has a query_id that maps to an exact URL in queries_log.csv.

Changelog

• 1.1.2 (2026-10-25): Compliance fixes (pulse-20261025.md): label 'No rating listed', new-entrant audit sentence (PU1), visible license line (PU2), status line near top (PU3), 'Statements attributed to Helm Partners'.
• 1.1.1 (2026-10-25): changed the no-rating label and added a definition line.
• 1.1.0 (2026-10-25): added dated census snapshot, no-rating wording, Helm Partners attribution, no underwriting link.
• 1.0.0 (2026-10-25): first preview edition.