Carroll Fulmer’s Last Miles: Breaking Down the Data

 

Carroll Fulmer’s official DOT safety rating is still marked as “Satisfactory,” but the last time it was updated was way back in April 2015. That means their green checkmark has not changed in over a decade, even as crash numbers, violations, and litigation stacked up in recent years. It’s a reminder that the public DOT rating can lag far behind what’s really happening on the ground.

When a trucking company that lasted seventy-one years suddenly goes dark, most of the industry shrugs and blames lawsuits or bad luck. But the full story of Carroll Fulmer is buried in crash logs, inspection sheets, and federal safety data. We dug into every FMCSA report, court docket, and public file to get the truth.

Carroll Fulmer: Growth, Reputation, and Realities

Founded in 1954, Carroll Fulmer built a reputation as a reliable family-run carrier. They grew to more than four hundred trucks and seventeen hundred trailers by the time the closure announcement landed. From a small produce hauler in the Southeast to a major Florida-based fleet, they hired hundreds and weathered plenty of freight market storms over seven decades.

Market Collapse Meets Claim Shock

The trouble really hit after 2022. Spot rates kept dropping while every cost line including fuel, repairs, and insurance shot up. Even a twenty-seven million dollar credit line in early 2025 just put off the math problem for a few months. By midsummer, the company was out of room, telling staff and city officials that the last day of operations would be September.

Inside the Lawsuits: More Than Hype

Carroll Fulmer leadership publicly blamed "frivolous lawsuits" for the shutdown, but the real litigation history runs deeper. One of the biggest was the Crechale wrongful death case out of Mississippi. Back in August 2019, a Carroll Fulmer truck crashed into Johnny Crechale’s vehicle on I-20. The lawsuit claimed the driver was either speeding or following too close, and court records show the company’s safety record ended up under the microscope at trial. The case survived expert challenges and stretched through two years of legal wrangling before a confidential settlement. For the carrier, this meant six figures in legal costs even before considering payout.

Ohio saw its own high-profile claim. Donnie Cosby sued Carroll Fulmer after a collision that left him with serious injuries. The case was removed to federal court in 2023 and, as of this summer, is still pending. Legal fees stack up every month a case drags on, and the docket shows that summary judgment, meaning a quick win for the carrier, was off the table.

California was another tough arena. The Williams suit started after an LA crash in 2023, and before that, the Zuniga case saw a jury hit Carroll Fulmer with a $4,680,000 verdict, later settled for over $5,000,000. These are the kinds of cases that spike premiums and put a target on a carrier’s back for every future claim.

There were plenty more. Glaze v. Carroll Fulmer in Georgia followed another serious crash, and Thornton v. Carroll Fulmer in Florida, though a contract dispute, still cost management time and cash. At their peak, Carroll Fulmer was juggling as many as eight active lawsuits, with plaintiff demands ranging from two hundred fifty thousand to several million dollars.

What the Crash Data Really Shows

It is worth saying up front that not every DOT-reported crash involves a ticket, a bad driver, or even a serious claim. Sometimes a Carroll Fulmer truck was inspected simply because there was a tow or because DOT was called to the scene for cleanup. In many cases, a tow-away alone is enough to trigger a crash report and a roadside inspection, even when the carrier was not at fault. That is why those numbers can sometimes look higher than the real risk.

If you are reading this and wondering why some crash records look routine or low-severity, that is why. DOT stats do not always tell the whole story.

FMCSA records reveal that Carroll Fulmer was involved in forty reportable crashes over the last two years alone. That is nearly two per month. At least one of those was fatal, a wreck in Florida on February 26, 2024, where the official record confirms both a fatality and an injury, but the details remain under federal review. Nine of the crashes resulted in injuries requiring medical attention, and the remaining thirty were severe enough to require a tow truck on scene.

Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Texas, Mississippi, Virginia, North Carolina, Louisiana, Arkansas, and California all had Carroll Fulmer trucks involved in reportable wrecks. The crash reports show the usual mix: rear-end hits, intersection pileups, trouble in the turns, and more than a few lane-change mistakes. There were even cases where a tractor-trailer lost control, sending everyone scrambling. These are the kinds of crashes that lawyers and insurance companies know by heart because they almost always lead to big claims and tough questions in court.

The types of crashes were the exact ones that drive up both legal and insurance costs. In one Georgia case in March 2025, the crash was labeled preventable after FMCSA review. In Florida, a January 2025 injury wreck was also found preventable, directly impacting the carrier’s safety score.

Some of these accidents are still being reviewed for fault, but insurance companies do not wait for a final ruling. Every crash, especially those with injuries or fatalities, spikes the carrier’s CSA scores, drives up renewal costs, and draws the interest of every plaintiff attorney searching the federal crash database for a soft target.

Inspection Results: What the DOT Really Saw

It is not just about crashes. The FMCSA Safety Measurement System paints a clear picture of operational pressure. Carroll Fulmer trucks underwent 501 official inspections over the last twenty-four months. The results were not always pretty.

The vehicle out-of-service rate stood at nearly 35%, which is almost 50% worse than the national average. Inspectors found a pattern: repeated citations for bad tires, worn or leaking brakes, missing or faulty lights, and multiple trucks cited for air and hub leaks. The same violations came up over and over, which tells underwriters and plaintiff lawyers that the problems were not random. They were systemic.

Unsafe driving violations were also frequent. Inspectors wrote up drivers for speeding more than eleven miles per hour over the limit on eighteen different occasions, and for speeding by fifteen or more miles per hour five times. There were five citations for cell phone use while driving, and more than thirty incidents involving improper lane use or lane changes. Inattentive driving, failure to wear seat belts, and driving without proper paperwork all showed up in the inspection log.

BRAKES, TIRES, LIGHTS!!

Maintenance violations were the biggest headache. Inspectors cited Carroll Fulmer for flat tires or running tires with less than fifty percent inflation more than forty times. There were multiple cases of trucks operating without proof of required periodic inspection, unsecured fire extinguishers, and brake system failures. The list includes dozens of out-of-adjustment brakes, air leaks, broken suspension parts, and lighting failures that would be easy to spot in any routine pre-trip check.

The company also logged thirty hours-of-service violations, ranging from ELD and logbook errors to drivers running past their legal limits. Seven drivers were cited for fitness issues, mostly missing medical cards or driving without the right endorsements.

The Violations That Kept Showing Up

Want to see what kept landing Carroll Fulmer on the DOT’s radar? Here is a breakdown of their most frequent violations over the past two years:

 Every mark on this bar represents a weak spot for the lawyers and insurers who were watching.

Lane restriction: 35 violations
Speeding 11 to 14 miles over: 18 violations
Obey traffic control (permanent or temporary): 15 violations
Seat belt issues (all types): 8 violations
Speeding 15 miles per hour or more: 5 violations
Cell phone violations (handheld use): 5 violations
Hazard warning flashers: 3 violations
Improper lane change: 4 violations
Improper passing, parking in the roadway, failure to maintain lane, and hours of service: smaller but still important numbers

 Every mark on that bar represents a weak spot for the lawyers and insurers who were watching.

Why the Numbers Mattered

This was not a carrier on the edge because of a single mistake. It was a fleet showing chronic maintenance and compliance problems, with injury and fatal crashes happening at a rate that made every renewal harder and every lawsuit tougher to defend. Lawyers use these data points to claim a pattern and practice of poor safety. Insurers use them to justify higher rates, tougher deductibles, or even non-renewal. Each violation or crash was a red flag, not just for the federal government, but for every party in every courtroom.

What It Means for Fleets Now

The Carroll Fulmer story is not about a bad verdict or a single lawsuit that broke the bank. It is about the slow build, repeat violations, mounting crash stats, a freight market that would not let up, and the cost of doing business in an industry where every mistake becomes public record. If you are running a fleet, this is your case study in what can happen if maintenance and safety culture are not absolutely locked down.

The company will officially shut down in September, closing the book on seventy-one years of trucking history. But the lessons about data, risk, and the need to control your own narrative will stick around a lot longer.

 

 

Disclaimer:
This post is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, insurance, or financial advice. All details, statistics, and case examples are based on publicly available records, FMCSA data, and court filings as of the date of publication. While we strive for accuracy, Truck U cannot guarantee that all information is current or complete. The analysis and commentary reflect our interpretation of the available facts and are not intended to assign blame or liability to any party. For questions regarding your own insurance program or legal exposure, consult a qualified attorney or insurance professional.