{
  "slug": "fmcsa-lighting-violations-by-truck-age",
  "title": "Lighting Violations by Truck Age: What FMCSA Roadside Inspections Cite",
  "description": "Lighting violations by truck age: 44.7% of cited tractors aged 15 or more had a lighting violation, against 13.5% of cited tractors aged 0-2. Tire violations are highest on the newest.",
  "track": "regulatory",
  "kind": "article",
  "isRegulatoryAdjacent": true,
  "publishedAt": "2026-10-21",
  "cfr": [
    "49 CFR 396.9"
  ],
  "related": [
    "semi-trailer-lighting-and-wiring",
    "trailer-abs-light",
    "annual-inspection-in-blue-collar-parts"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "lighting_electrical",
    "tires_wheels",
    "roadside_enforcement"
  ],
  "nextStep": {
    "kind": "related",
    "target": "annual-inspection-in-blue-collar-parts",
    "text": "See how an annual inspection is recorded in Blue Collar Parts"
  },
  "sources": {
    "citations": [
      {
        "label": "49 CFR 396.9",
        "name": "49 CFR 396.9 — Inspection of motor vehicles and intermodal equipment in operation.",
        "url": "https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-49/section-396.9",
        "heading": "§ 396.9 Inspection of motor vehicles and intermodal equipment in operation.",
        "edition": "2026-10-01"
      }
    ],
    "bcpRole": "Blue Collar Parts records the work and sends the report to your customer. It does not perform, certify or approve inspections.",
    "reviewed": "2026-10-21",
    "reviewedEdition": "2026-10-01",
    "reviewedText": "Reviewed 2026-10-21 against the eCFR edition of 2026-10-01"
  },
  "url": "https://shopbluecollarparts.com/kb/fmcsa-lighting-violations-by-truck-age",
  "markdownUrl": "https://shopbluecollarparts.com/kb/fmcsa-lighting-violations-by-truck-age.md",
  "body": "**Among cited tractors aged 15 or more, 44.7% had a lighting violation, against 13.5% of cited tractors aged 0-2 (n = 144,671 and 83,317 cited tractors).** The lighting share is higher in each older age band. Tires look different: 20.2% of cited tractors aged 0-2 had a tire violation, against 13.5% to 15.6% in every older band.\n\n## How these numbers were made\n\n- **Dataset:** FMCSA vehicle inspection data, public roadside inspections, one current version per inspection, with the model year decoded from the VIN using the NHTSA vPIC decoder.\n- **Window:** inspections from 2025-10-19 to 2026-10-18.\n- **Unit:** one inspected tractor in one inspection. A truck inspected twice counts twice.\n- **Population:** cited tractors, meaning tractors with at least one vehicle violation. Units inspected with no violations are not in this data.\n- **Age:** the inspection year minus the decoded model year, in bands of 0-2, 3-5, 6-9, 10-14 and 15+ years. Tractors with no usable model year are in no band.\n- **What the number is:** a mix among cited tractors. It is not a rate. It says what cited tractors of each age looked like, not how likely a tractor of that age is to be cited.\n- **Categories:** FMCSA's own vehicle violation categories, Lighting and Tires. A tractor can have violations in several categories, so the shares do not add to 100%.\n\n## How do lighting violations compare across truck ages?\n\nShare of cited tractors in each age band that had at least one violation in the category.\n\n| Tractor age | Cited tractors (n) | Had a lighting violation | Had a tire violation |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| 0-2 years | 83,317 | 13.5% | 20.2% |\n| 3-5 years | 107,134 | 21.3% | 15.6% |\n| 6-9 years | 161,547 | 31.1% | 13.8% |\n| 10-14 years | 127,233 | 37.6% | 13.5% |\n| 15+ years | 144,671 | 44.7% | 14.5% |\n\nRead each row by itself: it is the share of that age band's cited tractors with the violation. Counts behind the extremes: 11,207 of 83,317 (lighting, aged 0-2), 64,705 of 144,671 (lighting, aged 15+), 16,861 of 83,317 (tires, aged 0-2) and 17,174 of 127,233 (tires, aged 10-14).\n\n## What counts as a lighting violation?\n\nIt is a violation FMCSA files under its Lighting vehicle category. For how trailer lights and the connector between tractor and trailer are put together, see [semi trailer lighting and wiring](/kb/semi-trailer-lighting-and-wiring). A lit trailer ABS lamp is a different item, covered in [trailer ABS light](/kb/trailer-abs-light).\n\n## What these numbers do not say\n\nThey describe what inspectors recorded on cited tractors. They do not show how often tractors of any age are cited, they say nothing about why a mix looks as it does, and they are not a safety rating or a finding about any carrier or truck. Inspectors choose which trucks to stop, so the tractors here are not a sample of all tractors on the road. The same data also lists which checks put units out of service: see [FMCSA out-of-service checks](/kb/fmcsa-out-of-service-checks).\n\n---\n\n*This page reports aggregates of public FMCSA vehicle inspection data for the window stated above and cites 49 CFR 396.9, under which these roadside inspections are made. It is informational only and does not constitute legal or regulatory advice. Lamps and tires are covered in 49 CFR part 393; consult the current [eCFR](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-49/part-393) for the rules themselves.*",
  "license": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licenseUrl": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
}