West Tennessee Safety & Maintenance Council

Kevin Elrod

Owner | Spartan Transportation LLC

Kevin Elrod is a transportation safety, regulatory compliance, and risk management professional with extensive experience spanning military leadership, commercial truck operations, motor carrier management, federal regulatory enforcement, and transportation consulting.

Kevin proudly served more than 25 years in the United States Army as an Airborne Infantry Soldier, Drill Sergeant, and Non-Commissioned Officer. As a combat veteran, he developed the leadership, accountability, operational discipline, and risk management principles that continue to guide his work within the transportation industry today. 

Following his military service, Kevin built firsthand industry experience as an over-the-road commercial driver operating throughout the United States. As a Class A CDL holder with Hazardous Materials, Tanker, and Doubles/Triples endorsements, he accumulated more than 500,000 safe driving miles transporting a wide range of freight, including hazardous materials, bulk liquids, intermodal containers, and general freight operations, while maintaining an exceptional safety record. 

Kevin later advanced into transportation leadership, serving as Safety Director for one of the largest trucking operations in the Southeast. In that role, he oversaw safety, compliance, risk management, driver qualification, accident investigation, Hours-of-Service compliance, drug and alcohol testing programs, and FMCSA regulatory compliance for more than 600 commercial drivers and over 2,500 pieces of transportation equipment. 

His career then led to federal service with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), where he served as a Safety Investigator responsible for conducting compliance reviews, safety audits, hazardous materials investigations, crash investigations, and enforcement actions involving commercial motor carriers. During his tenure, Kevin held several specialized leadership assignments, including Hours-of-Service Subject Matter Expert for the Georgia Division, Intermodal Inspection Team Lead for the FMCSA Southern Region, Imminent Hazard Investigator, and Technical Advisor for Electronic Logging Device (ELD) compliance initiatives. He also served as Chair of the FMCSA Intermodal Equipment Provider (IEP) Technical Assistance Group (TAG), a national advisory group supporting FMCSA policy development, inspection procedures, enforcement guidance, and industry best practices related to intermodal transportation. 

Today, Kevin is the Owner of Spartan Transportation LLC, where he provides consulting, safety management, regulatory compliance, carrier assessments, operational evaluations, and expert witness services for transportation companies, insurers, attorneys, and industry organizations across the United States. He is regularly retained in commercial motor vehicle litigation matters involving FMCSA regulations, carrier safety management, driver qualification, Hours-of-Service compliance, crash investigations, and industry standards. 

Kevin holds numerous FMCSA and Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) certifications, including North American Standard Inspection certifications, hazardous materials enforcement training, cargo tank inspections, post-crash investigation training, and safety management controls assessments. He is also a NATMI Certified Safety and Compliance professional, a frequent speaker at transportation industry events, and an advocate for improving safety culture throughout the trucking industry. 

Through Spartan Transportation LLC, Kevin remains committed to helping carriers improve safety performance, reduce operational risk, strengthen compliance programs, and build safer, more successful transportation operations.