Verify a carrier before you book

What should you check before booking?

Make sure the legal name matches the rate confirmation and that the FMCSA record is current. A mismatch, inactive status, or missing authority deserves a second check before you tender freight. Enter the number with its prefix — MC123456 or MX123456; a bare number is treated as a USDOT number.

Use the linked SAFER snapshot for authority, insurance, inspections, crashes, and safety-rating details. This quick lookup is a starting point, not a substitute for reviewing the complete government record.

We try FMCSA QCMobile first. If its service is unavailable, the result may use FMCSA's official daily Company Census File and will be labeled above. Use SAFER directly for the complete government snapshot.

How do you read a SAFER record?

Five fields tell you almost everything. 1) Operating status — must read Active; Inactive means no authority to haul, whatever the dispatcher claims. 2) Legal name vs DBA — the name on the rate confirmation must match the record exactly; "doing business as" mismatches are the classic double-broker tell. 3) Authority type — Common, Contract, and Broker authorities are separate lines; a carrier with only broker authority cannot legally haul freight on its own trucks. 4) Insurance on file — BIPD and cargo coverage with current dates; lapsed insurance voids the authority behind it. 5) Safety and inspections — safety rating plus vehicle/driver out-of-service rates; rates far above national averages predict the delay claim you will eat later. The lookup above surfaces all five; open the linked SAFER snapshot for the complete history.

What are the red flags before you book?

Stop the booking when you see any of these. Authority granted last month with 50 power units — either a reincarnated carrier dodging a bad record or a data error, both worth a phone call. MC number on the truck door differs from the rate con — the load is being double-brokered. No insurance on file — the authority is effectively dead. Address is a UPS store, phone is a VoIP number, email is generic — legitimate carriers have terminals, not mailboxes. Rate far below every other quote — fraud loads compete on price because they never intend to deliver normally. Verify every new partner once through the lookup above, then spot-check quarterly — authority can lapse mid-relationship.