Guide
How to vet a trucking carrier
Vetting a motor carrier takes about 15 minutes per carrier if you know exactly what to check. Walk through these seven steps in order — operating authority first, fraud-screening last — and you'll catch the issues that cause 95% of broker losses: expired authority, lapsed insurance, an unsafe carrier, or a fraudulent re-broker.
Last updated May 2026.
Verify operating authority
Confirm the carrier has Active MC, MX, or FF authority — and that the authority isn't pending revocation.
Pull up the carrier's USDOT number on the FMCSA's SAFER Company Snapshot or the Licensing & Insurance database. You need to see:
- An Active operating authority — Common, Contract, or Broker, depending on what you're tendering.
- The authority granted date — anything under 90 days warrants extra scrutiny (very new authority is a common cover for fraud).
- No pending revocation. A carrier with an active revocation order is days away from losing legal authority.
For a primer on the differences between MC, MX, FF, and Common vs Contract authority, see our glossary.
Confirm insurance is current
Verify the BMC-91 (liability) and any cargo coverage are on file, with no pending cancellation, and meet your minimums.
The FMCSA L&I database shows what's currently on file. Federal minimums:
- $750,000 BIPD for general freight
- $1,000,000 for oilfield equipment
- $5,000,000 for most hazardous materials
- $5,000,000 for passenger carriers
Most brokers and shippers require more than federal minimums — typically $1,000,000 BIPD and $100,000 cargo for dry van. Always pull a current Certificate of Insurance (COI) naming you (or your shipper) as the certificate holder. Don't accept a COI emailed by the dispatcher — confirm with the insurance agent listed on the certificate.
Check the federal Safety Rating
Look for Satisfactory or Unrated. Avoid Conditional or Unsatisfactory.
The Safety Rating is a regulatory determination issued by the FMCSA after a Compliance Review. There are four possible values:
| Rating | What it means |
|---|---|
| Satisfactory | FMCSA reviewed the carrier and found adequate safety management controls. |
| Conditional | Reviewed and found deficient. Carrier can still operate but is a red flag. |
| Unsatisfactory | Carrier is unfit to operate and is being shut down. Do not tender. |
| Unrated | No Compliance Review yet. Common for newer or smaller carriers. Not a red flag — fall back to CSA scores and OOS rates. |
Review CSA BASIC scores
Scan the seven Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Category scores. Anything above the FMCSA threshold means the carrier is on the agency's radar.
CSA scores are percentile rankings against peer carriers, refreshed monthly. The seven BASICs:
- Unsafe Driving — speeding, reckless, lane changes (threshold 65%)
- Hours-of-Service Compliance — logbook violations (threshold 65%)
- Driver Fitness — CDL issues, medical cert (threshold 80%)
- Controlled Substances/Alcohol — drug & alcohol (threshold 80%)
- Vehicle Maintenance — equipment defects (threshold 80%)
- Hazmat Compliance — placarding, paperwork (threshold 80%)
- Crash Indicator — crash frequency & severity (threshold 65%)
One BASIC over threshold isn't a deal-breaker — many large carriers have one elevated. Two or more is a yellow flag. Three or more is reason to walk away.
Compare OOS rates to national averages
A carrier whose OOS rate is significantly above the national average is being pulled over and grounded more often than peers.
National averages to benchmark against:
- Vehicle OOS rate: ~20%
- Driver OOS rate: ~5.5%
- Hazmat OOS rate: ~4.2%
A vehicle OOS rate above 25% on a fleet with significant inspection volume (say, 50+ inspections) is a meaningful warning sign. Small carriers with few inspections can show high percentages just from random variance — look at the absolute count, not just the rate.
Review recent inspection history
Scan the last 6-12 months of inspections for patterns: repeated violations of the same type, multiple OOS events, or hazmat issues that don't match the carrier's stated operation.
Two metrics matter most:
- Trajectory — are violations decreasing or increasing over time?
- Severity — are violations cosmetic (paperwork, light bulbs) or operational (brakes, hours of service)?
One clean inspection from last week tells you a lot more than a clean inspection from two years ago. FMCSA SAFER goes back 24 months by default.
Screen for double-brokering red flags
Double brokering is the most common type of carrier fraud. Five quick checks catch most of it.
Red flags that compound risk:
- Operating authority granted in the last 90 days
- Email domain is free (gmail, yahoo, outlook) instead of the company's own domain
- Dispatcher's name doesn't match anyone listed in FMCSA records
- Phone number area code doesn't match the carrier's principal address
- Pressure to confirm and dispatch quickly, refusal to do a brief video call
None of these alone is conclusive. Three or more in combination is a strong signal to slow down and verify with a phone call to the number on file in FMCSA SAFER (not the number on the rate confirmation).
Automate every step above
FlitIQ pulls all seven checks for 2.1M+ FMCSA-registered carriers — authority, insurance, Safety Rating, CSA, OOS rates, inspections, plus AI-generated risk summaries and built-in CRM to track outreach.
See FlitIQFrequently asked questions
›What is the fastest way to vet a trucking carrier?
Look up the carrier's USDOT number on the FMCSA SAFER website (or a faster alternative like FlitIQ) and verify five things in order: (1) operating authority is Active, (2) insurance is on file and not pending cancellation, (3) Safety Rating is Satisfactory or Unrated (not Conditional or Unsatisfactory), (4) Vehicle and Driver out-of-service rates are at or below the national averages of ~20% and 5.5%, and (5) MCS-150 was updated within the last two years.
›What does a Conditional safety rating mean?
Conditional means the carrier had a Compliance Review and the FMCSA determined the carrier does not have adequate safety management controls. The carrier can still legally operate, but Conditional is a red flag for shippers and brokers — it indicates the FMCSA found specific safety deficiencies during the audit.
›How do I check a carrier's insurance?
Use the FMCSA Licensing & Insurance (L&I) database. Confirm the carrier has a current BMC-91 or BMC-91X on file for bodily injury and property damage liability (minimum $750,000 for general freight, higher for hazmat), and that there is no pending cancellation. Always request a certificate of insurance (COI) naming you or your shipper as the certificate holder.
›What is double brokering and how do I spot it?
Double brokering is when a broker (often fraudulent) re-brokers a load to another carrier without the shipper's authorization, then disappears with the broker payment leaving the actual hauler unpaid. Warning signs: very new authority (under 90 days), MC number that doesn't match the company name in the contact, dispatcher email on a free domain (gmail, yahoo), pressure to confirm quickly, and refusal to do video verification.
›How long does carrier vetting usually take?
Manual vetting through FMCSA SAFER, the L&I database, and a phone call typically takes 15-30 minutes per carrier. Automated vetting tools that aggregate the same data sources cut that to under a minute. For a one-time spot freight booking, brokers usually do a 5-minute baseline check; for ongoing relationships, full onboarding with insurance certificates and signed agreements takes 1-3 days.
›What is a good CSA score?
CSA BASIC scores are percentile rankings: lower is better. The FMCSA sets intervention thresholds at 65% for the Unsafe Driving, Crash, and Hours-of-Service BASICs, and at 80% for the others. A carrier whose percentile is below those thresholds is operating in line with peers. Above the threshold means the FMCSA is paying closer attention to that carrier.
›Should I work with a carrier that has no safety rating?
Most active carriers are Unrated — it simply means the FMCSA has not performed a Compliance Review on them yet, which is common for newer or smaller carriers. Unrated is not a red flag on its own. Look at the CSA BASIC scores, OOS rates, inspection volume, and authority age instead to assess risk on Unrated carriers.
›What insurance amount should a freight carrier have?
Federal minimums are $750,000 BIPD for general freight, $1,000,000 for oilfield equipment, $5,000,000 for many hazmat operations, and $5,000,000 for passenger carriers. Most shippers and brokers require higher — $1,000,000 BIPD plus $100,000 cargo coverage is a common baseline for dry-van freight. High-value loads often require $250,000 or $500,000 cargo limits.