How to Vet Any Carrier Before You Tender Freight

Verify the operating authority on FMCSA SAFER

Every interstate motor carrier has to register with the FMCSA and hold active operating authority. Before anything else, look the carrier up on the government's SAFER system by its MC number. You're confirming four things: the authority is active rather than inactive, revoked, or pending; the MC on the load matches the MC on the record; insurance shows as on file; and the carrier has operated long enough to have a record worth reading.

Ask for the MC number directly. A carrier that won't give it to you has already answered the question — legitimate carriers hand it over without hesitation, because they know you can verify everything behind it and would rather you did. Note the tenure while you're there: years of continuous authority isn't proof of quality, but a brand-new authority behind a polished, broker-style pitch is worth a slower second look.

• Operating authority reads active for the type of freight you're moving
• The MC number on the rate confirmation matches the MC on the SAFER record
• Insurance shows as on file, not lapsed or pending
• The legal and DBA names match the entity actually on your contract
• The authority has been in place long enough to have an inspection history

Read the safety record, not just the headline

FMCSA data links the carrier's inspection and crash history. You're not looking for a spotless record; over-the-road trucks get inspected constantly and violations happen to everyone. You're reading for a pattern: repeat out-of-service violations, recurring brake or hours-of-service problems, a crash history trending the wrong way.

Check whether the truck count matches the story. A carrier that talks like it runs a large fleet but shows a handful of power units on file is telling you two different things, and one of them isn't true. If something looks off, ask about it — a carrier with real systems can explain its record without getting defensive, and deflection is its own data point.

Get the certificate of insurance before you tender, not after

SAFER tells you insurance is on file. The certificate of insurance — the COI — tells you what it actually covers. Ask for it before the load moves, not after something's already gone wrong.

For auto liability, the federal floor for general freight is $750,000 under 49 CFR Part 387, though $1,000,000 is what you'll commonly see in practice. What matters more to you is cargo coverage: it needs to be sized to the freight you're tendering, with no exclusions that would quietly leave your commodity uncovered. A reputable carrier has its insurer or agent send the COI directly and names you as a certificate holder on request. If getting a current certificate turns into a project, treat that difficulty as the answer.

• Auto liability at or above what your freight requires (floor $750,000; $1,000,000 common in practice)
• Cargo coverage sized to your commodity, with exclusions you can live with
• Policy dates current, not expired
• Certificate issued by the insurer or agent of record, not retyped by the carrier

Carrier or broker: know who's actually accountable

A motor carrier with its own authority and its own trucks is accountable for the load it accepts. A broker arranges transportation and hands the freight to someone else's equipment. Both are legitimate businesses, but they aren't the same thing, and you should know which one you're tendering to.

Ask it plainly: will this move on your own equipment, or will it be handed off? A carrier that runs the freight itself can tell you what truck, what driver, and where the load is right now. Re-brokering isn't illegal, but if you were sold a carrier and the load quietly becomes a brokered load, you've lost the accountability you thought you were buying. You can confirm the answer independently — the authority type on SAFER shows whether you're dealing with a carrier, a broker, or both, and it should line up with what you were told.

Know the claims process before you need it

Ask a carrier what happens if freight is damaged. A real one can walk you through it without improvising, because the process is set by federal regulation — 49 CFR Part 370 — not by mood.

The mechanics: once you file a written claim, the carrier owes you a written acknowledgment within 30 days of receiving it under §370.9(a), and must pay it, decline it with a reason, or make a firm settlement offer within 120 days under §370.9(b). If it can't resolve within 120 days, it owes you a status update every 60 days after that under §370.9(c). Your minimum window to file is generally nine months from delivery under the bill of lading, backed by 49 U.S.C. §14706(e). A carrier that can cite this back to you has handled claims before and has a system for them. One that gets vague about damage is telling you something too.

Red flags at a glance

None of these is proof of a bad actor on its own. Stacked together they're a pattern, and the pattern is usually right.

No MC number on request

A carrier that won't give you its MC number has answered your question. Everything downstream depends on being able to verify the authority.

Evasive about re-brokering

If you can't get a straight answer to whether the load moves on their own truck, assume the accountability you wanted isn't there.

No COI before tender

Insurance you can't see before the load moves is insurance you're taking on faith. Get the certificate first.

No named contact

A carrier with operations has people who answer the phone and own the load. A single anonymous inbox is a broker desk or worse.

A rate that's too good

Freight has a floor. A number well below the market is usually a bid to win the load and re-broker it, or a carrier cutting something you can't see.

New authority behind a big pitch

New authority isn't disqualifying, but new authority plus a large-fleet story plus a low rate is a combination worth slowing down for.

Truck count that doesn't match the story

If the sales pitch and the power-unit count on file disagree, believe the record.

Now run it on us

None of this is adversarial — it's what a professional freight buyer does, and we'd rather you ran the checklist than skipped it. So run it on us. Look up MC #1800150 on FMCSA SAFER and confirm the authority is active and reads carrier, not broker. Ask for our certificate of insurance through the Trust Center and we'll have it sent. Read our claims process, written to 49 CFR Part 370, before you ever need it. When the diligence checks out and you've got a lane to move, tell us about it.