How to verify carrier authority before you book

three systems, three jobs

SAFER Company Snapshot is the human-readable census page. Legal name, DBA, physical address, phone, USDOT, equipment counts, and the allowed-to-operate flag live there. It is a snapshot of identity and census, not the grant of operating authority.

Licensing & Insurance (L&I) is the system of record for operating authority, BMC insurance filings, and BOC-3 process agents. When SAFER and L&I disagree on authority or insurance, believe L&I. Record which system you opened and the time.

Allowed-to-operate on the census snapshot is a related flag, not a substitute for the docket status. If the snapshot looks fine and L&I says Inactive, you do not cover.

common, contract, and broker authority

A USDOT number means the company registered with FMCSA. It does not mean they hold for-hire interstate operating authority. That grant is under 49 CFR Part 365. Property common and property contract are motor-carrier authorities. Broker of property is a different grant.

Common authority lets them hold out to the public. Contract authority is for contract carriage. Either can cover a typical brokered property load if the status is Active and the commodity is ordinary property. Passenger authority does not cover freight. Household-goods authority is its own line when that is the freight.

Broker authority on the same docket is not motor-carrier authority. A company can hold both. Read the authority type and status on L&I, not a load-board badge. If the only Active line is Broker, they may arrange transportation. They may not be the motor carrier on your rate confirmation.

• Property common — for-hire motor carrier, public hold-out.
• Property contract — for-hire motor carrier under contract.
• Broker of property — arrange transportation; not the hauler unless a motor-carrier line is also Active.
• MX — Mexico-domiciled docket. FF — freight forwarder. Neither is a substitute for U.S. motor-carrier property authority on an interstate van load.

BOC-3 process agents

49 CFR Part 366 requires motor carriers and brokers to designate process agents. The filing is Form BOC-3. L&I shows whether it is on file. No BOC-3 is a revocation trigger. It is not insurance and it is not a safety rating.

A missing or rejected BOC-3 means you do not have a complete federal file. Do not cover on a promise that “the agent files Friday.” Wait until L&I shows the designation on file.

Process-agent coverage is statewide designations, not a cargo policy. If someone emails a BOC-3 PDF, still open L&I. The public record is what FMCSA will enforce against.

BMC-91 is public liability

For-hire property carriers must maintain public-liability (bodily injury and property damage) filings under 49 CFR Part 387. On L&I that is usually BMC-91 or BMC-91X from an insurer. BMC-82 is a trust fund in lieu of that insurance in some cases.

Read the form type, the amount, the insurer, and any cancellation notice. 49 CFR 387.9 sets minimum BI&PD amounts by commodity and equipment. Ordinary interstate property in vehicles over 10,000 pounds GVWR is $750,000 public liability. That figure is not cargo insurance.

A certificate of insurance emailed by an agent is not the FMCSA filing. If L&I has no required BMC-91/91X (or qualifying surety/trust) on file, the certificate does not create authority to operate. Save the L&I screen with the load.

identity match on the rate confirmation

Whatever you confirmed on SAFER and L&I is wasted if the rate confirmation names a different company. Match legal name or a listed DBA, USDOT, and MC/MX/FF on the same document. Extra words, a dropped LLC, or a swapped Inc are not formatting.

Call the telephone on the census record, not the cell in the email signature. Ask them to state the legal name and DOT. If they cannot, you do not have a verified carrier. Driver name should be someone that office acknowledges before pickup.

W-9 legal name and any factoring notice of assignment must name that same entity. A clean L&I screen attached to a rate con for a cousin LLC is not a completed check.

worked desk: Inc on the packet, LLC on L&I

The inbox said Oakline Freight Inc, MC on the packet, driver will call from the shipper dock. The load-board card used the same Inc name. Dispatch email was a Gmail with “Oakline” in the display name.

L&I legal name for that docket was Oakline Freight LLC. DBA field empty. USDOT on SAFER matched the LLC, not the Inc. Census phone was a landline in the physical-address city. The Gmail cell was not on the snapshot.

Meaning: you do not have a name match. Inc and LLC are different legal persons. It may be sloppy paperwork. It may be a second entity riding a real docket. Do not send a rate con that names a company that is not on the docket.

Call the census landline. Ask for the W-9 that matches L&I. If they insist the Inc is “the same company,” stop. Cover only after the rate confirmation, W-9, and FMCSA legal name are the same string, including entity type.

desk sequence

Run the numbers in this order. Write the time. Stop when a step fails. Do not skip L&I because QCMobile looked green.

If any step is a no, the remaining steps do not create a pass. An Active BMC-91 does not repair a broker-only docket. A matching rate con does not repair a missing BOC-3. Sequence means stop, not “see the rest anyway.”

• USDOT on SAFER or QCMobile: legal name, physical address, allowed-to-operate, out-of-service flag.
• Docket (MC/MX/FF) on L&I: property common or contract Active for this lane.
• BOC-3 on file under 49 CFR Part 366.
• Required BMC-91/91X (or BMC-82) on file; no cancellation effective before pickup.
• Rate con legal name, DOT, and MC copy the FMCSA record, not the chat nickname.
• Callback to the census telephone before you dispatch a first-time carrier.

after you approve

Authority and BI&PD change. A clean L&I screen on Tuesday does not cover Friday’s pickup if a cancellation posts Wednesday.

For carriers you will use again: save the dated L&I and SAFER screens in the carrier file, not only the load file; re-open L&I before the next dispatch if the carrier is not on a watch list; if you use monitoring, alert on authority status, BI&PD filings, and census phone/address changes — then re-run the identity call when the phone changes.

First-time cover still gets the full sequence. Monitoring does not replace the first check. See Monitoring approved carriers for post-onboarding alert habits.

what this is not

Active authority is not a safety rating under 49 CFR Part 385. It is not SMS percentiles. It is not cargo insurance. It is not proof the person on the phone works for that company.

This guide is not a substitute for matching the lane to interstate versus intrastate rules. A USDOT with no MC can be normal for intrastate work. It is a reject on a Chicago–Dallas load.

A census snapshot does not file your BOC-3 check for you. Open L&I. Put the screen in the load folder. That is the desk job.

desk checklist

• DOT and MC on the rate con match the FMCSA legal name or listed DBA, including Inc versus LLC.
• L&I shows Active property common or contract authority for this interstate lane.
• Broker-only authority is not treated as motor-carrier authority.
• BOC-3 is on file on L&I.
• Required BI&PD filing (BMC-91/91X or BMC-82) is on file and not cancelling before pickup.
• Census telephone was called; the office stated the same legal name and DOT.
• W-9 and any factoring NOA name that same entity.

what belongs in the load file

• Dated L&I screen showing authority type, status, BOC-3, and BMC filing.
• QCMobile or SAFER snapshot with legal name, DOT, MC, address, and phone.
• Rate confirmation with the FMCSA name block copied, not retyped from chat.
• Note of the census callback: number used, time, who answered.
• W-9 matching L&I legal name.

fail closed

• L&I is not Active for property motor-carrier authority on this lane.
• BOC-3 missing or rejected.
• Required BMC-91/91X (or BMC-82) missing, or cancellation effective before pickup.
• Rate con name or entity type does not match FMCSA (Inc versus LLC, extra words, different DBA).
• Census phone reaches a different company or nobody who will state the DOT.
• The only Active line is broker or freight-forwarder authority.

common questions