When to Require a Verifi Check: A Double-Brokering Prevention Policy You Can Copy

A brokerage I worked with had a rule that said "verify the truck on suspicious loads." Nobody could tell me what "suspicious" meant. So in practice, the rule meant whatever the person booking the load felt like that afternoon.

Then a load of copper wire, $142,000, went to a carrier with a six-week-old authority and zero roadside inspections, MC-1633790. The rep thought it looked fine. The truck that showed up belonged to someone else, and the wire was never seen again.

The problem wasn't that they didn't have a tool. It was that they didn't have a written rule for when to use it. Here's one you can copy.

Why a written policy beats "use your judgment"

Two reasons.

First, judgment fails exactly when it's needed: Friday afternoon, a hot load, a carrier who sounds great on the phone.

Second, after Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC, negligent-selection claims against brokers survive FAAAA preemption. If you're ever asked how you chose a carrier, "we follow a written policy and here's the record showing we followed it" is a much stronger answer than "our reps are experienced."

The triggers: when a Verifi check is mandatory

These triggers line up with the warning signs DOTScreener already flags on a screening. When any of them shows up, the screening displays a Verifi Recommended banner, and the card that triggered it is marked so your rep knows why.

Require a DOTScreener Verifi™ check before pickup when the carrier has:

1. No roadside inspections on record. A carrier with no inspections isn't clean. It's invisible.

2. No inspection-confirmed equipment. You can't tie a single truck to this carrier from inspection data.

3. A brand-new authority. Set your own window; many brokers use the first 90 days.

4. A single power unit. One truck means the truck that shows up has to be that truck.

5. Shared-authority overlap. Its phone, email, address or officers overlap with other DOT numbers.

6. A standing double-broker flag.

And regardless of the carrier, require one when:

7. The load is high value. Set a dollar threshold that fits your freight.

8. It's the first load with this carrier.

9. The carrier's contact info doesn't match FMCSA. The phone or email you're using isn't the one on the carrier's registration.

10. Anything changes after booking: a new driver, a new truck, a "sub" or an earlier pickup than planned.

What the check has to include

Write down what "verified" means, too. A reasonable default:

• Live photos of the truck door (name and USDOT number), trailer and plate
• A photo of the driver's CDL
• GPS location required, so the driver can't submit without sharing it
• The driver's phone number

In Verifi, you choose which photos are required when you create the link, and you can make GPS mandatory. The driver opens the link on their phone, with no app and no login, and you're notified the moment they submit.

The policy text (paste this into your SOP)

Why this belongs in your records

Under 49 CFR § 371.3, brokers have to keep a record of each transaction, including the names and addresses of the consignor and the carrier, and keep those records for three years.

The load-tender "so what": your transaction record proves who you booked. It doesn't prove the truck that showed up was theirs. A Verifi result saved on the screening closes that gap, and it's already sitting with the load when you need it.

How I Document This

For every load where a trigger applied, my file has:

1. The carrier screen showing which trigger fired, dated the day of tender

2. The Verifi result: photos, GPS location and submission time

3. A pass or fail against the written policy

4. If the policy wasn't followed, the written reason and who approved the exception

5. A link between all of it and the load number

DOTScreener keeps the screen and the Verifi result together on the screening automatically, and when you approve a carrier despite a WARN or FAIL, it records your written reason, the approver's name and a timestamp. That's the whole point: the policy is only as good as the proof that you followed it.

If you're building out the rest of your SOP, start with the carrier screening checklist, and read why the friction of verifying the truck is the real reason teams skip it.

— Mason Lavallet

Founder, DOTScreener.com