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Practical compliance

Carrier Screening Checklist for Freight Brokers

Fifteen items a broker may verify before tendering a load to a motor carrier, ordered by operational importance. Items 1 through 5 are foundational. Items 6 through 12 represent standard due diligence. Items 13 through 15 are the most thorough documentation. Each brokerage sets its own thresholds and decides which items its policy requires.

Tier 1: Foundational (a gap here is a significant review finding)

  1. Active operating authority. USDOT active, MC authority in Authorized status.
  2. Federal-minimum insurance on file. $750K BIPD for general freight, $1M for hazmat, with effective dates that cover the tender.
  3. No Unsatisfactory safety rating. An Unsatisfactory rating means FMCSA has found the carrier unfit to operate. This requires documented justification for any tender decision.
  4. No active out-of-service order. An OOS order means FMCSA has ordered the carrier to stop operating.
  5. Not on your Do-Not-Use list. Tendering to a carrier you previously excluded creates a clear contradiction in your screening documentation.

Tier 2: Standard due diligence

  1. SMS BASIC alert status. Flag any category in Alert. Multiple alerts is escalation or rejection.
  2. Crash history (24 months). Any fatal crash requires documented justification for selection.
  3. OOS rates vs. national average. Driver OOS ~6.5%, Vehicle OOS ~20.7%. 2× or more is a red flag.
  4. Inspection history. Zero inspections in 24 months is a data gap worth documenting.
  5. Authority age. New carriers (under 18 months) crash at roughly 2× the rate of established peers.
  6. MCS-150 currency. Filings over 24 months stale render the rest of the carrier's data unreliable.
  7. Entity type verification. Broker-only authority means tendering to them is double-brokering.

Tier 3: Gold standard (most thorough documentation)

  1. Signed carrier safety attestation. Pre-trip inspection, driver fitness, valid CDL, HOS compliance, insurance currency, drug testing program.
  2. Certificate of insurance on file. Actual ACORD 25, not just the FMCSA filing.
  3. Broker sign-off. The rep who made the call signs that they personally reviewed the data.

Documenting the screening process

The checklist is the easy part. The hard part is producing a contemporaneous record that shows what was reviewed and when. DOTScreener runs every item above against live FMCSA data, captures a timestamped snapshot, collects the carrier's attestation through a cross-device portal, and produces a tamper-evident, cryptographically linked audit log — all generated automatically at the moment of screening.

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Frequently asked questions

What should a carrier screening checklist include?▾

At minimum: active operating authority, BIPD insurance at the federal minimum or higher, FMCSA safety rating not Unsatisfactory, no active out-of-service order, the carrier not on your own Do-Not-Use list, SMS BASIC alert status, 24-month crash history including fatal/injury/towaway counts, driver and vehicle OOS rates vs. national averages, inspection history, authority age, MCS-150 currency, entity-type verification (carrier vs broker authority), a carrier documentation response, a current ACORD 25 certificate, and a broker sign-off with reasoning.

How often should I screen a carrier?▾

On every load. FMCSA data updates continuously — a carrier's authority can be revoked, insurance can lapse, and BASIC percentiles can change between loads. A screening file from three weeks ago does not document what you reviewed at the moment you tendered today's load. A contemporaneous record is the strongest documentation practice.

What FMCSA data is publicly available?▾

All of it that matters: operating authority status, insurance filings (L&I database at data.transportation.gov), assigned safety rating, SMS BASIC alert status, inspection records, crash records, out-of-service rates, fleet size and operational data from MCS-150. This data is publicly available and should be reviewed before each tender.

Do I need to screen a carrier I've used a hundred times before?▾

Yes. A repeat carrier with an outstanding history is still subject to the same safety-data changes as any other carrier. Authority can be revoked, insurance can lapse, and OOS orders can be issued between loads. A documented screen on every load ensures your records reflect the carrier's status at the time of each tender.

What is a Do-Not-Use list and why does it matter?▾

A Do-Not-Use list is your organization's record of carriers you have decided not to tender to, with a documented reason. A broker that maintains one, applies it consistently, and documents the review on every tender has a clear operational record. Removing a carrier from the list immediately before tendering to them would create a significant contradiction in your documentation.

Document your diligence on every load.

DOTScreener runs the checks in this article automatically and produces a timestamped, hash-chained review record at the moment of screening.

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