How to Vet a Trucking Company: A Shipper’s 12-Point Carrier Checklist
There are nearly 580,000 active motor carriers in the United States, and cargo theft losses jumped 60% in a single year. Choosing a carrier is now a risk decision as much as a purchasing one. This checklist is what a disciplined vetting process looks like.
Key takeaways
- Verify authority and insurance independently. Never accept a certificate of insurance emailed by the carrier — request it directly from the named agent or broker.
- $750,000 is the federal floor, not a standard. That is the minimum public liability required under 49 CFR 387.9 for non-hazardous property. Most quality shippers require $1 million.
- Cargo theft is increasingly a paperwork crime. Verisk CargoNet recorded 2,646 confirmed cargo thefts in 2025 — up 18% — with an average loss of $273,990, up 36% from $202,364 the year before.
- Check all seven CSA BASICs, not just the safety rating. Violations carry a 24-month lookback with heavier weighting on recent events.
- Get an explicit no-double-brokering clause in writing. It is the single most effective contractual defence against the most common freight fraud pattern.
Why carrier vetting got harder
Two things changed at once. First, the carrier population fragmented. Second, the fraud got more sophisticated.
On the first point: the American Trucking Associations reports nearly 580,000 active motor carriers registered with the FMCSA operating at least one tractor as of June 2025, and 91.5% of them operate 10 or fewer trucks. That is a genuine strength of the American freight market — it is competitive and flexible — but it means the median carrier you encounter is a very small business with limited back-office infrastructure, and the variance in quality is enormous.
On the second: cargo crime has moved from opportunistic theft to organised fraud. Verisk CargoNet’s 2025 analysis found:
| Measure | 2025 | Change vs 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Estimated total losses | Nearly $725 million | Up 60% |
| Confirmed cargo theft incidents | 2,646 | Up 18% from 2,243 |
| Total supply chain crime events | 3,594 | Essentially flat (3,607) |
| Average value per theft | $273,990 | Up 36% from $202,364 |
| Food and beverage thefts | 708 | Up 47% |
| Metals thefts | — | Up 77%, driven by copper |
What the cargo theft numbers actually show
Read those numbers together and the story is clear: the number of incidents barely moved, but the value stolen per incident rose sharply. In other words, thieves are not casting a wider net — they are selecting better targets. That selection happens through information, which means through the booking process itself.
The Transportation Intermediaries Association describes this as a shift toward strategic theft — forged identities, compromised MC numbers, phishing and double brokering — which has grown from a minor share of incidents a few years ago to nearly a third of reported thefts in some datasets. Indeed, in a strategic theft, nobody breaks a lock. Instead, someone simply arrives with paperwork that looks correct and drives away with the load.
The 12-point vetting checklist
So work through these in order. The first four are non-negotiable on every single carrier, including ones you have used before.
The four non-negotiables (points 1–4)
- Verify USDOT and MC numbers against the FMCSA recordLook the carrier up yourself in the FMCSA SAFER system using the number they gave you. Then confirm the legal name, DBA, physical address, operating status and authority type match what is on their paperwork. Finally, authority must be active for property, and for-hire if they are hauling your freight for money.
- Confirm the contact details independentlyThis is the step that defeats identity theft. Do not call the number on the emailed rate confirmation — instead, call the number listed on the FMCSA record. If a carrier’s registered phone or email differs from the one contacting you, treat that as a stop-work condition until they explain and document it.
- Verify insurance with the agent, not the carrierUnder 49 CFR 387.9 the federal minimum public liability for a for-hire carrier of non-hazardous property in interstate commerce, with a GVWR of 10,001 lbs or more, is $750,000. However, treat that as a floor. Therefore, require a minimum of $1,000,000 auto liability and cargo coverage appropriate to your commodity value, and insist the certificate comes directly from the named agent with your company as certificate holder.
- Check all seven CSA BASICsThe Safety Measurement System groups roadside data into seven Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories: Unsafe Driving, Hours-of-Service Compliance, Driver Fitness, Controlled Substances and Alcohol, Vehicle Maintenance, Hazardous Materials Compliance, and Crash Indicator. Furthermore, violations generally stop counting after 24 months, weighted by recency — roughly triple weight in months 0 to 6, double in months 7 to 12, and single in months 13 to 24. A carrier with a clean overall picture but a deteriorating Vehicle Maintenance or Unsafe Driving trend is a carrier heading in the wrong direction.
Safety rating, ownership and contract terms (points 5–8)
- Check the federal safety rating separatelyA safety rating (Satisfactory, Conditional, Unsatisfactory, or unrated) comes from a compliance review and is distinct from BASIC percentiles. Many perfectly good small carriers are simply unrated because they have never been reviewed — that is not a red flag by itself, but it means the BASICs and your own diligence carry more weight.
- Establish whether they own the trucksAsk directly: will this load move on your own equipment with your own employee or contracted driver? Moreover, a carrier that quietly brokers your freight to a third party has changed your risk profile, your insurance coverage and your chain of custody without telling you. Brokers are legitimate and useful — but you should know which one you are hiring.
- Get a written no-double-brokering clausePut it in the rate confirmation and the transportation agreement: the carrier may not re-broker, interline or transfer the shipment without your prior written consent, and doing so is a material breach. In short, this one sentence is your strongest practical protection against the most common fraud pattern in the market.
- Ask about driver qualification and turnoverHow does the carrier screen its drivers, and what is the annual turnover rate? Also, what is the policy on driver experience minimums? High turnover is not automatically disqualifying, but a carrier that cannot answer the question does not have a program.
Equipment, tracking, claims and references (points 9–12)
- Review equipment age, maintenance and telematicsAverage tractor and trailer age, preventive maintenance interval, whether they run ELDs (required for most interstate operations) and what tracking they can provide. In addition, for refrigerated freight, ask specifically about reefer pre-trip procedures and temperature data logging — we cover why in our cold chain guide.
- Agree tracking and communication standards up frontWhat is the check-call cadence? Is there GPS or ELD-based location sharing? Who do you call at 2am, and what is the escalation path when a driver goes dark? So agree this before the first load, not during the first problem.
- Understand the claims process and historyFirst, ask for the claims ratio and the average time from claim filing to resolution. Also ask who handles claims and whether it is the same person who books the freight. A carrier that answers these questions comfortably has handled claims professionally before.
- Take references on comparable lanes and commoditiesReferences are worth little in the abstract and a lot when specific. Therefore, ask for two shippers with similar commodity, similar lane and similar volume, and ask those references about the exception cases: what happened when a load ran late, when something was damaged, when a market went tight.
Red flags that should stop a booking
| Red flag | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Contact details differ from the FMCSA record | The single most reliable indicator of carrier identity theft. |
| Recently reactivated dormant authority | Dormant MC numbers are bought and reused specifically to inherit a clean history. |
| Rate accepted well below market without negotiation | A carrier with no intention of delivering has no reason to negotiate. |
| Pressure to dispatch immediately | Urgency is used to compress the time available for verification. |
| Certificate of insurance sent as an edited PDF | Certificates must come from the agent. Emailed copies are trivially altered. |
| Request to change remittance details mid-load | Classic payment redirection fraud. Verify by phone using a known number. |
| Free email domain and no web presence | Not disqualifying alone for a small carrier, but it raises the bar on every other check. |
| Unwillingness to name the driver and truck number | A legitimate carrier knows who is picking up your freight. |
Ten questions to ask on the first call
- What are your USDOT and MC numbers, and what name is the authority registered under?
- Will this load move on your own equipment, or would you broker it out?
- Who is your insurance agent, and can they send the certificate directly to us?
- What are your current liability and cargo limits, and does cargo coverage have commodity exclusions?
- How many power units do you operate, and how many drivers?
- What is your driver turnover rate over the last 12 months?
- Which tracking can you provide, and at what frequency?
- Who handles claims, and what is your average resolution time?
- What is your detention policy, and at what point does it start?
- Can you give me two references shipping a similar commodity on a similar lane?
A note on tone: none of these questions are adversarial, and a good carrier will not treat them that way. Carriers are vetting you too — on dock efficiency, payment terms and how you behave when something goes wrong. The conversation where both sides ask real questions is the one that produces a relationship worth having.
Getting the paperwork right
The transportation agreement
A master agreement should cover, at minimum: insurance requirements and certificate-holder status, the no-double-brokering clause, cargo liability terms and any agreed limits, claims filing deadlines and process, indemnification, confidentiality, and termination rights. Get it signed before the first load, not after the first problem.
The rate confirmation
Every load should have one, and it should name the specific carrier, the rate, the accessorial terms, the pickup and delivery appointments, and the equipment required. Discipline here is what makes a double-brokered load visible: if the carrier on the rate confirmation is not the carrier on the delivery receipt, you have a documented breach rather than an argument.
The bill of lading
This document is the contract of carriage and the primary evidence in any claim. Make sure piece count, description, weight and any declared value are accurate, and that both ends note any exceptions. A clean BOL signed at delivery closes off most concealed-damage arguments before they start.
Vetting is not a one-time event
Authority lapses. Insurance cancels. CSA scores drift. A carrier that was excellent 18 months ago may have lost half its drivers since. Build a light-touch recurring review into your process:
- Every load: confirm the driver name and truck number, and confirm the carrier matches the rate confirmation.
- Monthly: automated re-check of authority status and insurance expiry across your active carrier list.
- Quarterly: review CSA BASIC trends, on-time performance and claims activity by carrier.
- Annually: full re-vet, refreshed references and a commercial review of rates and terms.
If you are also deciding how to move the freight in the first place, our FTL vs. LTL guide covers the mode decision and the pricing mechanics behind it.
Frequently asked questions
What insurance limits should I actually require?
The federal minimum is $750,000 in public liability for non-hazardous property under 49 CFR 387.9, but most shippers require $1,000,000 auto liability as standard. Cargo coverage should be set against your typical load value, not a round number — and check the exclusions, because many cargo policies exclude specific categories such as electronics, pharmaceuticals, tobacco or unattended vehicles.
Is a Conditional safety rating a dealbreaker?
Not automatically, but it requires explanation. A Conditional rating means an FMCSA compliance review found deficiencies. Ask what the findings were, what corrective action they took, and when they expect to be re-rated. A carrier that answers that specifically and shows the corrective action plan is often lower risk than an unrated carrier you know nothing about.
How do I tell a legitimate broker from a double-brokering scheme?
A legitimate broker holds property broker authority, discloses that they are brokering, carries contingent cargo coverage, and names the actual hauling carrier on request. By contrast, a double-brokering scheme conceals the transfer. The test is not whether the freight moves through an intermediary — it is whether they told you.
Does a small carrier mean higher risk?
No. With 91.5% of carriers operating 10 or fewer trucks, small operators are the backbone of the industry, and many deliver better service than large fleets because your freight actually matters to them. What changes with size is the diligence method: for a small carrier, references, insurance verification and direct conversation carry more weight than published metrics.
What should I do if a load goes missing?
Contact the carrier and the last known location immediately, file a police report in the jurisdiction of the theft, notify your insurer and the carrier’s insurer, file the cargo claim in writing within the contractual deadline, and report the incident to CargoNet or an equivalent industry database. Speed matters — recovery rates fall sharply after the first 48 hours.
How often should insurance be re-verified?
Monthly at minimum for active carriers, and always before the first load after any gap in activity. Insurers cancel policies mid-term more often than shippers expect, and a certificate issued six months ago proves nothing about coverage today.
Sources
- Verisk CargoNet, Cargo Theft Losses Surge to Estimated $725 Million in 2025.
- Transportation Intermediaries Association, The Evolving Face of Cargo Theft.
- Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 49 CFR Part 387 — Minimum Levels of Financial Responsibility for Motor Carriers.
- Foley, The Seven CSA BASIC Categories — category definitions and violation weighting.
- American Trucking Associations, Economics and Industry Data.
- Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, SAFER Company Snapshot.
Related reading
Put us through the checklist
We will send our authority, insurance certificate direct from our agent, CSA profile and references on request — before you ever tender a load.