Compliance
Check a USDOT number
Before you haul for a broker, or give a load to a carrier, check that the USDOT number is real, active, and carries the authority the job needs. The answer comes from FMCSA's own record.
What this tells you
Registered. FMCSA has a record under that USDOT number. A number that does not resolve is a reason to stop.
Allowed to operate. The registration is active and FMCSA has not placed it out of service. An out-of-service carrier may not run at all.
Operating authority. Common or contract authority means the outfit may haul for hire. Broker authority means it may arrange loads on other people's trucks — a broker with no carrier authority cannot legally haul your freight itself. Some hold both.
Safety rating. Satisfactory, Conditional or Unsatisfactory, where one has been issued. Most carriers have never been rated, so “None issued” is ordinary and is not a mark against anybody.
What it is not: this is not insurance verification, not a credit check, and not advice. It reports what FMCSA holds at the moment it is asked. For a contract, get the certificate.