Guides

How the records work, in plain words.

Short guides for brokers and dispatchers who read FMCSA records at speed. Each one says what the record can tell you, what it cannot, and what to write down.

3 guides. Dates are the last edit. Every guide is checked against the data sources page when FMCSA changes a file; the Motus move of May 2026 is reflected in all of them.

All guides

newest first

Double brokering: what FMCSA records can and cannot tell you2026-09-29
Two numbers, three possible answers. What a shared public-record contact does and does not show, and what no government file can tell you.
How to vet a carrier in five minutes2026-09-25
Five steps a one-person brokerage can do before booking, using FMCSA's public records and a phone. The numbers on the rate confirmation, the three gates and their dates, the phone number on file, the USDOT number on the truck, and what to write down.
What a cancellation notice means2026-09-22
What the insurance gate prints when a cancellation notice is on file, word for word, and what to do about each line before you book.