How a verdict is decided.

Where the facts come from

Everything a verdict reads is public FMCSA data, published on data.transportation.gov. Nothing is bought from a data broker, estimated, or filled in. Each result names the record it used and that record’s date.

The Q3 2026 Motus report counts what these records showed across every carrier, and publishes the counts as CSV and JSON.

The rules

The rules are the same for every account and cannot be edited. A result lists every reason that applied, each with its code, so any verdict can be traced back to the line below that produced it.

STOP if any of these is on FMCSA’s record

• No active motor carrier authority (AUTHORITY_NOT_ACTIVE), or broker authority only, so the company may not haul the freight itself (BROKER_AUTHORITY_ONLY).
• An involuntary suspension that has taken effect (AUTHORITY_SUSPENSION_EFFECTIVE).
• A federal out-of-service order in force (OUT_OF_SERVICE_ORDER), whatever the authority record says.
• Liability cover on file below the required amount (INSURANCE_BELOW_REQUIRED), unless one of the CAUTION exceptions below applies.
• Active authority with no liability insurance filing on the current or the earlier record (NO_LIABILITY_INSURANCE_ON_FILE).
• A liability insurance cancellation that has taken effect (INSURANCE_CANCELLATION_EFFECTIVE).
• A new USDOT number registered within 365 days after an involuntary revocation or suspension was served on another carrier with the same phone number and a different name (NEW_AUTHORITY_AT_REVOKED_CARRIER_CONTACT). The phone line must be shared by two to six USDOT numbers; a line shared by dozens is a filing agent or an office park, not a signal.

CAUTION if nothing above applies and any of these does

• A suspension or revocation notice served but not yet in effect, with the days remaining (AUTHORITY_REVOCATION_PENDING).
• An insurance cancellation filed for a future date (INSURANCE_CANCELLATION_FILED).
• Active authority for household goods or passengers only, not general freight (AUTHORITY_NOT_FOR_FREIGHT).
• Cover that meets the carrier’s requirement from before 14 May 2026 but not the higher one FMCSA’s new system now states (INSURANCE_REQUIREMENT_RAISED), or no filing on the current record while the earlier record shows cover that was never cancelled (INSURANCE_ON_EARLIER_RECORD_ONLY).
• No required amount stated, or cover that could not be determined (INSURANCE_REQUIREMENT_NOT_STATED, INSURANCE_UNKNOWN).
• Three or more different liability insurers in the last three years of filings (INSURANCE_INSTABILITY).
• A required cargo insurance or bond filing missing (CARGO_INSURANCE_NOT_ON_FILE, BOND_NOT_ON_FILE).
• A phone number shared with a carrier under an involuntary revocation or suspension in the last two years (SHARES_CONTACT_WITH_REVOKED_CARRIER), or a re-registration after one under a closely matching name (REREGISTERED_AFTER_REVOCATION).
• Mail returned undeliverable by USPS (MAIL_RETURNED_UNDELIVERABLE).
• An Unsatisfactory or Conditional safety rating, or an acute or critical violation found in the last 12 months (SAFETY_RATING_UNSATISFACTORY, SAFETY_RATING_CONDITIONAL, ACUTE_CRITICAL_VIOLATION_FOUND).
• A source that could not be read just now (OUT_OF_SERVICE_NOT_CHECKED, SAFETY_RECORD_NOT_CHECKED). The verdict fails closed: anything unknown is at least CAUTION, never a pass.

GO only when

The carrier has active motor carrier authority, liability cover on file at or above the required amount, and nothing in either list above.

Why some serious findings are CAUTION, not STOP

A STOP means a filing that would normally halt a tender. Some findings are serious but do not settle the question on their own, so the result states them with their dates and leaves the call to the broker:

• Safety ratings never expire. Carriers rated Unsatisfactory decades ago still appear in roadside inspections today, and whether one may operate turns on facts the record does not carry. See FMCSA safety ratings, explained.
• A raised insurance requirement. FMCSA’s new system raised about 150,000 carriers’ requirements and left some filings behind (CCJ, 8 September 2026). Where the earlier record shows the carrier covered, the result states both records and asks for the certificate.
• A same-name re-registration is often an administrative refiling. A different name at the same phone is the pattern behind chameleon carriers, and that one is a STOP.
• Household-goods or passenger authority only. CarrierScrub does not know the load, and that authority may cover exactly what is being moved.

How current a verdict is

• A lookup reads FMCSA’s current record live when the stored copy is more than 24 hours old.
• If FMCSA cannot be reached, the result uses the stored record, says so, and gives that record’s date. It never presents an old record as today’s.
• A verifiable packet is only issued from a current check. When FMCSA cannot be reached, the packet is refused, not printed from older data.
• FMCSA is still correcting its own move to Motus: in September 2026 it recorded 1,651 reinstatements that fixed migration errors. A check made in August may have shown those carriers inactive. Check again before each load.

Every result shows the record it used (Motus or the frozen legacy file), the record’s date, and when CarrierScrub read it.

What never changes the verdict

Paid checks from outside FMCSA sit beside the verdict and are labelled with their source: the Deep check (USPS address data, the Google business listing, and phone records), Shield (whether the number a caller is using matches the carrier’s FMCSA registration), and the registration contact check on paid lookups. None of them can turn a STOP into a GO or a GO into a STOP. What it costs never affects what it says.

What a verdict cannot tell you

• Who you are talking to. A clean record can be stolen. Call the carrier back on the phone number in its FMCSA registration, not the one in the email. How double brokering works.
• Anything not filed with FMCSA. A certificate of insurance the carrier holds but has not filed, a cargo policy above the minimum, or a broker’s own experience with the carrier.
• Whether FMCSA’s record is right. The verdict reports what FMCSA published. Where its new system disagrees with itself or with the earlier record, the result says so instead of picking one silently.
• BASIC percentiles. FMCSA does not publish them for property carriers, so no result shows one. Most carriers have never been given a safety rating, and a result says “Not rated” rather than treating that as a pass.
• A guarantee. A GO means nothing on FMCSA’s record stops the tender on the date shown. It is not legal advice, and it does not replace the broker’s own carrier-selection policy.

Corrections and disputes

Correcting a mistake is free, always. CarrierScrub never charges anyone to correct, re-check, change or remove anything. A verdict cannot be bought, and there is no paid way to change what a result says.

If we read FMCSA’s record wrong

Write to support@carrierscrub.com, call +1 (855) 907-2093 or use the contact page, with the USDOT number. Every message comes to the founder, Cameron Hoffman, who reads the filing in person. If the verdict misread it, we fix the rule or the data and say what changed.

If FMCSA’s record itself is wrong

CarrierScrub cannot change FMCSA’s data, and does not override it. A carrier corrects its registration, authority or insurance filings with FMCSA (through Motus, or its insurer for a filing), and challenges inspection or crash data through FMCSA’s DataQs. Once FMCSA’s record changes, the next check shows it: a lookup re-reads the record when the stored copy is more than a day old.

If it is your company

Check your own USDOT number free, see exactly what a broker sees, and read what fixes each finding with FMCSA: For carriers.