Anyone can put a rate in an email. Before that rate turns into your container on someone else’s chassis, you can confirm in about fifteen minutes whether the company is legally authorized to haul it, insured at the level your contract requires, and carrying an inspection history that should make you ask questions.
All of it is public and free. Here is what to look at, in the order that makes sense, and how to read it.
Start with the numbers, not the letterhead
Ask for the carrier’s USDOT number, MC number and exact legal entity name — not the DBA on the invoice, the legal name on the filing. Those numbers are how you find everything else. Then ask one question that catches people out: are you hauling this, or brokering it? Brokering is a legitimate model, but you would then be vetting the wrong entity, and you need to know who actually receives the container.
SAFER: the five-minute check
FMCSA’s SAFER Company Snapshot (safer.fmcsa.dot.gov) is the fastest look. Search by USDOT number, MC number or company name. What matters:
- Operating status. You want “Active.” Out of Service or Not Authorized ends the conversation — the carrier cannot legally operate.
- Entity type. Carrier, broker, or both. It should match what they told you.
- MCS-150 date. Registration information must be updated on a biennial schedule. A years-old date means filings are not being maintained, and the fleet size shown is probably wrong too.
- Power units and drivers. Sanity-check against the volume they are offering to handle. A three-truck fleet promising twenty pulls a day is subcontracting.
- Inspection and crash summary. Twenty-four months of U.S. inspections and crashes, with vehicle and driver out-of-service rates shown against national averages. Well above average deserves a direct question.
- Safety rating. Satisfactory, Conditional or Unsatisfactory, assigned only after a compliance review. Most carriers show no rating, meaning they were never reviewed — not that they passed.
Operating authority and insurance filings
FMCSA’s Licensing and Insurance system (li.public.fmcsa.dot.gov) goes deeper. Look up the MC number and check:
- Authority type and status. You want active common or contract authority for property. Watch for authority that is pending, revoked, or recently reinstated — the history is visible.
- Insurance on file. The system shows the liability filing, the insurer, the effective date and the coverage amount. The federal minimum public liability for general freight in interstate commerce is $750,000, with higher minimums for certain hazardous materials. Federal rules do not require cargo insurance for general freight, so cargo coverage is contractual — and it is the coverage that actually protects your goods.
- Process agent (BOC-3) on file. Required for operating authority; its absence is a paperwork red flag.
Then ask for a certificate of insurance naming your company as certificate holder, issued by their agent or insurer rather than forwarded as a PDF. Check the limits and the expiration date.
SMS and the CSA categories
FMCSA’s Safety Measurement System (ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/SMS) compiles roadside inspection results, violations and crash data into safety categories — historically called BASICs and reorganized under FMCSA’s updated prioritization methodology. Because the category structure, violation groupings and severity weighting were revised, use the definitions on FMCSA’s own site rather than an older third-party summary.
What the categories cover
Broadly: unsafe driving, hours-of-service compliance, driver fitness, vehicle maintenance, hazardous materials compliance and crash history. Controlled substances and alcohol violations, formerly standalone, were folded into unsafe driving, and maintenance issues found through driver-conducted inspections are broken out separately.
How to read a percentile
Scores are percentiles from 0 to 100 and higher is worse. A carrier is ranked against peers with a similar volume of safety events, so a percentile is relative, not a grade. Two consequences:
- Not all categories are public. Crash Indicator and Hazardous Materials Compliance data are withheld from public view for property carriers, so you will not see the complete picture.
- No score is not a good score. A carrier with too few inspections to be measured shows nothing at all — an information gap, not a clean record. Very small or newly authorized carriers look spotless for exactly this reason.
FMCSA is explicit that SMS data is a prioritization tool for enforcement and that the official safety fitness determination is the safety rating, not a percentile. Treat elevated percentiles as a prompt to ask about maintenance programs, driver turnover and how violations were corrected.
Intermodal-specific checks
Federal authority and a clean inspection history still do not mean a carrier can pick up your container. Drayage has its own gates:
- UIIA standing. The Uniform Intermodal Interchange and Facilities Access Agreement is the standard contract governing equipment interchange between motor carriers and ocean carriers, railroads and leasing companies. A carrier not in good standing with the relevant equipment provider cannot take that provider’s chassis or container. UIIA participation carries its own insurance requirements — liability, trailer interchange and, for most equipment providers, cargo coverage — plus notice obligations if a policy is cancelled.
- Port credentials. Drivers need TWIC for secure port areas, and terminals generally require their own gate credential. Ask whether their drivers are badged at both PortMiami and Port Everglades if your freight touches both.
- Bonded capability. If freight moves in-bond or sits under customs control, the carrier and facility need a customs bond. Go Drayage is licensed by U.S. Customs under bond #LBR8.
- Equipment for the job. Tri-axle for overweight, flatbed for out-of-gauge, adequate forklift capacity for transloading. Asking about equipment also reveals whether they own it or subcontract it.
Memberships and program participation — UIIA, TSA certification, EPA SmartWay, TIA, SC&RA, COSTHA, DGAC — do not measure safety performance, but they indicate a company that submits to outside requirements and keeps its filings current. We break down what each means in our guide to drayage carrier credentials.
Your pre-tender checklist
- USDOT and MC numbers plus legal entity name
- SAFER: active status, entity type, MCS-150 currency, out-of-service rates, safety rating
- L&I: authority active, liability filing current, process agent on file
- SMS: public categories reviewed, inspection volume noted
- Certificate of insurance from the agent, naming you, limits matching your contract
- UIIA standing with the equipment providers on your lanes
- A written answer on whether they haul or subcontract
Re-check authority and insurance periodically — a filing current in January can lapse in March without anyone telling you. For what else separates one provider from another, see how to choose a drayage carrier.
Ask us for ours
Go Drayage is asset-based — company trucks, vans, flatbeds and transloading equipment, plus a 5-acre secure yard in Miami — so the entity you vet is the entity that shows up at the terminal. If you want our DOT and MC numbers, a certificate of insurance or our UIIA standing before you tender, contact us and we will send them.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a CSA score and a safety rating?
A safety rating is an official FMCSA determination of Satisfactory, Conditional or Unsatisfactory, issued only after a compliance review, and most carriers have never been rated. CSA percentiles come from the Safety Measurement System and rank a carrier against peers with similar inspection volume, with higher percentiles indicating more safety events relative to that peer group. FMCSA treats SMS data as a tool for prioritizing enforcement, not as a safety fitness determination.
Does a drayage carrier need cargo insurance by law?
Federal regulations require minimum public liability coverage for interstate property carriers, currently $750,000 for general freight with higher minimums for certain hazardous materials, but they do not require cargo insurance for general freight. Cargo coverage is therefore contractual, driven by your own agreement and by the requirements equipment providers impose through the UIIA. Always request a certificate of insurance and confirm the cargo limit matches what you need.
Why does a carrier show no CSA scores at all?
Because it does not have enough recent roadside inspections or safety events to be measured against a peer group. That is an absence of data rather than evidence of good performance, and it is common with very small or newly authorized carriers. In that situation, lean harder on operating authority status, insurance filings, UIIA standing and direct references.