FMCSA Compliance

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is the U.S. regulatory body that oversees commercial motor carriers and the brokers who arrange freight transportation. FMCSA compliance means a carrier holds active operating authority (MC number), maintains required insurance levels, passes safety audits, and adheres to the full body of federal motor carrier safety regulations. For shippers, FMCSA compliance is a carrier vetting fundamental – it's the baseline that separates legitimate operators from unqualified ones.

Key FMCSA compliance areas include operating authority and registration (every for-hire carrier needs an active MC and DOT number), minimum insurance requirements ($750,000 for general freight, $1 million or $5 million for hazmat depending on commodity), driver qualification files (CDL verification, medical certificates, employment history), vehicle inspection and maintenance programs, hours of service compliance (tracked via ELDs), and drug and alcohol testing programs. The FMCSA's Safety Measurement System (SMS) scores carriers across seven Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories (BASICs), and poor scores can trigger interventions or out-of-service orders.

Shippers have a vested interest in FMCSA compliance even though carriers bear the direct regulatory burden. Tendering freight to a carrier with lapsed authority, insufficient insurance, or a poor safety record creates legal liability exposure and puts your freight – and the public – at risk. In the food and cold chain space, where shipments often carry high per-load values, the stakes are even higher. Sophisticated shippers build FMCSA compliance checks into their carrier onboarding process, verifying authority status, insurance, and safety scores before adding a carrier to their approved network.

Integrating carrier safety and compliance data into your TMS – so your team can see authority status and safety scores alongside rates and performance metrics – makes carrier vetting a built-in part of the tendering workflow rather than a separate manual process.