The FMCSA files behind every alert and carrier page
Everything on this site comes from files FMCSA publishes on data.transportation.gov, read without any login or key. Carrier pages were built from the files as updated on 28 September 2026; alerts and the lookup read them fresh each time.
Which file feeds which field
| File | ID | What we take from it | Last updated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Company Census File | az4n-8mr2 | Legal and DBA name, USDOT status, MCS-150 date and mileage, fleet size, cargo classes, safety rating, MC docket lookup | 28 Sep 2026 |
| Motus Carrier file | inys-ebih | Which operating authorities a carrier holds | 28 Sep 2026 |
| Motus authority history | yu5v-wbh6 | Authority status, the reason FMCSA gives and the date; first grant date | 28 Sep 2026 |
| Motus insurance file | c5y8-a4uz | Insurance on file: form, insurer, policy, limit, effective date, date FMCSA received it | 28 Sep 2026 |
| Motus insurance history | 3uet-3z4i | Cancellations (BMC-35 notices and cancellation records) with the date they take effect | 28 Sep 2026 |
| Motus revocation and suspension file | wb4f-neki | Suspension and revocation notices with served and effective dates | 28 Sep 2026 |
| Out-of-service orders file | p2mt-9ige | Out-of-service orders with date, reason and any rescission | 29 Sep 2026 |
| Vehicle Inspection File | fx4q-ay7w | Roadside inspections and out-of-service counts, last 24 months (carrier pages) | 28 Sep 2026 |
| Crash File | aayw-vxb3 | Crashes by severity, last 24 months (carrier pages) | 28 Sep 2026 |
| Legacy L&I carrier file (last published 14 May 2026) | 6eyk-hxee | Authority for carriers not yet in the Motus files | 28 Sep 2026 |
| Legacy L&I insurance file (last published 14 May 2026) | ypjt-5ydn | Insurance for carriers not yet in the Motus files | 28 Sep 2026 |
| Legacy L&I authority history (last published 14 May 2026) | 9mw4-x3tu | Authority history before Motus; first grant date | 28 Sep 2026 |
| FMCSA SAFER snapshot | National average out-of-service rates (vehicle 22.26%, driver 6.67%) | As of 28 Aug 2026 |
Carriers not yet in FMCSA's Motus files
FMCSA moved registration to its new Motus system in May 2026. The older licensing and insurance files carry the note that they were last refreshed on 14 May 2026 and will not be updated again. The Motus files are updated daily, but they hold only carriers that have had a registration, authority or insurance transaction since Motus went live. On our carrier pages, 2,514 carriers come from the Motus files and 2,486 from the frozen legacy files, and each page says which.
An insurance or authority change for a legacy-only carrier is a Motus transaction, so it appears in the Motus files and reaches the alert.
How the alerts work
- Once a day we read the record for every USDOT number on any watchlist, once per carrier however many brokers watch it, and compare it with the previous day's record.
- The first check of a new carrier records where it stands; alerts cover changes after that. The lookup shows the current record at any time.
- Cancellation records, notices and out-of-service orders dated more than 45 days back do not trigger an alert. When a carrier first appears in the Motus files its whole history arrives at once, and old records are not news.
- A replacement policy (FMCSA's "TERM/REPL") is not treated as a cancellation.
- Where the Motus Carrier file and the authority history disagree about an authority, we treat it as not active. Either file can be the one that is behind: we found carriers one file listed as active while the other file, and SAFER, showed them as inactive or out of service.
Inspections, out-of-service rates and crashes
Carrier pages count roadside inspections in the 24 months from 26 Sep 2024 to 26 Sep 2026, the newest inspection in the file. Vehicle inspections are levels I, II, V and VI; driver inspections are levels I, II, III and VI; an inspection counts as out of service when it recorded at least one out-of-service violation of that kind. These are the definitions SAFER uses, and our counts land within a fraction of a percent of SAFER's (SAFER's snapshot is refreshed on a different day).
The national averages are FMCSA's own figures from the SAFER snapshot, as of 28 Aug 2026. Crash counts are all crashes FMCSA recorded for the carrier in the same 24 months. FMCSA records crashes without any determination of responsibility.
Which carriers have a page
Carrier pages cover 5,000 carriers: those based in California (2,500) and Texas (2,500), the two states with the most active interstate for-hire carriers in FMCSA's census file, with an active USDOT number, an MC docket and at least 3 roadside inspections in the last 24 months. Of those with an active motor carrier authority in FMCSA's authority files, we took the 2,500 per state with the most inspections, leaving out any whose legal name is a person's name rather than a business name. The lookup and the alerts work for every USDOT number.
What we leave out
- Phone numbers, email addresses, officer names and street addresses, even where FMCSA publishes them.
- SMS BASIC percentiles, some of which FMCSA withholds from the public.
- Scores, ratings or labels of our own. You see FMCSA's record and its dates.
Limits
- We can only alert on what FMCSA publishes. A change FMCSA has not yet published cannot reach you.
- FMCSA updates the files once a day at times that vary by file. If a refresh is late, the alert is too.
- Carrier pages are a snapshot as of 28 Sep 2026 and are rebuilt periodically. Check the live record in the lookup or on SAFER before you tender a load.
Spotted something wrong? Write to [email protected]. If the error is in FMCSA's own record, the carrier can correct it through FMCSA (Motus or DataQs).