Why Carrier Due Diligence Matters
Recent action involving approximately 28,000 revoked non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses highlights how quickly transportation capacity and compliance risk can change. Shippers and brokers should treat carrier vetting as an operational control, not a one-time administrative task. Before tendering freight to a new carrier—or accepting a broker’s re-brokered load—confirm that the business, drivers, equipment, and insurance all match the shipment being offered.
What to Verify Before Tendering Freight
Start with the carrier’s operating authority, entity name, physical address, and authority status. Review safety ratings, inspection trends, out-of-service rates, crash history, and recent enforcement activity through reliable regulatory sources. Insurance certificates should be verified directly with the issuing insurer or agency using independently obtained contact information, rather than relying solely on documents supplied by the carrier.
Ask how the carrier manages driver qualification files, including license status, medical certification, employment history, drug and alcohol compliance, and required training. Confirm that the carrier actually owns or leases the trucks it claims to operate. Compare equipment records, registration details, tracking data, and pickup information for inconsistencies. A carrier unable to explain its fleet structure may present elevated fraud or service risk.
Continuous Monitoring and Fraud Prevention
Onboarding checks can become outdated quickly. Transportation teams can use compliance platforms, authority alerts, insurance monitoring, telematics, identity verification, and shipment-tracking tools to watch for changes in operating status, coverage, contact details, equipment, and geographic behavior. Establish escalation rules for revoked authority, expired insurance, sudden banking changes, unfamiliar dispatchers, or mismatched driver and vehicle information.
Reducing Cargo Theft and Double-Brokering Exposure
Strong vetting also helps prevent cargo theft and unauthorized re-brokering. Use approved communication channels, confirm pickup details with known contacts, restrict load information, and require written authorization for any carrier substitution. Document every verification step. Consistent due diligence protects capacity decisions while making it harder for impersonators, fraudulent carriers, and undisclosed intermediaries to enter the freight process.
