Starting out

How to start a trucking company the right way

You’ve got the truck, the customers, or both. We file for your DOT and MC numbers, line up what has to be on file, and tell you the day your authority goes active.

Tell us your goal or call 703-821-0000

Where you might be

You want your own authority

You’ve driven under someone else’s MC number. Now you want your own customers and your own name on the door.

You bought a truck and need the numbers

You need a DOT number, and maybe an MC number too. We’ll tell you which ones your kind of freight needs and file them together.

You want to be a broker

Brokers need their own authority and a surety bond or trust on file before they can arrange a load. We file the application and tell you what has to be in place.

Your application stalled

Got an MC number, but the authority never went active? Something didn’t land, or FMCSA is holding it for review. We’ll find what’s missing and get it moving, or tell you straight if you have to apply again.

What’s at stake

Filing isn’t the finish line

Your authority isn’t active the day the application goes in. FMCSA runs a protest period, and your insurance (or a broker’s bond) and process agent filings have to be on record before you can haul for hire. If they don’t land in time, the application gets dismissed and you pay to apply again. We keep the pieces moving in the right order and tell you the day your authority goes active.

What it takes to start a trucking company

Most new for-hire carriers running across state lines need these, roughly in this order:

A business set up with your state. Often an LLC or corporation, with its own EIN. We can form it for you.
A USDOT number. It identifies your company to FMCSA and shows up on every inspection.
Operating authority, an MC number for most. This is what lets you haul regulated freight for hire across state lines. Common, contract, broker, and freight forwarder authority each have their own rules.
Insurance on file with FMCSA. Your insurance company files it with the agency. A policy in your glovebox isn’t enough.
A process agent. Someone who can accept legal papers for you wherever you run. We file it.
UCR every year. Interstate carriers, brokers, and forwarders pay it annually. We file UCR too.

FMCSA now runs registration through Motus, its new online system. We file through our own Motus account, so you don’t have to learn it. If FMCSA needs you to verify your identity, we’ll walk you through it.

Depending on your trucks, you may also need a drug and alcohol testing program, IRP plates, IFTA, and the heavy vehicle use tax. Our sister company, Consultran, handles those.

You don’t need to know which of these you need before you call. Tell us how you plan to run and we’ll sort it out.

How it works

Three steps. Most of them are ours.

Tell us your goal

Call or send a note. Plain words are fine. You don’t need to know which filing it takes. That’s our job.

We handle it with FMCSA

We know what the agency wants and how to get it through.

You get back to driving

We follow it through until it’s done. You get back to work.

Questions

What carriers ask us

What's the difference between MC numbers and USDOT numbers?

They’re two separate identifiers, issued by the FMCSA for two different purposes.

USDOT number — A unique carrier identifier used by the FMCSA to track safety records, audits, compliance reviews, crash investigations, and inspections. Required for any commercial vehicle operating in interstate commerce above certain weight, passenger, or hazmat thresholds. Most intrastate carriers in states that follow federal rules also need one. See applying for a USDOT number.
MC (motor carrier) number — The docket number that identifies a company’s operating authority — that is, its legal permission to transport regulated freight or passengers across state lines for compensation, or to arrange that transportation as a broker. MC numbers are issued only when a carrier or broker actually needs operating authority. See getting your own authority.

Some carriers have both. A for-hire interstate trucking company hauling regulated freight will typically need a USDOT number and an MC number (e.g. MC-123456 and USDOT 1234567). Some only have a USDOT number — for example, a private fleet that hauls only its own goods doesn’t need operating authority, so it has no MC number. Brokers and freight forwarders need both: federal law requires them to have a USDOT number, and the FMCSA issues one alongside the docket number.

What are the different types of FMCSA operating authority?

The FMCSA issues four primary types of operating authority. Each one corresponds to a different role in the freight chain, and each carries its own insurance or bond requirement.

Common carrier authority — Authorization to transport freight for the general public on an on-call basis. Requires BIPD (liability) insurance on file at the FMCSA’s published minimums, plus cargo coverage where required.
Contract carrier authority — Authorization to enter into oral or written contracts with shippers or brokers to transport a stipulated amount of freight at a stipulated rate over a defined period. Requires BIPD (liability) insurance on file at the FMCSA’s published minimums.
Broker authority — Authorization to arrange and control freight on behalf of shippers and tender it to motor carriers for transportation. The broker is compensated as a percentage of the freight charges. Requires a surety bond (BMC-84) or trust fund (BMC-85) at the FMCSA’s published minimum.
Freight forwarder authority — Authorization to provide transportation in the forwarder’s own name, taking responsibility for the shipment from origin to destination. A forwarder assembles and consolidates shipments, handles break-bulk and distribution, issues its own bill of lading, and hires motor carriers for the line haul. Requires a surety bond or trust fund like a broker; liability insurance applies where the forwarder handles pickup, transfer, or delivery with its own vehicles, and cargo coverage where required.

The difference between a broker and a freight forwarder is responsibility, not size: a broker arranges the move and never takes possession of the freight, while a forwarder takes possession and answers for the shipment itself.

Many companies hold more than one type under the same docket. If you’re unsure which applies to you, contact us and we can walk through it.

Do I need a UCR if I only run intrastate?

Generally, no. UCR is an interstate program. If your operation is purely intrastate — you never cross state lines and you do not haul freight that is moving in interstate commerce — you typically do not owe UCR.

The catch is in the word purely. A few things pull carriers into UCR even when the work feels local:

Any interstate movement counts. If you cross a state line, or you haul a load that is part of an interstate shipment (even the in-state leg of it), you are operating in interstate commerce and UCR applies.
Interstate authority or registration. If you hold interstate operating authority, or a USDOT number registered for interstate operation, expect UCR to apply.
State rules vary. UCR itself is interstate, but some states have their own intrastate registration requirements that are separate from UCR. Being exempt from UCR does not automatically mean you have no state-level registration to keep up.

If you are not sure which side of the line you are on, tell us how and where you run and we will tell you straight whether you owe UCR — before you pay for a registration you do not need.

Sixty years and counting

Tell us your goal. We’ll take it from there.

One call or one form. That’s the whole first step.

Tell us your goal or call 703-821-0000