How to check a car shipping company before you book

Ask for the MC and USDOT numbers

A company that arranges interstate car transport needs operating authority from FMCSA. It has an MC number, which is the authority itself, and a USDOT number, which identifies the company in the federal register. It should give you both without being asked twice. Ours are MC 1661496 and USDOT 4276170.

Look for the numbers in the footer of the website, in the quote email and on the agreement you are asked to sign. A company that is proud of its record puts them where you can find them. If you have to ask, that is fine too, but the answer should come straight back, in writing, and match what the public record says.

The two kinds of authority matter because they tell you what the company does. Broker authority lets a company arrange transport and book a carrier. Carrier authority lets a company move the car on its own trucks. Trustline holds broker authority. We price the move, choose and check the carrier, and stay on the order with you. The carrier owns the truck and is responsible for your car while it is on it. Many companies hold both kinds, and some carriers also broker loads they cannot fit. What you want to know is which role the company plays on your order, because that tells you who will have your car.

Look the company up on FMCSA

FMCSA runs two public pages. The Company Snapshot at safer.fmcsa.dot.gov is the quick one. The Licensing and Insurance page at li-public.fmcsa.dot.gov shows the authority and the filings behind it. Both are free and need no account.

1. Open the Company Snapshot and search by USDOT number. Searching by name also works, but names repeat and a number does not.
2. Check the legal name and the address against the quote you were sent. A trading name is fine as long as the record shows it as a DBA. A different company altogether is not.
3. Read the entity type. It says Broker, Carrier, or both. That should match what the company told you it does.
4. Read the operating status. You want Authorized. Not Authorized, Inactive or Out of Service means the company cannot legally arrange or perform the move today.
5. Open the Licensing and Insurance page for the same USDOT number. The Authority History shows when the authority was granted and whether it has ever been revoked. Ours has been active since 1 Aug 2024.
6. On the same page, open Insurance. A broker shows a bond or trust fund on file. A carrier shows cargo and liability insurance with the policy limits and the insurer's name.

The whole check takes about 2 minutes. If the record does not load, the number does not exist, or the name on the record is not the name on your quote, stop there and ask the company to explain before you go any further.

What a broker bond is

A licensed broker must keep a surety bond or a trust fund on file with FMCSA, and the federal minimum is $75,000 (49 CFR 387.307). The bond is filed on form BMC-84 and the trust fund on form BMC-85. Ours is a BMC-84 bond, and the Licensing and Insurance record shows whether it is active.

The bond protects shippers and carriers if a broker fails to carry out its contracts, for example by taking payment and not paying the carrier. It does not pay for damage to your car. That is what the carrier's cargo insurance is for, and the damage claim guide explains how that works.

• How to file a damage claim

How the carrier gets checked

A broker books a carrier to move the car, so the second question is how that carrier is chosen. Before we dispatch any car, the carrier passes the Trustline Standard, four checks made on the day of assignment.

• Dispatch history, so we know the carrier has run loads like yours and how those went.
• Federal authority and safety, so the carrier is authorized to operate today and its safety record is clean enough for us.
• Delivery record, so we know it picks up and delivers when it says it will.
• The insurance certificate, current and covering the vehicles on its truck.

A carrier that fails one check does not get the load. Once a carrier is assigned, your order page shows the carrier company, the driver's name and the driver's phone, and an email tells you. If you ever need to claim, we give you the carrier's registration and insurance details.

• The Trustline Standard

Signs that something is off

Most problems in this industry start with a company that is not what it says it is. The warning signs are the same every time.

• No federal record, or a record that shows Not Authorized or Inactive.
• The name on the quote, the website and the FMCSA record do not match, and nobody can explain why.
• A price far below every other quote for the same lane, with pressure to pay today to hold it.
• Payment by gift card, wire, or a cash app to a person's name. A licensed company takes payment only into accounts in its own name.
• A phone number and nothing else. No address, no email on the company's own domain, no agreement to read before you pay.
• A request for a large deposit before any carrier has been assigned to your car.

If you have already paid someone who turns out not to exist, report it. FMCSA takes complaints about brokers and carriers through its National Consumer Complaint Database at nccdb.fmcsa.dot.gov or on 1-888-368-7238. The Federal Trade Commission takes fraud reports at reportfraud.ftc.gov. Tell your card issuer the same day.

What a real booking looks like

You get a written price, built from what carriers were actually paid on your lane in the last 90 days, with open and enclosed shown side by side. You read and sign the transport agreement online before anything else happens. It is public, so you can read it before you ask for a price.

Then a carrier is assigned, and only then is your card charged the reservation. Your order page names the carrier company and the driver, and the balance is paid to the driver at delivery. Reservation payments go only to Trustline's own accounts. If anyone ever asks you to pay another way, call us on the number on this page first.

• Read the transport agreement