Loading…
Setting up a new carrier means collecting a carrier packet — a set of documents that verify the carrier is who it says it is, is legally allowed to haul, and is insured for the freight. But the documents only protect you if you cross-check them against the public record rather than filing them unread. This guide covers which documents to request, what each one verifies, and the cross-checks that turn the packet into real fraud protection.
From a new carrier, request: proof of active operating authority, a certificate of insurance (COI) naming you as certificate holder, a completed W-9, the carrier's signed setup packet with contact and remit-to details, and a notice of assignment if they factor their invoices. Each document maps to a verification: authority proves they can legally haul, the COI proves coverage, the W-9 confirms the legal entity, and the packet establishes the contacts and payment routing. The protection comes from cross-checking every document against the public carrier record — a packet you file unread protects nobody.
The certificate of insurance is the most important document in the packet and the one most often forged. Request a COI that names you as the certificate holder, lists both liability and cargo coverage with limits that meet your load and your shipper's requirements, and shows effective and expiration dates that bracket the period you'll be working with the carrier.
The critical cross-check is to verify the COI is real by contacting the insurance agency listed on it directly — using the agency's published contact information, not the contact details printed on the certificate. Forged COIs are common in freight fraud: a real-looking certificate with fabricated coverage or a policy that was cancelled after the COI was issued. Also cross-check the coverage against the carrier's insurance-on-file status in the public record, which reflects the policies the carrier has actually filed.
The W-9 establishes the carrier's legal entity name and tax identification for payment and reporting. Beyond its tax purpose, it's an identity cross-check: the legal name on the W-9 should match the legal name on the operating authority and the public carrier record exactly. A mismatch between the entity you're about to pay and the entity that holds the authority is a serious red flag — it can indicate a double-broker or identity-flip setup where the entity collecting payment is not the carrier of record.
The carrier's signed setup packet captures the operational details: dispatch contact, phone, email, physical address, and remit-to or payment routing. Every one of these is an identity cross-check against the public record. The phone should match the carrier's published number; the email should be on a domain matching the carrier's DBA rather than a free webmail service; the physical address should be a commercial location, not a residential address or a mailbox service.
The remit-to details deserve special scrutiny because payment routing is where fraud cashes out. If the carrier factors its invoices, the remit-to should point to a recognizable factoring company, documented by a notice of assignment. A remit-to that points to an entity unrelated to both the carrier and a known factor is a red flag worth resolving before any load moves.
The phone, email, and address in a setup packet are whatever the carrier wrote down. The verification is matching them to the carrier's published federal record and calling the published number independently. A packet that disagrees with the public record on contact details is the single most common fraud tell in carrier onboarding.
Many carriers factor their invoices — selling their receivables to a factoring company that then collects payment. When a carrier factors, it provides a notice of assignment (NOA): a formal letter from the factoring company instructing you to remit payment to the factor instead of the carrier. The NOA is legitimate and common, but it's also a vector for fraud, so it requires its own verification.
Confirm the NOA comes from a recognizable factoring company and names the carrier you're setting up. Be especially wary of a mid-relationship change in factoring or remit-to details delivered by email — that's a classic payment-redirection fraud. Any change to payment routing should be confirmed by contacting the carrier and the factor through independently verified channels before you act on it.
At minimum: proof of active operating authority (with the MC and DOT numbers to verify it), a certificate of insurance naming you as certificate holder with liability and cargo coverage, a completed and signed W-9, a signed carrier setup packet with contact and remit-to details, and a notice of assignment if the carrier factors its invoices. Each maps to a specific verification, and the protection comes from cross-checking every document against the public carrier record rather than filing it unread.
Verify it directly with the insurance agency listed on the certificate, using the agency's published contact information rather than the contact details printed on the COI itself. Forged certificates are common in freight fraud — a real-looking document with fabricated coverage, or a policy cancelled after the certificate was issued. Cross-check the COI against the carrier's insurance-on-file status in the public record too, since that reflects the policies the carrier has actually filed with the regulator. A COI that matches the public filing and is confirmed by the issuing agency is genuine.
The W-9 establishes which legal entity you're paying, and that entity should match the carrier that holds the operating authority and appears on the public record. A mismatch — paying one entity while a different entity holds the authority — is a serious red flag for double-brokering or an identity-flip setup, where the party collecting payment is not the carrier of record. Beyond its tax purpose, the W-9 is one of your identity cross-checks, so the legal name on it should match the authority and public record exactly.
No — factoring is legitimate and common, and a notice of assignment is the proper way a factoring company instructs you to remit payment to it instead of the carrier. What requires scrutiny is verifying the NOA comes from a recognizable factor and names the carrier you're setting up, and being wary of any mid-relationship change to factoring or remit-to details delivered by email. An unexplained, email-only change to payment routing is a classic redirection fraud and should be confirmed through independently verified channels before you act on it.
No — professional-looking documents are exactly what a sophisticated fraud produces. Every document in a carrier packet is a claim the carrier is making about itself; the protection comes from the cross-check against the authoritative public record, not from the polish of the paperwork. The single most common onboarding fraud tell is a packet whose contact details, entity name, or remit-to disagree with the carrier's federal record. File the documents, but verify the claims against the public record every time.
Paste an MC, DOT, or VIN to verify a carrier in one card. Free, no signup.
Free, no signup. Paste a DOT, MC, or VIN — verify right away.
Step-by-step checklist for vetting any motor carrier before tendering a load — operating authority, insurance, safety scores, inspection history, and identity flags.
A tight, repeatable pre-tender vetting workflow: the order to run the checks, the hard fails that stop a tender outright, and the soft signals that are judgement calls. Built for the moment before you dispatch.
Decode the FMCSA L&I insurance register: BMC-91 liability, BMC-34 cargo, BMC-32 household-goods cargo, effective and cancellation dates, and the gotchas brokers miss.
The rate confirmation is where double-brokering leaves fingerprints. Learn the document-level red flags — mismatched names, payment redirections, spoofed contact details — that expose a re-brokered load before you dispatch.
Open one of these profiles in a new tab to see how the checklist applies to a live carrier record.
Cross-check every document a new carrier sends against its authoritative public record — authority, insurance, and identity in one card.