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We screened every US carrier in our dataset for the signals that precede double-brokering, chameleon reincarnation, and outright fraud.
We screened every US carrier in our dataset for the signals that precede double-brokering, chameleon reincarnation, and outright fraud. Here is how common they actually are.
Across 670,228 carriers in our dataset, 28,793 (4.3%) carry at least one of the signals brokers use to spot fraud before tendering a load: a shell-company footprint, an active federal out-of-service order, or an involuntary loss of operating authority.
Carrier fraud is hard to size because no single registry tallies it. The federal data hints at it from several directions at once — carriers that look dormant on paper yet hold active authority, equipment that surfaces under several MC numbers, carriers placed out of service, and authorities that regulators revoke by force. None of these is proof of fraud on its own; together they are the footprint brokers learn to read.
We computed each of those signals across the full carrier universe we hold. The clearest is the shell-company signal — 23,991 carriers look paper-only on the data. Separately, 26,981 individual vehicles were observed operating under two or more MC numbers — the equipment-sharing pattern that underlies double-brokering and chameleon carriers.
The enforcement signals are smaller but sharper: 4,284 carriers sit under an active federal out-of-service order right now, and 724 have had operating authority revoked involuntarily — the forced kind that often precedes a carrier reappearing under a new name.
Shell-company signals per 10,000 registered carriers, by the state a carrier files as its principal place of business — the top 15 states by rate.
| State | Carriers | Flagged | Rate / 10k |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska (AK) | 1,314 | 83 | 631.7 |
| West Virginia (WV) | 3,428 | 168 | 490.1 |
| Hawaii (HI) | 778 | 38 | 488.4 |
| Rhode Island (RI) | 1,793 | 82 | 457.3 |
| New Jersey (NJ) | 18,010 | 797 | 442.5 |
| Vermont (VT) | 1,067 | 44 | 412.4 |
| Texas (TX) | 67,591 | 2,782 | 411.6 |
| Illinois (IL) | 19,814 | 805 | 406.3 |
| Louisiana (LA) | 3,814 | 154 | 403.8 |
| California (CA) | 91,614 | 3,598 | 392.7 |
| Alabama (AL) | 9,632 | 378 | 392.4 |
| Oklahoma (OK) | 7,475 | 293 | 392 |
| Ohio (OH) | 17,558 | 678 | 386.1 |
| Arkansas (AR) | 4,267 | 164 | 384.3 |
| Tennessee (TN) | 8,455 | 319 | 377.3 |
Universe. All 670,228 carriers in the KnowHaul dataset, of every operating status — not active-only.
Signals.A carrier is counted as flagged if it (a) holds an active shell-company / “paper carrier” flag from the KnowHaul fraud engine, (b) sits under an active FMCSA out-of-service order, or (c) has an involuntary (forced) authority revocation on record. The headline figure de-duplicates a carrier that trips more than one. The per-vehicle “multiple MC numbers” count is of distinct vehicles, not carriers.
State rate. Shell-company signals divided by registered carriers in that state, expressed per 10,000 carriers. States with fewer than 500 carriers are excluded so a small population can’t top the chart on noise. Limited to the 50 US states + DC.
Source & date. Public FMCSA / L&I records (carrier census, out-of-service orders, authority revocations) on data.transportation.gov, plus the fraud signals KnowHaul derives from them. Figures last refreshed 2026-06-13. A signal is a risk indicator to verify, not a finding of wrongdoing.
Every figure is a live aggregate over our carrier dataset. A carrier is counted as carrying a fraud signal if it trips an active shell-company ('paper carrier') flag from our fraud engine, sits under an active FMCSA out-of-service order, or has had an authority involuntarily revoked. We report distinct carriers, de-duplicated across those signals.
Public FMCSA and L&I records — the carrier census, out-of-service-order feed, and authority revocation feed published on data.transportation.gov — plus the fraud signals KnowHaul computes on top of them. We ingest the federal feeds continuously; the report shows the date it was last refreshed.
A signal is a risk indicator, not a conviction. A shell-company signal means a carrier looks dormant or paper-only on the data; an out-of-service order is a federal enforcement action; an involuntary revocation is a forced loss of operating authority. Each is a reason to verify a carrier before tendering a load — which is exactly what KnowHaul is for.
Yes. The underlying records are public FMCSA data and the figures are free to cite. A link back to this page is appreciated, and lets readers see the live, refreshed numbers and the methodology.