Paste an MC or DOT number. We'll pull the live operating authority status, power units, safety rating, and out-of-service status straight from the FMCSA QCMobile feed. No email, no signup, no ads — just the data brokers and shippers actually need to verify a carrier before booking a load.
Every response is a direct read of the FMCSA QCMobile API — the same public source the agency exposes for the broker-side carrier verification flow. For any MC or DOT we can resolve, you get:
What this tool does not show: insurance certificate details (BMC-91 for carriers, BMC-84 broker bond for brokers), full SMS BASIC scores, crash counts by year, and the chameleon-carrier reincorporation pattern. Those live in adjacent FMCSA datasets and outside-FMCSA sources. Inside Keelway's broker product the full panel runs on every inbound carrier email automatically — that's the productized version of this one-off check.
The honest order of operations a broker should use, every load:
dispatch@bigtruckco.com but the FMCSA legal name is "Joe's Trucking LLC," ask why. It's often innocent (a dispatch service); it's sometimes a stolen-MC attempt.More on how to read FMCSA data and use it in carrier vetting:
The FMCSA publishes carrier data, but the surfaces brokers actually land on (SAFER, QCMobile, L&I) are slow, ugly, and built for internal-government use. Most brokers we talked to do this lookup twenty times a day. So we wrapped the public API in something fast, free, and shareable — no email gate, no ads. Inside our product the same check runs on every inbound carrier email automatically, alongside insurance and double-broker detection. If that's useful, come talk to us. If it's not, the free tool stands on its own.
MC (Motor Carrier) is the operating-authority identifier the FMCSA assigns to freight brokers, freight forwarders, and for-hire motor carriers under 49 CFR Parts 365 and 387. The number itself is a 5-to-7-digit value prefixed 'MC'. Without active MC authority, a US for-hire carrier or broker can't legally arrange or move interstate freight.
USDOT is the carrier-identifier number assigned to any commercial motor vehicle operator that crosses state lines or hauls hazmat — it ties to the company's safety record, BASIC scores, and inspections. MC number is the separate operating-authority number assigned to for-hire carriers, brokers, and freight forwarders. A pure intrastate fleet has a DOT but no MC. A freight broker has an MC but no DOT.
Free. No email required. No account. We hit the FMCSA QCMobile public API and render the response. We don't store your lookups or harvest the data.
Two common reasons. First, you may be searching for a freight broker — the FMCSA QCMobile database is carrier-centric and some pure-broker MCs return partial or no data there (their authority lives in the Licensing & Insurance database instead). Second, the MC was recently issued or revoked and hasn't propagated through QCMobile's index. If the L&I record exists but QCMobile doesn't, search at safer.fmcsa.dot.gov directly.
Active means the carrier or broker holds current operating authority and is allowed to operate. Inactive means authority is in good standing but the entity isn't currently operating (often voluntary). Revoked means the authority has been pulled — most commonly because insurance lapsed (BMC-91 for carriers, BMC-84 broker bond for brokers) or the entity failed a safety determination. Never book a load to a carrier with revoked authority.
No — it just means they're legally allowed to operate. The other signals you should check on every load: insurance certificate on file (current expiration date, correct cargo/liability limits), safety rating (Satisfactory / Conditional / Unsatisfactory / Not Rated), recent BASIC scores from the SMS (Safety Measurement System), out-of-service rate, and crash history. Keelway runs the full panel on every inbound carrier email automatically.
Sometimes. Brokers have MC numbers but live primarily in the FMCSA Licensing & Insurance (L&I) database, not the carrier-centric QCMobile feed this tool queries. Many brokers will return partial data or 'no record' here. We're working on a broker-side lookup that queries L&I directly — until then, search safer.fmcsa.dot.gov.
On the public lookup page: nothing. We don't store your queries. Inside Keelway's product, the same FMCSA QCMobile call runs on every inbound carrier email so brokers see authority status + insurance + safety signals on the load card without alt-tabbing to SAFER. That's the productized version of this free tool.