Anyone can print a COI. Nobody can fake the filing.
Send us a carrier. We check it against the federal record and send back a dated file — so you know who's on your load before it moves, and can prove what you checked if anyone ever asks.
In Montgomery v. Caribe, a unanimous Supreme Court held that brokers can be sued for negligently selecting an unsafe carrier — federal preemption no longer shields that decision. On July 24, 2026, the first big verdict landed: a jury returned $604 million against C.H. Robinson and put 23% of the fault on the broker. It's on appeal. Nobody can sell you a shield, and we won't pretend to. What you can have is an ordinary, documented record of what you checked before you covered the load — and be able to produce it a year and a half later.
A certificate of insurance proves one thing: somebody printed a certificate.
It comes from the carrier or their agent — the same people you're trying to verify. A convincing fake takes minutes to produce. But the insurer files coverage with FMCSA directly, on a form the carrier never touches. Two records, two custody chains. A fraudster controls only one of them.
Calling the agent works, and takes a day per carrier. The filing already exists — by law, for every carrier with interstate authority. That answer takes seconds.
What it tells you
- Who the carrier says insures them
- A policy number you can't verify
- An expiration date twelve months out
- Nothing about what happened after it was printed
What we check it against
- The insurer of record, filed by the insurer
- The actual policy number on file
- Cancellations. By law the insurer must give FMCSA 30 days' notice before coverage ends — so it shows up before it bites
- Coverage on file measured against the amount required
We report both records side by side and say where they differ. We don't call anyone a fraud, and we don't tell you who to run — that's your call, and it should be. Note: the filing requirement covers liability. Cargo coverage frequently has no federal filing at all, so a cargo cancellation can be invisible. We say so in the file.
Everything the federal record says about that carrier, sourced and time-stamped
Pulled the moment you ask, from FMCSA's carrier registry, out-of-service orders, Licensing & Insurance filings, and the crash and inspection files. Every line carries its source and the minute it was retrieved.
Identity
Legal name, DBA, USDOT, every docket number tied to that DOT, physical and mailing address, phone on file. Multiple MC numbers under one DOT is a thing worth seeing.
Authority
Common, contract, and broker authority. Allowed-to-operate flag. And revocation pending — the flag that fires while the authority still reads active.
Out-of-service orders
Not just the date. The reason, and the full history. "Unsatisfactory — unfit" and "90-day failure to pay fine" are different problems.
Insurance on file
Liability on file against the amount required, cargo, surety bond. Insurer, policy number, effective date — and any cancellation, including ones dated in the future.
Lapse history
Every prior policy cancelled or replaced, with the method. A carrier that loses coverage every eight months looks different from one that's held the same policy since 2015.
Safety record
Safety rating, BASIC percentiles against the FMCSA threshold, violation and inspection counts, and which specific thresholds were breached. Crash and inspection history with out-of-service rates.
Registration
How long they've held authority, last MCS-150 update, census operating status, and the prior-revocation flag — FMCSA's own breadcrumb back to a previous DOT number.
Same address, same name
Other carriers registered at that street address or operating under that legal name. Usually it's affiliates or a shared office. Sometimes it isn't.
A dated archive
Every file we issue is kept, dated, and yours. When someone asks eighteen months from now what you knew on the day you covered the load, you have the answer.
Chameleon carriers are not an edge case
The trick is simple: a revoked operation comes back under a fresh MC number with the same phones, addresses, and people. The federal record shows how routine the pattern is, if something is actually reading it.
Source: FMCSA Licensing & Insurance public data files, retrieved July 2026.
Keep the vetting tools you already pay for.
This isn't software you have to adopt. If you run Highway, RMIS, MyCarrierPortal, or Carrier411, keep them — they're good at what they do and we're not asking you to rip anything out.
What we do is the part that isn't in any of them: take the certificate the carrier actually handed you and check it against the insurer's federal filing, then hand you a dated file you can keep. No dashboard to learn. No seats. You forward an email.
Your load boards, your TMS, your process — none of it changes. And we don't tell you which carriers to run. The file gives you the record; the decision stays on your desk, where the authority and the liability already sit.
Five carriers. Free. No call required.
Send five MC or DOT numbers for carriers you're actually looking at — not samples — and we'll send back full due-care files. If you include the certificates they sent you, we'll check those too. You'll have them inside 24 hours.
- The free fiveReal carriers off your desk. No card, no call, no commitment. Worst case you get five files and never speak to us again.
- If you keep going$295 a month, month to month, cancel any time. Send every new carrier as it comes in; we turn it around same day.
- Watching the rosterOnce we have your carriers, we watch the federal record for cancellations, revocations, and out-of-service orders — and send you one page a week on what changed.
- Who you're dealing withLaneHarbor is a product of JROD Digital LLC in Okemos, Michigan. You'll deal directly with the person who built it — not a support queue.
Straight answers about carrier vetting and the federal record
Do insurers have to notify FMCSA before cancelling a motor carrier's insurance?
Yes. Under 49 CFR 387.313, a notice of cancellation must be filed with FMCSA on the prescribed form, and 30 days' notice is required — with the 30 days running from the date the notice is actually received at FMCSA. Because of that notice period, a pending cancellation is visible in the public record for roughly a month before coverage actually ends.
How can a freight broker tell whether a certificate of insurance is genuine?
Compare it against the insurer's own filing with FMCSA. A certificate of insurance is produced by the carrier or its agent; the underlying coverage is certified to FMCSA by the insurer on Form BMC-91 or BMC-91X. The two records have different custody chains, so a certificate whose insurer, policy number, or effective date disagrees with the federal filing is worth a second look. Calling the issuing agent also works and is a common practice; it simply takes longer.
What did Montgomery v. Caribe decide, and why does it matter to brokers?
In May 2026 a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court held that the FAAAA's preemption clause does not preempt state-law negligent-selection claims against freight brokers, because such claims fall within the statute's safety exception. Practically: a broker can be sued over how it vetted the carrier it placed on a load. On July 24, 2026, a jury returned a $604 million verdict against C.H. Robinson in a related matter, apportioning 23% of fault to the broker; that verdict is on appeal. No service or software can prevent a lawsuit — the recognized defense is ordinary, documented care at the time of selection.
What does "revocation pending" mean on a carrier's record?
It means FMCSA has begun the process of revoking an operating authority that still reads as active. It is an early signal: the authority has not yet lapsed, but action is underway. As of July 2026 roughly 14,906 carriers carried a revocation-pending flag in FMCSA's Licensing & Insurance data.
What is a chameleon carrier?
An operation whose authority was revoked that re-registers under a new USDOT or MC number — frequently with the same address, phone number, or officers — to shed a compliance history. Shared addresses and repeated legal names are signals worth reviewing, not proof of anything: affiliated companies, freight campuses, and shared office space produce the same pattern legitimately.
Is insurance information about motor carriers public?
Yes. FMCSA publishes carrier registration, operating authority, out-of-service orders, safety measurement data, and Licensing & Insurance filings — including insurer, policy number, effective date, and cancellations — as public records. Anyone can look them up. The work is in retrieving them consistently, reading them correctly, and keeping a dated record of what was checked.