When it comes to protecting your brokerage or carrier business, the difference between growth and costly losses comes down to knowing your partners. Missing even a simple check on a carrier’s MC (Motor Carrier) or DOT number can lead to stolen loads, unpaid invoices, or serious reputation damage.
While premium compliance tools and onboarding systems offer deep risk management, there are also plenty of free resources that help cover the essentials. This guide walks through the top free MC checker tools every freight broker (and many carriers) should know — along with premium options that can further strengthen your fraud prevention strategy.
Free tools: Where to start with an MC checker or DOT lookup
Free tools play a key role in helping brokers and carriers confirm essential details like operating authority, insurance status, safety records, carrier ratings, and reputation.
They’re especially valuable for:
- Small and mid-sized brokers or carriers looking to cover the basics without added costs
- Larger operations that want a first layer of verification before layering on automation or integrations
- Any team aiming to build stronger vetting habits into their daily workflow
Whether you’re checking USDOT numbers, verifying a carrier, or reviewing MC operating authority details, these free resources provide a reliable starting point.
FMCSA Tools (SAFER, L&I, SMS, QCMobile)
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) offers several public tools that allow anyone to check MC numbers or look up DOT numbers.
- SAFER (Company Snapshot) provides the official snapshot of a company’s authority status, name, address, fleet size, cargo types, and safety rating — a key part of any MC name checker process.
- Licensing & Insurance (L&I) Database helps confirm whether a carrier has proper authority (interstate/intrastate) and active insurance filings, or whether a broker has a surety bond, making it essential for anyone needing to check USDOT or MC authority.
- Safety Measurement System (SMS) offers a deeper look at safety history, including violations, out-of-service rates, and crash data, supporting safer decision-making beyond a basic FMCSA check MC or safer MC check.
- QCMobile App delivers all this data to your phone, letting you search DOT numbers or check MC records on the go.
Together, these tools form the foundation of industry vetting and help ensure the companies you work with are authorized, compliant, and legitimate — but they don’t automate monitoring or catch every risk.
CarrierSource
CarrierSource takes things a step further by combining official FMCSA data with crowdsourced reviews and fraud flags. On each carrier’s profile, brokers can see:
- Authority status and insurance details
- Safety ratings
- Reviews from other brokers and shippers
- Reports of double brokering or other issues
One standout feature is CarrierSource’s public list of flagged double brokers — giving brokers and shippers an extra layer of protection when evaluating potential partners. It serves as an informal freightguard report check free option, adding real-world, peer-to-peer insights you can’t get from government databases.
eCarrierCheck
eCarrierCheck offers free risk profiles designed to help brokers spot fraud or compliance risks faster. It analyzes data points like:
- Recent authority changes
- Virtual (VOIP) phone lines
- Limited inspection history
- Patterns that suggest “chameleon” operations
Brokers use eCarrierCheck to get a quick risk score on a carrier, especially when something feels off or when working with an unfamiliar company. It’s an extra screening layer that complements, but doesn’t replace, official FMCSA checks.
FleetFAX Chrome Extension
FleetFAX is a free browser extension that helps brokers and dispatchers streamline their MC/DOT lookups. Instead of manually typing numbers into SAFER or L&I, you can:
- Right-click an MC or DOT number anywhere online (emails, load boards, websites)
- Instantly pull up the company’s authority status, insurance, and safety data
This is especially handy for fast-moving operations, where saving time on repetitive tasks can reduce errors and increase productivity — making it a useful DOT checker in your daily workflow.
FreightGPT DOT Lookup
FreightGPT offers a free MC and DOT lookup tool that lets users quickly pull up company name, authority status, and basic contact details.
It’s not a replacement for FMCSA databases but works well as a fast, easy-to-use supplemental check alongside other verification tools. Brokers and carriers often use it for quick lookups before doing deeper vetting — it’s a simple addition to your how to check MC number process.
Why paid tools are worth considering
While free MC and DOT lookup tools are a good place to start, they have limits. They give you useful data, but they don’t track updates, spot fraud patterns, or handle vetting automatically.
Paid tools can make a big difference for those handling high volume, managing complex operations, or looking to reduce manual work. They can automate carrier onboarding, watch for compliance changes, help catch fraud or double brokering, and connect with your TMS to help your team work more efficiently.
Some of the most widely used and trusted paid tools in the industry include the following.
Highway
Highway helps brokers confirm that the carrier they’re onboarding is actually the rightful owner of the MC or DOT number.
Using its Carrier Identity technology, Highway goes beyond basic record checks. It verifies ownership, detects double-brokering scams, and flags suspicious mismatches. Brokers can set their own compliance rules, receive alerts if carrier status changes, and connect Highway to their TMS for smoother operations.
Highway integrates with Denim, allowing carrier profiles and payment preferences to flow in automatically and eliminate manual data entry.
Carrier Assure
Carrier Assure gives brokers and carriers an extra layer of insight by turning complex carrier data into clear, actionable scores. Its compliance software analyzes thousands of trucking companies using real DOT and FMCSA data, including SAFER reports, to help monitor carrier performance and surface carrier ratings.
Beyond just compliance checks, Carrier Assure highlights behavioral risks like frequent no-shows, late deliveries, or other reliability concerns — helping brokers make smarter, faster decisions about which carriers to trust.
Through its partnership with Denim, Carrier Assure also displays a Denim-certified badge on broker profiles and shares brokers’ days-to-pay data, giving carriers better visibility into payment timelines and strengthening trust on both sides.
Descartes MyCarrierPortal
MyCarrierPortal is a popular tool for automating carrier onboarding and compliance checks. It simplifies the process by collecting digital carrier packets, verifying MC and DOT numbers against FMCSA records, and applying each broker’s specific compliance requirements.
Beyond basic vetting, MyCarrierPortal helps identify issues like mismatched contact details or ownership records, reducing the risk of onboarding fraudulent or noncompliant carriers. It also continuously monitors carrier status, so brokers are alerted if anything changes after onboarding.
For brokers using Denim, MyCarrierPortal integrates smoothly to pull in carrier profiles and payment preferences, reducing manual data entry and helping teams stay focused on moving loads. The integration saved Artisan Logistics, a freight brokerage based in South Carolina and Denim client, hours in manual data entry.
FreightValidate
FreightValidate specializes in verifying the identities of both carriers and brokers.
It uses MC and DOT data along with contact and ownership checks to help stop impersonation scams. FreightValidate is valuable not only for brokers trying to vet carriers but also for carriers who want to confirm they’re working with a legitimate broker before accepting a load.
FreightValidate also integrates with Denim to display a Denim-certified badge on verified profiles. This badge signals to carriers and brokers that Denim has vetted the company through its network of integrated tools — helping build trust, reduce fraud risk, and give both sides more confidence when working together.
There's a better way
Denim’s automated solutions streamline your back-office operations. Explore our solutions to see how Denim can help your business scale efficiently.
Strong vetting starts with the right tools. Free MC checker and DOT lookup tools help cover the basics, while paid platforms automate the process, strengthen fraud detection, and help you scale with confidence.
But fraud prevention goes beyond just checking MC and DOT numbers. Denim helps brokers and carriers with shipper credit checks, document auditing, and dedicated support to flag risks in payables and receivables. Through integrations with partners like Highway, MCP, Carrier Assure, and FreightValidate, Denim also helps automate onboarding, protect sensitive data, and save hours of manual work — reducing fraud risk at every step.
Want to learn how Denim can help protect your business? Contact our team to get started.
