Steplane › Guides › Carrier setup packet checklist
Updated 19 October 2026 · Written by Paul, founder of Steplane, a logistics process specialist with over 13 years in logistics, including at some of the biggest freight forwarders in the world.
In short: A carrier setup packet holds eight items: operating authority (USDOT and MC number), a certificate of insurance, a signed W-9, a signed broker-carrier agreement, a notice of assignment if the carrier factors, bank details, contacts and the safety rating. Check each against the FMCSA record or the insurer, never only the copy sent.
In more detail: the packet is only as good as the checks behind it. A clean PDF from the carrier proves nothing on its own. For each item:
In Europe the same job is done with the EU Community licence, CMR liability insurance and a VAT check in VIES.
Below: the documents, how to verify each one, expiry tracking, the EU and UK version and a free one-page printable checklist.
These are the items brokers collect from a new US carrier before the first load. The last column tells you which ones expire, because those are the ones that cause trouble six months later.
| # | Document | What it proves | What to look at | Expires? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Operating authority (USDOT and MC number) | The carrier may haul regulated freight for hire across state lines. | Status is active, authority type is carrier (for-hire property), not broker-only. Legal name, address and phone. How long the authority has been active. | No, but it can be revoked or go inactive at any time. |
| 2 | Certificate of insurance (COI) | Auto liability and cargo cover are in place. | Named insured matches the legal name. Policy numbers, limits, start and end dates, insurer and agent contacts. Your company named as certificate holder. | Yes, at each policy end date. |
| 3 | W-9 | The legal name and taxpayer ID number for your tax records. | Signed and dated. Name and tax ID match the authority and the insurance. | No, but get a new one when the name, tax ID or address changes. |
| 4 | Broker-carrier agreement | The terms every load runs under. | Signed by someone who can sign for the carrier. Payment terms, cargo liability, a ban on re-brokering, indemnity, insurance requirements. | Per its own term; most run until cancelled. |
| 5 | Notice of assignment (NOA), if the carrier factors | You must pay the factoring company, not the carrier. | Carrier name and numbers, factoring company name and remittance details, signed by both. If the carrier changes factor, ask for a letter of release from the old one. | Until a letter of release is received. |
| 6 | Bank details | Where to pay a carrier that does not factor. | Voided check or a bank letter in the carrier's legal name. | No, but every change must be confirmed by phone. |
| 7 | Contacts | Who to call for dispatch, accounts and after hours. | Names, phones and emails. The email domain and phone should match the official record or the carrier's own website. | Review yearly. |
| 8 | Safety rating | FMCSA's last safety fitness rating, if any. | Satisfactory, Conditional, Unsatisfactory or not rated. New carriers are often not rated yet. Decide in writing what you do with Conditional and unrated carriers. | Changes after an FMCSA review; re-check at booking. |
Many brokers also ask for an equipment list, the truck and trailer VINs listed on the insurance, and references. These help, but they do not replace the eight items above. FMCSA has proposed ending MC numbers and using the USDOT number as the single identifier. That change needs a rulemaking and has not taken effect, so record both numbers and check that they belong to the same company.
Every check has one rule: confirm it with the source, not with the carrier. Save a dated screenshot or note of each check in the carrier file.
| Item | Verify against | How | Stop if |
|---|---|---|---|
| Authority | FMCSA record (SAFER company snapshot and the licensing and insurance record) | Search by USDOT number. Compare legal name, address, phone and email with the packet. Check that the liability insurance filing shows as active. | Authority inactive, broker-only, recently reinstated with changed contacts, or name and numbers do not match. |
| Insurance | The insurer or agent | Look up the agent's phone on the insurer's own website or a previous record, not the COI. Ask them to confirm the policy is active, the limits and the end date. | Agent cannot confirm, cancellation pending, named insured differs, limits below your agreement. |
| W-9 | FMCSA record and the COI | Legal name on the W-9 must equal the name on the authority and the insurance. | A different company name on any of the three. |
| Agreement | Your own template | Use your agreement, not the carrier's. Check every page is signed and the signer's name and title are filled in. | Carrier strikes out the no re-brokering or insurance clauses. |
| Notice of assignment | The factoring company | Call the factor on the number on its own website. Confirm the carrier is a client and the remittance details. | The factor does not know the carrier, or remittance details differ. |
| Bank details | The carrier, by phone on a known number | Call the phone number on the FMCSA record. Read back the last digits of the account; do not ask them to read it to you. | Request to change bank details by email, or urgency to pay to a new account. |
| Contacts | FMCSA record, carrier website | Match phone, email domain and address. A free webmail address on an established company is a warning sign. | Contacts changed recently and do not match the record. |
| Safety rating | FMCSA record | Read the rating and the out-of-service figures on the snapshot. | Unsatisfactory rating or out-of-service order. |
One mismatch can be harmless (a company moved office). Two or more mismatches together are a reason to stop and call the number on the official record before giving the load.
The packet is not done once it is filed. Insurance lapses and authorities get revoked between loads. Put each date in one register, with one person who owns it.
| Item | Date to record | When to act | What happens if it lapses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Insurance (US) or CMR insurance (EU) | Policy end date | Ask for the renewal certificate 30 days before; confirm with the insurer. | Carrier blocked for new loads until a new certificate is confirmed. |
| Operating authority | Date last checked | Re-check on the FMCSA record when booking each load, or at least on a fixed weekly or monthly date for regular carriers. | Carrier blocked immediately. |
| Community licence or operator licence | Licence end date | Ask for the renewed copy before the end date. | Carrier blocked for international loads. |
| VAT number (EU) | Date of last VIES check | Re-check yearly and before the first invoice from a new carrier. | Hold payment until the number is valid. |
| Agreement | Term end, if any | Renew or re-sign when terms or rates change. | Loads run on the last signed terms; check with your lawyer. |
| Notice of assignment and bank details | Date confirmed | Re-confirm by phone on every change request. | Hold payment until confirmed. |
| Whole carrier file | Annual review date | Once a year: renew documents, note claims, delays and complaints, decide keep or stop. | Carrier marked for review. |
The 30-day warning is a working habit, not a legal rule. Pick a period that gives your team time to chase.
European forwarders call it the carrier file or subcontractor file. The logic is the same; the documents differ.
| US packet item | EU equivalent | UK equivalent | Where to check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating authority | EU Community licence for international road haulage (certified copy). Domestic: the national transport licence. | Standard international operator licence | The issuing authority or the national register of road transport undertakings |
| Certificate of insurance | CMR carrier liability insurance certificate: limit, territories, policy dates, exclusions such as theft from unattended vehicles | Same (goods in transit or CMR liability cover) | The insurer or broker |
| W-9 | VAT number checked in VIES, plus a company register extract | VAT number checked with HMRC, plus Companies House record | VIES; HMRC VAT number check |
| Broker-carrier agreement | Framework agreement and rate sheet, plus a transport order per load. CMR terms apply to international road carriage. Ban on subcontracting without written consent. | Same | Your own template |
| Notice of assignment | Factoring assignment notice (less common, but used) | Same | The factoring company, by phone |
| Bank details and contacts | IBAN in the company's name, confirmed by phone | Account and sort code, confirmed by phone | A number you already had |
| Safety rating | No single public rating. Ask for the transport manager's certificate of professional competence and check your own claims history. | Operator licence status and conditions | Licence authority |
The CMR Convention does not itself require carriers to insure; your agreement does. Ask for a cover limit that fits your loads, and remember that CMR liability is capped by weight, so high-value goods may need extra cover.
Copy this into your own file, or download the free one-page PDF. Tick a line only when it is checked against the source.
Everything behind this checklist as editable files: the onboarding checklist, the carrier information form you send out, a carrier register in Excel that warns 30 days before insurance or documents expire, a carrier agreement and rate sheet, and the first-load and annual review. EU and US versions.
Get the carrier onboarding kit
€49 (about $55) per kit, one-time. EU and US versions. Any 3 kits €99, all 6 kits €199. 14-day money-back guarantee.
The set of documents a freight broker collects from a new carrier before its first load: operating authority, certificate of insurance, W-9, signed broker-carrier agreement, notice of assignment if the carrier factors, bank details, contacts and safety rating.
The federal minimum auto liability for for-hire interstate general freight carriers with vehicles of 10,001 lb or more is $750,000 (49 CFR 387.9). Cargo cover has no federal minimum for general freight, so your broker-carrier agreement or your customer sets it.
Call the insurance agent on a number you looked up yourself, not the one printed on the certificate, and confirm the policy is active, the limits and the end date. Also check that the liability filing shows as active on the FMCSA record.
You receive a notice of assignment and must pay the factoring company instead of the carrier. Confirm it with the factor by phone, and if the carrier later switches factor, ask for a letter of release from the old one before changing the payee.
Yes, for now. FMCSA has proposed ending MC numbers and making the USDOT number the single identifier, but that needs a rulemaking and has not taken effect. Record both numbers and check that they belong to the same company.
The carrier or subcontractor file: an EU Community licence (or national licence for domestic work), a CMR liability insurance certificate, a VAT number checked in VIES, a company register extract, a signed framework agreement and bank details confirmed by phone.
Insurance at every policy end date, authority whenever you book a load or on a fixed schedule, bank details on every change request, and the whole file at least once a year.
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