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Carrier vetting
Carrier vetting is the check, before a truck is booked, that the carrier's authority is active, the insurance fits the load, and the company you are talking to is the company on the record.
Last updated 11 October 2026.
The order matters. Authority first: the carrier can legally haul this freight, and inactive authority ends the call. Insurance next: the coverage fits what you are about to put on the truck. Then the truck itself. A dry van does not cover a reefer load. Then identity: the MC, the legal name, and the phone number belong to the same company. Only then is a rate worth discussing.
It is not a packet in a drawer, and it is not a public lookup you might open. The packet is the setup. A census snapshot is not a safety rating. The check that protects the load is the one that runs on this cover, before the rate, every time. A carrier who was fine last month can be inactive today.
Identity is the step desks skip when they are busy. The person on the phone can have a real MC and still not be that carrier. A number that does not match the record gets a call back on the number of record. A new driver phone number does not get changed because a stranger asked.
FreightScout runs that check inside Cover, then writes the booked carrier and the rate after you approve the booking. Booking runs supervised by default, and a broker can switch that to autopilot for a team or for one action. The carrier vetting page.
Questions people actually ask
What order should a carrier check run in?
Active authority, then insurance that fits the freight, then a truck that matches the load, then an identity that matches the record. The rate conversation comes after those, not before.
Is a public carrier lookup the vetting check?
No. A public lookup is a registration snapshot. It is not a safety rating. FreightScout still vets authority and insurance inside Cover before booking.