Free DOT number lookup

It's the unique identifier FMCSA assigns to a carrier and uses to collect and monitor its safety information across roadside inspections, crashes, audits, and compliance reviews. When you pull a carrier's inspection and crash history, it all hangs off this one number.

Generally, any company running a commercial vehicle in interstate commerce that weighs 10,001 pounds or more, carries enough passengers, or hauls placardable quantities of hazardous materials. Many states also require one for intrastate carriers.

No. A USDOT number stays with the same company for life, through name, address, and ownership-detail changes, and it can't be transferred to another entity. That permanence is part of what makes it useful for vetting: operating authority (an MC number) can change hands, but the USDOT number can't.

A USDOT number identifies the carrier; an MC number is for-hire operating authority. Many carriers have a USDOT number and no MC number. For the full breakdown, see USDOT number vs MC number, or run a free MC number lookup.

Some states issue their own DOT or intrastate number to carriers that operate only within that state. It's separate from the federal USDOT number, and a state number won't resolve in the national FMCSA record. For interstate vetting, you want the federal USDOT number.

No. FMCSA's new Motus registration system continues to use the USDOT number as the single unique identifier for all regulated entities. The way carriers register is changing; the USDOT number itself is not. More in USDOT vs MC, and what Motus changes.

From that single number, fleetfax assembles the carrier's full profile: who they are and what authority they hold, insurance on file, safety against same-size peers, the inspection and crash record, the fleet it actually runs, and where it operates. Enter a number above to run one.