Motor Carrier Lookup API

About the Motor Carrier Lookup API

A motor carrier API for freight brokers, shippers, factoring companies and insurers who need to vet a carrier before they book or fund a load. Look up any of the 4.5 million entities in the FMCSA Company Census by USDOT number, or by MC, MX or FF docket number, and get back one record that joins the census with the carrier's licensing and insurance filings and its out-of-service orders.

Every plan returns the legal and DBA name, USDOT status, entity types (carrier, broker, shipper, freight forwarder), interstate or intrastate operation, operation classifications, business type, registration date, physical and mailing addresses, dockets, power units, trucks, buses and drivers with a fleet size band, hazmat flag, MCS-150 date and age, safety rating and review, active out-of-service orders, common, contract and broker authority status with pending applications and revocations, the date authority was first granted and its age in days, and the BI&PD, cargo and bond insurance required and on file, with any pending cancellation.

Paid plans add the business phone, fax and email, Dun & Bradstreet number, MCS-150 mileage, recordable crash rate, cargo classes, equipment owned and leased, each insurance policy (insurer, policy number, coverage, effective and cancellation dates), `history=true` for authority actions and revocations, and `checks=true` for plain pass/fail compliance checks: USDOT active, authority active, no revocation pending, not out of service, BI&PD and cargo coverage at or above your thresholds, no pending cancellation, MCS-150 updated recently, authority age and safety rating. Officer names and personal cell phone numbers are never returned. The data is refreshed from FMCSA's public datasets every few days.

How it works

Pass dot (USDOT number), docket (MC, MX or FF with digits, in any format such as MC-135797 or mc 0135797) or mc (digits of an MC number). A docket is resolved to its USDOT number through FMCSA's licensing file, and every docket the census lists for the carrier is joined in. No record returns 404; an entity can exist in licensing without a census record, in which case the census fields are null.

The record joins six FMCSA datasets published on data.transportation.gov: the Company Census File (identity, operation, fleet, drivers, MCS-150, safety rating, cargo and equipment), the Carrier file (common, contract and broker authority status, pending applications and revocations, BI&PD required and on file, cargo and bond requirements), ActPendInsur (active and pending insurance policies; coverage is published in thousands of dollars and converted), AuthHist (authority actions, which date the first grant behind authority.firstGrantedDate and authorityAgeDays), Revocation, and Out of Service Orders (only active orders). Authority is reported as active when any of the carrier's dockets has it active; insurance is that of the primary docket. Officer names and cell phone numbers are never collected.

checks=true adds compliance: usdot_active, operating_authority_active, no_revocation_pending, not_out_of_service, bipd_insurance (BI&PD on file at least minBipd, default 750000), cargo_insurance (highest cargo policy at least minCargo, skipped at the default 0), no_pending_cancellation, mcs150_current (within maxMcs150Months, default 24), authority_age (at least minAuthorityDays, default 0) and safety_rating_not_unsatisfactory. passed is true only when every check passes and failed lists the rest. fleet.sizeBand is our band of power units, and mcs150.ageDays and authority.authorityAgeDays are computed at request time.

What people use it for

Freight Brokers

Vet a carrier before booking a load: active authority, insurance on file, no out-of-service order and a recent MCS-150, in one call.

Load Boards and TMS

Verify carriers at signup and re-check them on a schedule, flagging pending insurance cancellations and revocations.

Factoring and Lending

Check how long a carrier has held authority, its fleet size and its safety record before funding invoices.

Insurance Underwriting

Pull fleet, driver, mileage, cargo and crash-rate data to pre-fill and price commercial auto quotes.

Ways to call it

One endpoint, many ways in — REST with JSON, XML, YAML and CSV, plus GraphQL and an MCP interface for AI agents.

JSON

Default REST response

XML

Markup format

YAML

Human-readable

CSV

Tabular export

Beta

GraphQL

Query language

New

MCP

For AI agents

Request parameters — GET /v1/motorcarrierlookup

Sent in the query string. Premium parameters are accepted on every plan but only take effect on plans that include them. Anything not listed here is dropped rather than passed through.

Optional

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curl "https://api.apiverve.com/v1/motorcarrierlookup?dot=80806&docket=MC135797&mc=135797&checks=true&history=true&minBipd=750000&minCargo=100000&maxMcs150Months=24&minAuthorityDays=90" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Authentication

Send your key in the x-api-key header. That is the only auth step — no token exchange, and no per-endpoint scope to configure.

Response — GET /v1/motorcarrierlookup

Every APIVerve endpoint returns the same three top-level keys, so one response handler covers your whole integration: status, error and data. Only data changes shape.

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{
  "status": "ok",
  "error": null,
  "data": {
    "dotNumber": 80806,
    "legalName": "J B HUNT TRANSPORT INC",
    "dbaName": "J B HUNT",
    "status": "active",
    "entityTypes": [
      "freight_forwarder",
      "carrier",
      "shipper",
      "broker"
    ],
    "operation": "interstate",
    "operationClassifications": [
      "AUTHORIZED FOR HIRE"
    ],
    "businessType": "corporation",
    "registrationDate": "1974-06-01",
    "physicalAddress": {
      "street": "615 J B HUNT CORPORATE DRIVE",
      "city": "LOWELL",
      "state": "AR",
      "zip": "72745",
      "country": "US"
    },
    "mailingAddress": {
      "street": "615 J B HUNT CORPORATE DRIVE",
      "city": "LOWELL",
      "state": "AR",
      "zip": "72745",
      "country": "US"
    },
    "phone": "4798200000",
    "fax": "4798204566",
    "email": "lee.sarratt@jbhunt.com",
    "dockets": [
      {
        "docket": "MC135797",
        "prefix": "MC",
        "status": "active"
      },
      {
        "docket": "FF051075",
        "prefix": "FF",
        "status": "active"
      }
    ],
    "fleet": {
      "powerUnits": 25280,
      "trucks": 25280,
      "buses": 0,
      "drivers": 24116,
      "cdlDrivers": 23669,
      "interstateDrivers": 24116,
      "intrastateDrivers": 0,
      "sizeBand": "1000+"
    },
    "hazmat": true,
    "mcs150": {
      "date": "2025-07-07",
      "ageDays": 495,
      "mileage": 1629835251,
      "mileageYear": 2024
    },
    "safety": {
      "rating": "satisfactory",
      "ratingDate": "1992-05-08",
      "reviewType": "compliance_review",
      "reviewDate": "1992-01-31",
      "recordableCrashRate": null
    },
    "outOfService": false,
    "outOfServiceOrders": [],
    "cargoClasses": [
      "General Freight",
      "Metal: Sheets, Coils, Rolls",
      "Motor Vehicles",
      "Logs, Poles, Beams, Lumber",
      "Building Materials",
      "Fresh Produce",
      "Liquids/Gases",
      "Intermodal Containers",
      "Oilfield Equipment",
      "Livestock",
      "Grain, Feed, Hay",
      "Meat",
      "US Mail",
      "Chemicals",
      "Commodities Dry Bulk",
      "Refrigerated Food",
      "Beverages",
      "Paper Products",
      "Agricultural/Farm Supplies",
      "Construction",
      "Other: IEP"
    ],
    "equipment": {
      "straightTrucks": {
        "owned": 874,
        "termLeased": 415,
        "tripLeased": 0
      },
      "tractors": {
        "owned": 20871,
        "termLeased": 3120,
        "tripLeased": 0
      },
      "trailers": {
        "owned": 146851,
        "termLeased": 5330,
        "tripLeased": 0
      }
    },
    "dunsNumber": "6338552",
    "priorRevocation": null,
    "authority": {
      "common": "active",
      "contract": "active",
      "broker": "active",
      "applicationPending": {
        "common": false,
        "contract": false,
        "broker": false
      },
      "revocationPending": {
        "common": false,
        "contract": false,
        "broker": false
      },
      "authorizedFor": {
        "property": true,
        "passengers": false,
        "householdGoods": true,
        "private": false,
        "enterprise": false
      },
      "firstGrantedDate": "1976-12-06",
      "authorityAgeDays": 18240
    },
    "insurance": {
      "bipdRequiredUsd": 1000000,
      "bipdOnFileUsd": 3500000,
      "cargoRequired": true,
      "cargoOnFile": true,
      "cargoCoverageUsd": null,
      "bondRequired": true,
      "bondOnFile": true,
      "pendingCancellation": false,
      "nextCancellationDate": null,
      "policies": [
        {
          "type": "BIPD/Excess",
          "form": "91X",
          "insurer": "ACE AMERICAN INSURANCE COMPANY",
          "policyNumber": "XSAH11347472",
          "postedDate": "2026-04-21",
          "effectiveDate": "2025-12-31",
          "cancellationDate": null,
          "coverageUsd": 2500000,
          "underlyingLimitUsd": 500000
        },
        {
          "type": "CARGO",
          "form": "83",
          "insurer": "TRAVELERS CASUALTY &  SURETY  CO. OF AMERICA",
          "policyNumber": "105917743",
          "postedDate": "2023-10-23",
          "effectiveDate": "2023-10-23",
          "cancellationDate": null,
          "coverageUsd": 0,
          "underlyingLimitUsd": 0
        },
        {
          "type": "SURETY",
          "form": "84",
          "insurer": "TRAVELERS CASUALTY &  SURETY  CO. OF AMERICA",
          "policyNumber": "105917743",
          "postedDate": "2013-12-31",
          "effectiveDate": "2014-01-13",
          "cancellationDate": null,
          "coverageUsd": 0,
          "underlyingLimitUsd": 0
        },
        {
          "type": "BIPD/Primary",
          "form": "91X",
          "insurer": "SELF-INSURED",
          "policyNumber": "NONE",
          "postedDate": "2019-07-15",
          "effectiveDate": "1993-03-01",
          "cancellationDate": null,
          "coverageUsd": 1000000,
          "underlyingLimitUsd": 0
        }
      ]
    },
    "dataAsOf": {
      "census": "2026-11-14T07:58:48.003Z",
      "licensing": "2026-11-14T07:58:48.003Z",
      "outOfService": "2026-11-14T07:58:54.373Z"
    }
  }
}

Response fields

Paths are relative to data. Premium fields are absent rather than zeroed on plans that do not include them, so check for presence instead of comparing to 0.

Response headers

Every response carries your balance, so your own code always knows where it stands without polling anything. All four are exposed to browsers through CORS.

Errors

Read the HTTP status first, then error for the specific reason. The body names the parameter that has to change.

What a call costs — 1 credits per call

Credits are shared across every APIVerve API — one balance, one key, one bill. Failed requests never count against it, so a rejected input costs nothing.

Calls are what the credits buy at this API's rate — spend them here, on any of the other APIs, or across both. Nothing is reserved per endpoint.

Zero-code embed — one snippet, no backend

Drop an interactive Motor Carrier Lookup form onto any page. The widget calls the API for you, so no key ever appears in your markup and there is nothing to deploy.

Changelog — Motor Carrier Lookup API

Every change to this endpoint, newest first. Breaking changes ship as a new version and the previous one keeps serving — response fields are added, never removed or retyped in place, so an integration written against v1 keeps working.

Currently v1