Free DOT number lookup
and carrier search.

A USDOT number is the identifier FMCSA assigns to a motor carrier when it registers, and it is the key every federal record about that carrier is filed under: the census entry, the insurance filings, the safety data and the crash file. How you look one up depends on what you start with. For the routes that need no search at all, such as reading it off the truck door or from paperwork, see how to look up a DOT number.

• Start with the company name. Type the legal name or the DBA into the search at the top of this page. Three characters is enough. Every match shows the USDOT number, the MC docket, home state, fleet size and whether BI/PD insurance is on file, biggest fleets first.
• Start with the number. If you already have the USDOT number and want the record behind it, paste it into the company snapshot for the full census entry, the USDOT insurance lookup for operating authority and insurance filings, or the X-date lookup for the renewal date.
• Start with the truck. Federal marking rules (49 CFR 390.21) require the USDOT number on both sides of every self-propelled commercial vehicle a carrier operates, so it is usually painted on the cab doors under the company name. It also appears on the carrier’s MCS-150 registration form.

The name on the door isn’t the name on file. FMCSA registration runs on legal entity names, but the industry runs on brands and DBAs, so the search covers both, matches anywhere in the name, and puts the biggest fleets first. That is why the carrier you actually mean is usually the top row.

Each result row shows:

• The USDOT number, click to copy.
• The legal name and the DBA, where the carrier has one.
• USDOT status: Active or Inactive.
• City and state of domicile.
• Power units on file.
• The MC docket, where one exists.
• Whether BI/PD insurance is currently on file.

From any row, one click opens the deeper lookups with the number filled in: the estimated X-date, the full authority and insurance record, or the safety profile. Anonymous visitors get 5 searches a day; a work email lifts that to 25, with no account to create.

• USDOT number. Issued by FMCSA to identify the carrier for registration, safety and compliance. Every carrier operating commercial motor vehicles in interstate commerce needs one, and many states require it for intrastate operation too. It is the number every federal file is joined on, and the one this search returns.
• MC number. The number a for-hire carrier’s operating authority is filed under. A carrier moving regulated commodities for hire across state lines needs operating authority on top of its USDOT registration; private carriers hauling their own goods and carriers of exempt commodities do not, so they have a USDOT number and no MC number at all. Brokers and freight forwarders hold MC and FF authority with no trucks.
• Docket number. The general term for the MC number. FMCSA files operating authority on dockets with an MC, FF or MX prefix: MC for motor carriers and brokers, FF for freight forwarders, MX for Mexico-domiciled carriers. One company can hold several dockets, but every docket maps to exactly one USDOT number.

Have the MC number instead of the name? The MC number lookup resolves it to the USDOT and pulls the authority and insurance record in one step.