Freight & Carrier Data Glossary
Key terms used in carrier vetting, insurance underwriting, freight brokerage, and FMCSA compliance — defined clearly and linked to relevant CarrierOk features.
BASIC Percentile
A 0-100 peer-relative safety score across seven FMCSA categories: Unsafe Driving, HOS, Vehicle Maintenance, Controlled Substances, Driver Fitness, Hazmat, and Crash Indicator. Higher is worse. CarrierOk computes all 7 BASICs including the two FMCSA withholds from public view.
Bill of Lading (BOL)
The core freight document that serves three functions at once: receipt for the goods, contract of carriage, and (in negotiable form) document of title. The BOL determines who is liable in a cargo claim and is the key evidence in fraud disputes — the carrier named on it is often not the carrier that hauled the load.
BIPD (Bodily Injury & Property Damage)
The primary liability insurance every interstate motor carrier must file with FMCSA. Minimum coverage ranges from $750,000 for general freight to $5,000,000 for certain hazmat. CarrierOk shows current BIPD coverage amounts, insurer names, policy numbers, and effective dates via API.
BOC-3 (Blanket of Coverage)
A form filed with FMCSA designating process agents in every state where a motor carrier operates. Process agents accept legal documents on behalf of the carrier. A valid BOC-3 is required before FMCSA activates operating authority. CarrierOk includes BOC-3 agent details in carrier profiles.
Broker Bond (BMC-84 / BMC-85)
The $75,000 surety bond or trust fund every property broker must maintain on file with FMCSA as a condition of broker authority, raised from $10,000 by MAP-21. It compensates carriers and shippers when a broker fails to pay. A cancelled bond filing revokes broker authority and is a classic precursor to broker default.
Cargo Insurance
Insurance that protects the value of goods in transit against damage, theft, or loss. Unlike BIPD (which covers third-party liability), cargo insurance covers the freight itself. FMCSA requires minimum cargo coverage for certain authority types. CarrierOk reports cargo insurance amounts and insurer details via API.
Carrier Identity Theft
Fraudsters impersonating a legitimate carrier's MC/DOT identity — using its name, numbers, and forged documents — to book loads they then steal or double-broker. The defense is verifying that the contact info you're dealing with matches FMCSA-registered records. CarrierOk serves registered phone, address, and legal-name data Updated throughout the day.
CDL (Commercial Driver's License)
A license required to operate commercial motor vehicles in the United States, classified as Class A (combination vehicles over 26,001 lbs), Class B (single vehicles over 26,001 lbs), or Class C (hazmat/passenger). CarrierOk reports total CDL drivers per carrier as a fleet composition signal.
Chameleon Carrier
A motor carrier shut down for safety violations that re-registers under a new DOT number to evade its enforcement history. Chameleon carriers carry forward identical operational risk with a clean record. CarrierOk detects chameleon patterns by analyzing shared addresses, phones, principals, and EINs across every registrant in the dataset.
Crash Indicator BASIC
The SMS category that scores a carrier's crash history from state-reported crash data, weighted by severity and recency, over a 24-month window. FMCSA withholds it from public SMS view — CarrierOk computes it in-house and serves it via API alongside the other six BASICs.
CSA (Compliance, Safety, Accountability)
FMCSA's enforcement and compliance program that uses the Safety Measurement System to identify and prioritize high-risk motor carriers for intervention. CSA drives BASIC percentile scores, warning letters, and compliance reviews. CarrierOk provides all 7 BASIC percentiles, alert flags, and historical trend data via API.
CVSA (Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance)
The nonprofit alliance of US, Canadian, and Mexican enforcement agencies that sets North American roadside inspection standards, including the eight inspection levels and out-of-service criteria. CVSA-standard inspection results feed directly into the SMS data CarrierOk indexes for every registered carrier.
DataQs
FMCSA's online system for challenging incorrect inspection, crash, and registration data through Requests for Data Review (RDRs). A successful RDR removes or corrects the record and recalculates the carrier's SMS scores. CarrierOk reflects post-DataQs corrections as they flow through FMCSA's data releases.
Deadhead
Miles a truck runs empty — usually repositioning from a delivery to the next pickup — earning no revenue while burning fuel, driver hours, and equipment life. High deadhead percentage is a core indicator of weak lane density and financial pressure on a carrier.
Detention
Time a driver spends waiting at a shipper or receiver beyond the contractual free time — customarily two hours — before loading or unloading is complete. Detention burns paid hours-of-service time without revenue, drives detention-pay disputes, and is a chronic operational-stress signal for carriers running thin margins.
DOT Inspection
A roadside examination of a commercial vehicle, its driver, or both, conducted to CVSA standards by state and federal enforcement. Every inspection's violations and out-of-service results flow into FMCSA's SMS, where they drive the BASIC percentiles and OOS rates CarrierOk serves for every registered carrier.
DOT Number (USDOT Number)
A unique identifier assigned by the U.S. Department of Transportation to every motor carrier, broker, and freight forwarder in interstate commerce. The DOT number is the primary key for looking up safety records, insurance, and authority in FMCSA databases. CarrierOk indexes every DOT number on the federal register.
Double Brokering
The illegal practice of a broker or carrier re-brokering a load to another carrier without the shipper's knowledge or consent. Double brokering creates insurance gaps, liability exposure, and fraud risk. CarrierOk's risk signals and authority-type checks help identify carriers associated with double-brokering patterns.
ELD (Electronic Logging Device)
A device installed in commercial motor vehicles that automatically records driving time and hours of service. ELDs replaced paper logbooks and are mandated by FMCSA for most interstate carriers since December 2019. HOS violations captured by ELDs feed directly into a carrier's BASIC percentile scores tracked by CarrierOk.
FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration)
The federal agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates the trucking and bus industries. FMCSA issues operating authority, sets safety standards, and maintains the databases — SAFER, SMS, MCMIS, L&I — that CarrierOk re-indexes the moment they publish updates, to power its carrier intelligence platform.
For-Hire vs. Private Carrier
A for-hire carrier transports other parties' freight for compensation and needs FMCSA operating authority to do so interstate. A private carrier hauls only its own company's goods and needs a DOT number but no authority. Absent authority on a private carrier's profile means 'not required' — treating it as a red flag is a classic vetting false positive.
Freight Factoring
A financing arrangement where carriers sell their freight invoices to a factoring company at a discount for immediate cash instead of waiting 30-90 days for broker payment. Factors carry the carrier's credit and fraud risk, so they vet authority status, revocation history, and viability before buying receivables. CarrierOk delivers same-day authority change alerts for monitored portfolios.
Freight Forwarder
An FMCSA-registered entity that consolidates shipments, takes possession of freight, issues its own bill of lading, and assumes carrier-level responsibility for the move — unlike a broker, which arranges transport but never touches the freight. Forwarders carry FF authority and must file both liability and cargo insurance.
Freight Fraud
The umbrella term for schemes that exploit the freight system to steal cargo or payment — double brokering, carrier identity theft, fictitious pickups, and chameleon carriers. Freight fraud is the systemic problem carrier vetting exists to solve. CarrierOk surfaces 50+ risk signals across every FMCSA-registered entity to flag fraud patterns before a load is tendered.
HOS (Hours of Service)
Federal regulations limiting commercial driver operating hours to prevent fatigue-related crashes. Key limits include 11 hours driving, 14 hours on-duty, and mandatory 30-minute breaks. HOS violations are one of the 7 BASIC categories tracked in CarrierOk's BASIC percentile data.
IFTA (International Fuel Tax Agreement)
A compact among the lower 48 US states and 10 Canadian provinces that lets interstate carriers report and pay fuel taxes to all member jurisdictions through a single quarterly return filed with their base state. One license and one set of decals replaces per-state fuel permits.
Interstate vs. Intrastate Operation
The jurisdictional line that determines whether a carrier needs federal operating authority and FMCSA insurance filings. Interstate commerce — crossing state lines, or hauling freight that does — triggers federal requirements; intrastate-only carriers answer to their state instead. Vetting logic that demands federal authority from every carrier flags legitimate intrastate operators as failures.
ISS Score (Inspection Selection System)
FMCSA's composite 1-100 algorithm for prioritizing carriers at roadside inspections. Higher scores mean higher inspection probability. The insurance industry widely uses ISS as a single-number risk indicator because it synthesizes multiple BASIC dimensions. CarrierOk serves ISS scores via the iss_value API field.
Load Board
An online marketplace where brokers post available loads and carriers search for freight — the spot market's central matching mechanism. Load boards are also the front line where unvetted carriers and fraud enter the supply chain. CarrierOk vetting turns a load-board match into a verified counterparty before the rate confirmation goes out.
MC Number (Motor Carrier Number)
A docket number assigned by FMCSA to for-hire carriers and brokers when they register for operating authority. Unlike DOT numbers (required for all interstate CMV operators), MC numbers are specific to for-hire and brokerage operations. CarrierOk supports lookup by MC number, DOT number, or legal name.
MCS-150 (Motor Carrier Identification Report)
A biennial update form that motor carriers must file with FMCSA reporting fleet size, driver count, mileage, cargo types, and contact info. An MCS-150 older than 2 years is a compliance red flag. CarrierOk tracks MCS-150 filing dates and flags stale filings as a risk signal.
MCS-90 Endorsement
An endorsement attached to a motor carrier's liability policy guaranteeing that the insurer will pay a final judgment for public liability up to FMCSA's required minimums — typically $750,000 for general freight — even if the policy wouldn't otherwise cover the loss. It protects the public, not the carrier.
New Entrant
A motor carrier registered with FMCSA for less than 18 months, subject to a New Entrant Safety Audit. New entrants have limited inspection history, making traditional risk scoring unreliable. CarrierOk flags new entrants in risk_signals and provides a New Registrants feed for discovering newly authorized carriers.
Nuclear Verdict
A jury award in a trucking accident lawsuit that dramatically exceeds compensatory damages, often surpassing $10 million. Nuclear verdicts have reshaped trucking insurance economics, with average verdicts above $20 million. Courts increasingly hold brokers and shippers liable for negligent carrier selection — making data-driven vetting with tools like CarrierOk essential.
OOS Rate (Out-of-Service Rate)
The percentage of a carrier's roadside inspections that result in an out-of-service order, meaning the driver or vehicle is prohibited from operating until the violation is corrected. National average vehicle OOS rate is approximately 21%. CarrierOk provides both driver and vehicle OOS rates and flags carriers exceeding national averages.
Out-of-Service Order
A federal or state directive that immediately shuts down a carrier's entire operation, or sidelines a specific vehicle or driver, until violations are corrected. Distinct from the out-of-service rate, which is an inspection statistic. Operating under an OOS order is a serious federal violation and one of the strongest disqualifiers in carrier vetting.
Power Units
The industry-standard measure of fleet size, counting only vehicles with an engine — trucks and tractors, not trailers. When someone says a carrier has 50 trucks, they mean 50 power units. CarrierOk reports power units separately from trailers via the total_power_units field, sourced from MCS-150 filings.
Process Agent (BOC-3 Agent)
A person or company designated to receive legal papers — lawsuits, court orders — on behalf of a carrier, broker, or freight forwarder in each state where it operates. Designations are filed with FMCSA on Form BOC-3, and authority cannot activate without one. The named agent is also a useful entity-resolution signal in fraud screening.
PSP (Pre-Employment Screening Program)
An FMCSA program that gives motor carriers a driver's individual 5-year crash history and 3-year roadside inspection history for hiring decisions. PSP is driver-level data, distinct from the carrier-level SMS scores that CarrierOk computes and serves.
Reincarnated Carrier
A motor carrier that shut down — voluntarily or under FMCSA enforcement — and re-registered under a new DOT number to escape its safety record, debts, or insurance history. Detection depends on linking the new entity to the old one through shared identity markers. CarrierOk's network graph connects entities via shared address, EIN, email, phone, and DUNS links.
SAFER (Safety and Fitness Electronic Records)
FMCSA's public-facing website for looking up motor carrier safety information, including operating status, authority, and limited inspection data. SAFER does not compute BASIC percentiles, does not serve ISS scores, and updates less frequently. CarrierOk replaces manual SAFER lookups with a comprehensive, API-accessible carrier intelligence platform.
Safety Rating
A rating assigned by FMCSA after a compliance review: Satisfactory, Conditional, or Unsatisfactory. An Unsatisfactory rating can trigger an out-of-service order. However, most carriers have never been reviewed and carry no rating — absence of a rating does not indicate safety. CarrierOk includes safety rating status in carrier profiles.
SMS (Safety Measurement System)
FMCSA's quantitative system for measuring motor carrier safety performance using inspection, crash, and investigation data. SMS produces the BASIC percentile scores that underpin the CSA enforcement program. CarrierOk computes all 7 BASIC percentiles from SMS source data and updates more frequently than FMCSA's monthly cycle.
UCR (Unified Carrier Registration)
An annual, state-administered fee program that interstate motor carriers, brokers, freight forwarders, and leasing companies must pay to fund state safety enforcement. Fees are set in brackets based on fleet size and change year to year. Lapsed UCR is a common roadside enforcement trigger and an early signal of administrative neglect.
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