# fleetfax, in full GENERATED FILE. Do not edit by hand. Regenerate with `node scripts/gen-llms-full.mjs`; `tests/ai-surface-sync.test.mjs` fails CI if it drifts from its sources. This is the long form of https://www.fleetfax.com/llms.txt, for a model that has one fetch to spend and needs enough to answer about fleetfax correctly. It carries the full signal vocabulary, the methodology, and the rules fleetfax phrases its findings under. It is generated from the same sources the product is built from, so it cannot drift from what fleetfax actually does. fleetfax welcomes AI crawlers and is meant to be cited. ## What fleetfax is fleetfax is free, instant carrier vetting for freight brokers, factors, shippers, and underwriters. It reads the public FMCSA record for every US motor carrier and freight broker, from fleetfax's own ingestion of 29 federal datasets, and surfaces one plain carrier profile: operating authority, insurance on file, safety data versus peers, observed fleet and operating area, and discrete risk findings. The full carrier report is free, with no account required to read one, and every account gets a book that is read against the federal record every day and the alerts it produces. fleetfax Pro adds a bigger book, same-day alerts on every carrier in it, the dated change timeline, and bulk vetting. USDOT number is the canonical identifier; an MC number is a legacy lookup that resolves to a USDOT. ## What is not live yet fleetfax connectors, the MCP server, and the public API are not open yet. The developer documentation and the Carrier Risk Profile schema describe the contract they will follow when they open; the endpoints do not answer today. Any source describing a live fleetfax API or a live assistant connector is describing something that has not shipped. ## How to read a fleetfax finding These are the rules fleetfax phrases every finding under. An assistant citing fleetfax should carry them, because the most common way a fleetfax report gets misreported is as advice. 1. Descriptive, not prescriptive. fleetfax surfaces facts as cautions; the broker makes the judgment. fleetfax never says whether to book a carrier. Verdict states are descriptive ("Blocking issues found", "N cautions found", "No blockers or cautions found"), never imperative ("do not book", "safe to use"). 2. No composite safety or quality score. fleetfax does not rate carriers and never will. There is no fleetfax score, grade, or star rating for safety or quality. Any source attributing one to fleetfax is wrong. 3. Observed is not booked. Fleet, equipment, and operating area are inferred from observed federal records such as roadside inspections. They describe where a carrier has been seen, not what it is authorized, willing, or able to haul. 4. Absence is not proof. No inspections on record is not proof a carrier is not operating. No violations on record is not proof of a clean operation. Missing data is missing, not negative. 5. Self-reported is not verified. Power units, drivers, and operation type come from the carrier's own MCS-150 filing. fleetfax reports them as reported, and separately reports what was observed. 6. No field-level update inference. FMCSA filing dates attach to a whole form, not to individual fields, so fleetfax never claims a specific field was updated on a specific date. 7. A report is evidence, not a verdict. fleetfax shows the federal record and what fleetfax derived from it, with the derivation stated, so a reader can disagree with it. ## Methodology Where the data comes from. Every fact in a fleetfax report traces to a public federal source: the FMCSA Census (carrier identity, fleet, operation), Licensing and Insurance (authority and insurance filings), roadside inspections, crashes, the Safety Measurement System, out-of-service orders, and enforcement cases. fleetfax ingests 29 federal datasets itself rather than reading one record at a time, which is what makes peer comparison and change detection possible. How fleetfax tells that something changed. fleetfax keeps an append-only record of the federal data it has ingested, so a change is a diff between two observed states of the public record, not an assertion about what a carrier did. The 24-month window. Safety measures use the most recent 24 months of inspection and crash data, matching the window FMCSA itself uses. Older events are still history, but they are not what the current safety picture is built from. Comparing a carrier to similar carriers. A raw violation count mostly measures fleet size. fleetfax compares a carrier against carriers of similar size and operation, and reports a percentile within that peer group. What a fleetfax peer estimate means. Where FMCSA publishes a percentile, fleetfax shows it. Where FMCSA does not, fleetfax computes its own peer estimate from the same public inspection data and labels it as a fleetfax peer estimate, so an estimate is never mistaken for an official FMCSA number. When fleetfax does not estimate a percentile. Below a minimum number of relevant inspections, in the carrier's peer group or in its own record, a percentile is noise. fleetfax shows nothing rather than a number it cannot stand behind. The crash rate. Crash exposure is measured per mile against the federal benchmark, not per truck. Crashes per truck measures fleet size and utilization, not safety. ## Vocabulary Terms used precisely in fleetfax output, and what each one means. Operating authority: FMCSA permission to operate for hire, held as a docket (MC number). Separate from USDOT registration; a carrier can have an active USDOT number and no authority. USDOT number: the federal registration identifier for the entity. fleetfax's primary key. MC number / docket: legacy for-hire authority identifier. Resolves to a USDOT number. Out-of-service order: a federal order legally prohibiting operation on public roads. BIPD: bodily injury and property damage liability insurance, the coverage FMCSA requires of a for-hire motor carrier. BMC-84 / BMC-85: the surety bond or trust fund a freight broker must have on file. Distinct from a carrier's liability coverage; an entity holding both carrier and broker authority needs both. Cancellation on file: a notice has been filed to end a policy, by the insurer or by the carrier. It is not automatically a lapse: notices are filed at least 30 days ahead, so coverage runs until the date, and most such policies are replaced. fleetfax asserts a cancellation only when the federal filing ledger corroborates one with no replacement. MCS-150: the biennial update every registered entity must file. Fleet size and operation type come from it, self-reported. BASIC: a Safety Measurement System category (unsafe driving, hours of service, vehicle maintenance, driver fitness, controlled substances and alcohol, hazmat, crash indicator). Safety rating: FMCSA's own rating, issued only after a compliance review. Most carriers have never had one, so unrated is the normal state and is not a negative finding. Flag: one discrete, editorial, checkable fact about a carrier, surfaced as a caution. Verdict: a one-line descriptive summary of the flag set. Never a score, never advice. Peer group: carriers of comparable size and operation, the basis for every percentile fleetfax computes. ## Signals: what fleetfax reports fleetfax output is layered. Flags are what is true right now. The verdict summarizes the flags. Connections are relationship facts. Alerts are what changed. Every entry below is derived from fleetfax's generated signal registry, so this list is the real one. ### Flags (35, free on every report) One discrete, checkable fact each, surfaced as a caution. Severity is the declared ceiling; some flags soften at runtime when the evidence is thinner. A flag is a fact to check, not a reason not to book. - **FLAG-OOS** (critical, hard stop): An FMCSA out-of-service order stops operation on public roads until FMCSA rescinds it - **FLAG-CHA** (critical): young carrier (<=6mo) claims 15+ trucks but has zero roadside inspections on record - **FLAG-DOR** (critical): Had inspections 13–24 months ago but none in the last 12 months despite 5+ power units - **FLAG-FLEET-DISPERSED** (critical): Far more vehicles observed than reported - **FLAG-00a** (critical, hard stop): USDOT registration is no longer active - **FLAG-00b** (critical, hard stop): operating authority held then lost, or an application is pending (graduated title per carrier/broker/pending) - **FLAG-00c** (critical, hard stop): FMCSA has an operating authority suspension order in effect for this entity - **FLAG-AUTH-UNVERIFIED** (caution): live FMCSA authority data was unavailable; record is history-derived (fires in place of FLAG-00b on a synthesized record) - **FLAG-02** (critical): FMCSA has initiated revocation proceedings - **FLAG-INS-LAPSED** (critical, hard stop): Federally required coverage is not currently on file with FMCSA - **FLAG-03** (critical): A cancellation is on file with FMCSA and no replacement coverage of the same kind runs past its effective date - **FLAG-INS-TERM-END** (caution): The current filing carries an end-date and no replacement filing is on record yet. This could be an annual term-end; verify with the carrier - **FLAG-INS-BOND-GAP** (caution): This entity also holds broker authority, but no surety bond or trust fund (BMC-84/85) is on file with FMCSA for its broker docket. Its carrier authority and required liability coverage are on file - **FLAG-07-UNSAT** (critical, hard stop): Unsatisfactory safety rating - **FLAG-07** (critical): Conditional safety rating - **FLAG-SAFETY-STALE** (info): FMCSA last reviewed this carrier outside its nominal audit cycle - **FLAG-FLEET** (caution): More units observed than reported on file - **FLAG-OFFICER-REVOKED** (critical): Officer also listed on a revoked carrier - **FLAG-FLEET-SUCCESSION** (caution): Vehicles previously operated by a revoked carrier - **FLAG-SHARED-FLEET** (caution): Trucks also operated under other carriers - **FLAG-FATAL** (caution): Fatal crash on record (last 24 months) - **FLAG-11** (caution): Multiple carriers at this address - **FLAG-SHARED-MAILING** (info): Shares a mailing address with another company - **FLAG-12** (caution): Only broker authority is on file with FMCSA for this entity, and no carrier operating authority is on record - **FLAG-13** (caution): Authority was previously revoked or inactive - **FLAG-ENFORCEMENT-CASE** (caution): Federal enforcement case on record - **FLAG-INVESTIGATION** (caution): An FMCSA investigation in the past 12 months found acute or critical violations (Controlled Substances / Alcohol) - **FLAG-01** (caution): Active for less than 6 months, limited vetting history - **FLAG-05** (caution): Vehicle OOS rate above national average - **FLAG-06** (caution): Driver OOS rate above national average - **FLAG-BASIC-ALERT** (caution): A safety BASIC ranks at or above the FMCSA intervention threshold versus similar carriers with recent violations (fleetfax peer estimate) - **FLAG-08** (caution): Crash rate worse than peers - **FLAG-HAZMAT-UNDECLARED** (caution): Hauls placarded hazmat but does not declare hazmat operation - **FLAG-09** (caution): No guaranteed physical location on file - **FLAG-10** (info): Entity is registered as both a carrier and a broker. Temporarily not applied: FLAG-MCS-STALE. fleetfax does not currently flag a carrier for an overdue MCS-150 biennial update, because FMCSA paused enforcement of that filing deadline in 2026 during its registration system transition. No report shows this flag while it is paused. ### Verdict A one-line descriptive summary of the flag set. Never a score, never advice. - **Blocking issues found**: one or more hard-stop flags present - **N issues to review / N cautions found**: a critical or caution flag present, no hard-stop - **No blockers or cautions found**: only info notes, or nothing A hard-stop flag is one where the federal record itself says the entity cannot lawfully haul the load right now: registration inactive, authority not in force, an out-of-service order in effect, or required insurance not on file. ### Connections Relationship facts about one carrier, assembled from the public record and stated without asserting intent. fleetfax names the observed link and lets the reader judge it. Link types: officer, address, phone, mailing, fleet. ### Alerts (53 categories, part of fleetfax Pro monitoring) Alerts describe what CHANGED in the federal record, as a diff between two observed states. Change over time is the paid half of fleetfax; a single carrier read today is free. Categories by federal feed: **authority** (13) - authority_action (info) - authority_dismissed (info) - authority_flap_settled (info) - authority_granted (info) - authority_out_of_service (critical) - authority_pending (info) - authority_reinstated (info) - authority_revocation_order (varies) - authority_revoked (critical) - authority_suspended (critical) - authority_suspension_notice (caution) - authority_transferred (info) - authority_withdrawn (info) **census** (21) - census_address_changed (info) - census_carrier_added (info) - census_carrier_removed (caution) - census_contact_changed (caution / info) - census_dba_name_changed (info) - census_docket_status_changed (info) - census_fleet_changed (info) - census_legal_name_changed (info) - census_officer_changed (info) - census_operation_changed (info) - census_power_units_changed (info) - census_status_active (info) - census_status_changed (info) - census_status_inactive (caution) - prior_revoke_flag_cleared (info) - prior_revoke_flag_set (caution) - safety_rating_changed (info) - safety_rating_conditional (caution) - safety_rating_removed (info) - safety_rating_satisfactory (info) - safety_rating_unsatisfactory (critical) **graph** (6) - graph_address_cluster_appeared (caution / info) - graph_flag_removed (info) - graph_flag_severity_escalated (caution) - graph_flag_severity_lowered (info) - graph_officer_revoked_appeared (caution) - graph_phone_revoked_appeared (caution) **insurance** (8) - insurance_added (info) - insurance_coverage_changed (info) - insurance_coverage_decreased (caution) - insurance_coverage_increased (info) - insurance_removed (info) - insurance_removed_bipd (critical) - insurance_removed_bond (critical) - insurance_removed_cargo (caution) **oos** (3) - oos_order_changed (info) - oos_order_issued (critical) - oos_order_rescinded (info) **sms_investigation** (2) - sms_investigation_finding_appeared (caution) - sms_investigation_finding_removed (info) ## Research: fleetfax's own findings Original analyses of the federal datasets, published by fleetfax and citable by name. Feed: https://www.fleetfax.com/research/feed.xml - [Most carriers have no safety rating. Here's what the data shows instead.](https://www.fleetfax.com/research/unrated-carriers) (2026-06-02): Roughly 94% of FMCSA-registered interstate freight carriers have no published safety rating. What that number actually means, where it comes from, and how to vet the unrated majority. - [The carrier-vetting blind spot: thousands of carriers look like one truck while a fleet runs under them](https://www.fleetfax.com/research/carrier-vetting-blind-spot) (2026-06-09): Some carriers declare one truck while a whole fleet runs under their authority. Inspection history, the signal brokers trust most, cannot see the gap, and at its most extreme the pattern concentrates about 28x in Illinois. - [Reopened, not reformed: finding the carriers that come back under a new number](https://www.fleetfax.com/research/chameleon-carriers) (2026-06-16): When a trucking company is shut down for cause, some reopen weeks later under a new USDOT number and a clean record. FMCSA's own disclosure field almost never catches them. Here is how the public record does. - [The thief books the load: how cargo theft became identity fraud](https://www.fleetfax.com/research/cargo-theft-identity-fraud) (2026-06-23): Strategic cargo theft grew from 8% of US cargo crime in 2020 to about a third by 2024. How carrier identity fraud actually works: fictitious pickups, purchased MC numbers, hijacked FMCSA accounts, and fourteen years of federal warnings. - [Active, authorized, and uninsured: the carriers the record still shows as bookable](https://www.fleetfax.com/research/active-uninsured) (2026-06-30): About 1% of authorized carriers hold live operating authority while carrying zero required insurance. FMCSA revokes roughly 8 weeks after the lapse, and the record shows them as bookable the whole time. - [The new-authority washout: what a fresh MC number actually predicts](https://www.fleetfax.com/research/new-authority-risk) (2026-07-07): A fresh MC number is far more likely to be revoked than a seasoned one, but not because new carriers crash more. About one in seven is revoked within 18 months, almost all for never completing the mandatory federal new-entrant audit. - [When the record goes quiet: FMCSA's Motus cutover and the carriers that fell out of public data](https://www.fleetfax.com/research/motus-cutover) (2026-07-14): On May 14, 2026, FMCSA moved carrier registration to a new system and forked its public data in two. The new feeds can leave whole carriers out with no marker, and any tool that treats that absence as fact will fail insured carriers. ## Pages Reproduced from https://www.fleetfax.com/llms.txt so the two files cannot disagree about what fleetfax claims. ### Developers - [Carrier Risk Profile schema](https://www.fleetfax.com/schema/carrier-risk-profile-v1.json): Versioned JSON Schema (draft 2020-12) for the carrier profile fleetfax returns: identity, authority, insurance, findings with stable reason codes, and the descriptive verdict state. ### Product - [Carrier report](https://www.fleetfax.com/): Search any USDOT or MC number and read the full carrier report, free. - [Vet a carrier](https://www.fleetfax.com/vet): What is in a fleetfax carrier report and how to read it. - [Pricing](https://www.fleetfax.com/pricing): The full report is free forever; every account gets a book that is read against the federal record every day and the alerts it produces. fleetfax Pro adds a bigger book, same-day alerts on every carrier in it, the dated change timeline, and bulk vetting. ### Learn - [Methodology](https://www.fleetfax.com/methodology): How fleetfax reads the FMCSA record, derives findings, and phrases the descriptive verdict. - [Glossary](https://www.fleetfax.com/glossary): Plain definitions of carrier, authority, insurance, and safety terms. - [FAQ](https://www.fleetfax.com/faq): Common questions about carrier vetting and the fleetfax record. - [Research](https://www.fleetfax.com/research/): fleetfax analyses of the federal data, chameleon carriers, the new-authority washout, and the Motus feed cutover. ### For AI assistants fleetfax welcomes AI crawlers. The record is meant to be cited. The crawler policy, including why no AI crawler is blocked, is stated in https://www.fleetfax.com/robots.txt. - [llms-full.txt](https://www.fleetfax.com/llms-full.txt): The long form of this file. Every signal fleetfax reports and what each one means, the methodology, and the rules fleetfax phrases its findings under. Generated from the same sources the product is built from. - [Research feed](https://www.fleetfax.com/research/feed.xml): Atom feed of fleetfax research publications. ## Provenance Signals are generated from fleetfax's code-derived signal registry. Research findings are generated from the published articles. The crawler policy behind this file, including why no AI crawler is blocked, is at https://www.fleetfax.com/robots.txt. Corrections: support@fleetfax.com.