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The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) maintains public records on every motor carrier operating in the United States. This includes interstate trucking companies, intrastate haulers, passenger carriers, and hazardous materials transporters. Each carrier is assigned a USDOT number when they register with the Department of Transportation.

CarrierOwl pulls this data daily and combines it with FMCSA's Safety Measurement System (SMS) results. SMS scores, called BASIC scores, measure carrier performance across six categories: Unsafe Driving, Hours-of-Service Compliance, Driver Fitness, Controlled Substances, Vehicle Maintenance, and Crash Indicator. Each score is a percentile ranking where higher numbers mean worse safety records compared to similar carriers.

Beyond BASIC scores, each carrier profile on CarrierOwl shows inspection results, out-of-service rates, crash history, fleet size, and operating authority status. Out-of-service rates tell you how often a carrier's drivers or vehicles get pulled from the road during roadside inspections. The national average sits around 5.5% for drivers and 20.7% for vehicles.

Freight brokers use this data to vet carriers before booking loads. Shippers check it to make sure their goods move with safe operators. Carriers themselves monitor their profiles to stay ahead of DOT audits and compliance reviews. Insurance underwriters also rely on FMCSA records when pricing commercial trucking policies.

All of this information is public domain under the Freedom of Information Act. CarrierOwl makes it searchable, readable, and free. No account required, no paywalls, no rate limits.