How to check broker authority
Authority is the permission, and it has a status that changes. In 2025 FMCSA revoked operating authority 134,659 times — 2.2 for every one it granted. Checking it takes seconds; assuming it takes a bad debt.
Look up an MC number
Live FMCSA licensing, insurance and census data. Switch to DOT if that's the number you were given.
The four statuses, and what each is telling you
| Status | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Active | Authority granted and in force, with the required bond or insurance on file | Proceed to the identity check — call the number on the FMCSA record |
| Pending | Applied for, not yet granted | They cannot legally broker or haul for hire yet. Wait. |
| Revocation pending | FMCSA is in the process of pulling it, almost always over lapsed insurance or bond | Treat as uninsured. Don't book. |
| Inactive / revoked | Held once, not now | Stop. There is nothing standing behind the load. |
The scale of it
| Year | Authority granted | Revoked | Reinstated | Revoked per grant |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 123,096 | 110,039 | 27,222 | 0.9× |
| 2022 | 110,742 | 137,654 | 30,052 | 1.2× |
| 2023 | 75,491 | 130,603 | 31,314 | 1.7× |
| 2024 | 62,135 | 133,207 | 26,229 | 2.1× |
| 2025 | 62,053 | 134,659 | 25,812 | 2.2× |
| 2026 | 24,507 | 43,988 | 9,663 | 1.8× |
FMCSA authority history (dataset 9mw4-x3tu), counted 2026-09-28. 2026 is a part year.
Read that table as a churn rate rather than a crime rate. Most revocations are administrative — insurance lapses, the company stops filing, the authority is pulled. But the effect on you is identical whether the cause was fraud or paperwork: the protection you were relying on is not there.
Authority age is the signal that catches the most
The lookup flags any authority under six months old, and notes anything under a year. That is not prejudice against new businesses — it is where the losses are. A brand-new docket has no history to check, no payment record, and nothing to lose if it disappears. If you take the load anyway, take it on terms that assume the worst: quick pay, a partial up front, or a factoring company that has already approved them.
Then verify the human
Authority checks the company. It does not check the caller. Once the status is clean, call the phone number on the FMCSA record — the one the result prints, not the one in the email signature — and confirm they posted this load at this rate. Every serious freight fraud in the last few years has run through a real, clean authority belonging to someone else.
Questions
How do I check if a broker's authority is active?
Enter the MC or DOT number in the lookup on this page. The result shows broker, common carrier and contract carrier authority as three separate statuses, because a company can hold one and not the others.
What does 'revocation pending' mean?
FMCSA has begun revoking the authority — nearly always because required insurance or the broker bond has lapsed. 14,906 dockets are in that state right now. The authority is still technically active, and the protection behind it is already gone.
What happens if authority is revoked while my load is moving?
Keep hauling to protect the freight, document everything, and get your claim in immediately. If it is a broker, the bond claim comes first and fast — see the BMC-84 page. Revocation does not cancel their debt to you, but it does mean everyone else they owe is about to file too.
Can revoked authority come back?
Yes — 25,812 authorities were reinstated in 2025, usually once insurance was refiled. A reinstatement after a revocation is not a scandal, but a pattern of them is a company that keeps letting its cover lapse.
Does active authority mean they're insured right now?
It means the filing is on record. Filings are made by the insurer and cancelled by the insurer, and there is a gap between a policy lapsing and FMCSA acting on it. The lookup shows the filing date and the insurer so you can see how fresh it is; for a high-value load, ask for a certificate naming you.