FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration)

FMCSA is the agency within the U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates motor carriers, freight brokers, and freight forwarders operating in interstate commerce.

FMCSA was established in 2000 as a standalone agency within DOT, taking over commercial motor carrier safety from the Federal Highway Administration. It issues operating authority, sets safety regulations, runs roadside inspections through state partners, and publishes carrier performance data through the SAFER and SMS systems.

For freight brokers, FMCSA is the agency that grants the broker authority (Form OP-1(P)), holds the $75,000 surety bond, and publishes the carrier data that drives vetting workflows.

Why this matters for freight brokers

Every operational and compliance decision a freight broker makes touches FMCSA in some way: authority status, carrier safety rating, insurance filings, and the audit trail required after Montgomery v. Caribe Transport.

Related terms

• MC number (Motor Carrier number) — An MC number is the operating authority registration number FMCSA issues to motor carriers, brokers, and freight forwarders authorized to operate in interstate commerce.
• DOT number — A DOT number is the unique identifier assigned by USDOT to companies operating commercial vehicles in interstate commerce, used to track safety information.
• SAFER (Safety and Fitness Electronic Records) — SAFER is the FMCSA public-facing carrier lookup system that displays motor carrier registration, operating authority status, insurance, and safety rating.
• SMS (Safety Measurement System) — SMS is the FMCSA public-facing system that displays CSA BASIC percentile scores and alert status for motor carriers.
• CSA scores — CSA scores are the percentile-ranked performance measures FMCSA publishes for motor carriers across seven behavioral categories called BASICs, drawn from roadside inspection and crash data.

Sources

• FMCSA homepage