Car hauling loads with a new authority: when you can haul, and where to start.

When you can start hauling

For-hire carriers need operating authority before they haul in interstate commerce, and a truck run without it is ordered out of service (49 CFR 385.301T and 392.9a). Between the application and the first legal load:

1. Apply in Motus, FMCSA's registration system since May 2026. Authority costs $300 per type and is not refunded. FMCSA quotes 20 to 25 business days for new applicants, and 8 weeks or more on top if the application goes to further review.
2. The protest window. The application is published in the FMCSA Register, and anyone who wants to oppose it has 10 days from that notice to file a protest (49 CFR 365.203T).
3. Insurance on file. Your insurer files proof of liability coverage with FMCSA, usually on form BMC-91 or BMC-91X. FMCSA will not grant the authority until it is on file. If it is not filed within 20 days of publication in the FMCSA Register, FMCSA serves a decision that the application will be dismissed unless you comply within 60 days. The minimum for a for-hire property carrier is $750,000 for vehicles of 10,001 lb GVWR and up, $300,000 below that.
4. Process agents. A for-hire carrier names an agent for court papers in each state it is authorized to operate in and drives through, on form BOC-3 (49 CFR 366.2T, 366.4T). A process-agent company usually files it for you.
5. The grant. FMCSA's Licensing and Insurance site shows the date: search your MC or USDOT number and open Authority History. The authority documents usually follow within 3 to 4 business days.

Insurance and the BOC-3 have to stay on file after the grant, or FMCSA starts revocation. Some owners drive leased on to an established carrier while they wait, hauling under that carrier's authority. Leasing on vs your own authority.

Watching the loadez board while your authority is pending

loadez runs its own load board, separate from every other one, where brokers and shippers post free. Anyone can open it at tools.loadez.ai/owner/load-board, with no account, and see what moves on your lanes and what it pays. What opens at each step:

Signed up is a free account whose company is not verified yet. Verified means you confirmed your email and finished the company form: legal name, an MC or DOT number, a phone and a billing address. loadez looks the number up on FMCSA's record. It has to be there, the legal name has to match FMCSA's, and an MC and a DOT number entered together must belong to the same company.

If FMCSA's record shows the authority as not active, the form stops with "The FMCSA record for that MC/DOT shows the operating authority is not active", and the account stays read-only. Submit the form again once FMCSA shows the grant; the number is checked again. Then add your truck, trailer and driver. A claim goes to the poster with the driver named and has to fit the free slots on that trailer, and the poster approves, counters or declines.

A posting on loadez has no field for an authority-age or insurance minimum. Each broker or shipper decides on your claim by its own rules. The board, dispatch, the driver app and compliance files are free for one truck, forever; the estimated net of each load for your truck comes with Growth. More about the board.

What brokers ask a new carrier

There is no list of brokers that take every new authority, and nobody can honestly sell you one. FMCSA asks for active authority and insurance on file. Anything above that is the broker's own policy:

• Authority age. Some brokers set up only carriers whose authority has been active for a minimum time. Your grant date is on FMCSA's public record, so ask for the minimum before you fill in a packet.
• Insurance above the federal minimum. ACV's carrier page, for example, asks for $1 million liability and $100,000 cargo, plus an MC certificate, a state permit, the DOT number, equipment photos, a vendor ACH form and at least two business references.
• References. A new authority has no history of its own yet. Line up two or three people you have hauled for, as a driver or under someone else's authority, before a broker asks.
• Safety rating. The new entrant safety audit does not produce a safety rating (49 CFR 385.3), so passing it puts no rating on your record. If a broker's terms mention your rating, ask whether "not rated" is accepted.

The full list, with the insurance terms brokers publish: car hauler carrier packet. Before you take a car from a broker you have not worked with, check it on FMCSA's record: car hauling scams and how to check a broker. Other boards and auction networks set requirements of their own: car hauling load boards compared.

The New Entrant program: your first 18 months

Every new US carrier enters FMCSA's New Entrant Safety Assurance Program. It is a probation, not a form you file.

• 18 months of monitoring once you meet the pre-operating requirements, with your roadside inspections watched closely (49 CFR 385.307).
• A safety audit within 12 months of receiving your USDOT number, for property carriers (49 CFR 385.3). FMCSA waits until there are records to review, generally at least 3 months of operation.
• Automatic failure for, among others: no drug and alcohol testing program or no random testing; a driver without a valid CDL or medically unqualified; running without the required insurance; not requiring hours-of-service records; driving a vehicle declared out of service before it is repaired; a truck not periodically inspected.
• A failed audit brings a written notice and, for most carriers, 60 days to fix the problems, or the registration is revoked and operations are placed out of service (49 CFR 385.319(c)).
• The end of probation. If the audit is done and no out-of-service order or corrective notice is pending at 18 months, FMCSA removes the new entrant designation and tells you in writing that your registration is permanent (49 CFR 385.333).

The audit reads the files a one-truck carrier tends to skip: driver qualification, hours of service, inspections and maintenance, insurance, and drug and alcohol testing if your drivers hold a CDL. How to start a car hauling business covers them in order.

What to have ready before the first broker calls

• The authority grant on FMCSA's record, and the authority document.
• A certificate of insurance from your agent, issued the same day for each new broker, with the broker named as certificate holder.
• A W-9, an ACH or banking form, and a notice of assignment if you factor. How car haulers get paid.
• Two or three references, and photos of the truck and trailer.
• From the first load: the driver qualification file, the medical card, hours-of-service records, inspection and maintenance records, and a drug and alcohol testing consortium if you drive with a CDL.

On loadez, compliance files for your drivers, trucks, trailers and company (CDL, medical card, MVR, Clearinghouse query, drug and alcohol test results, registrations, annual inspections, the certificate of insurance) are kept on every plan, Free included.

MC numbers in 2026

A "load board without an MC number" can mean two things. Reading the loadez board needs no MC number, no DOT number and no account. Hauling is different: for-hire interstate car hauling still needs operating authority, and FMCSA still issues MC numbers. Motus gives new USDOT and docket numbers in random order and keeps the MC prefix; existing numbers do not change. FMCSA has proposed ending MC numbers so the USDOT number becomes the only identifier, but its FAQ, updated 21 May 2026, says the change is under consideration and will go to public comment in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking first. As of 8 October 2026 no such proposal has been published in the Federal Register.

A summary to orient you, not legal advice. Check FMCSA's registration pages before you file.

Common questions

Can you get car hauling loads with a new authority?

Yes. Once FMCSA has granted your operating authority, which it does only with your insurance filing on file, you can haul interstate loads for pay. Each broker then sets its own minimums, such as insurance above the federal $750,000, business references or a minimum time since the grant, so ask before you send a carrier packet.

Is there a car hauling load board I can use without an MC number?

You can read the loadez load board at tools.loadez.ai/owner/load-board with no MC number, DOT number or account: lanes, dates, posted prices and cars. Claiming a load on loadez needs a company whose MC or DOT number checks out on FMCSA's record, and for-hire interstate car hauling needs active operating authority in any case.

Which brokers work with new authority car haulers?

There is no fixed list: each broker sets its own carrier requirements, and some require the authority to have been active for a minimum time. Ask each broker for its requirements before you fill in its packet, and expect insurance asks such as $1 million liability and $100,000 cargo.

How long does it take for a new MC authority to become active?

FMCSA quotes 20 to 25 business days for new applicants, and 8 weeks or more on top if the application goes to further review. The application is published in the FMCSA Register with a 10-day protest window, and FMCSA grants the authority only once your insurer's filing is on file.

What is the FMCSA New Entrant program?

An 18-month monitoring period for every new US motor carrier (49 CFR 385.307), with a safety audit within 12 months of receiving the USDOT number for property carriers. Having no drug and alcohol testing program, using a driver without a valid CDL or running without the required insurance fails the audit automatically; a passed audit and 18 months without a pending order make the registration permanent.

Can I claim loads on loadez before my authority is active?

Not while FMCSA's record shows your authority as not active: loadez checks your MC or DOT number against that record, and until it passes the account is read-only. You can still browse the board without an account and see brokers' phone and email after a free sign-up; submit the company form again once FMCSA shows the grant.