What shippers and brokers see before they call your trucking company
Before a shipper or broker picks up the phone, they can check a lot about you in minutes. Your brand is not just your logo. It is what that public record says, and how well you tell the rest of the story.
Written by Melyna Aguilar
The public record in numbers
Shippers and brokers can see your safety rating, out-of-service rates, and crash summary on FMCSA's free SAFER Company Snapshot, and large buyers increasingly publish the exact safety and insurance standards they expect.
That changes what positioning means for a trucking company. Your website and your sales pitch still matter, but buyers check them against a public record, and when the two disagree, the record wins.
I work on brand, positioning, and go-to-market at Simplex, and I believe market intelligence should shape how a brand positions, communicates, and wins in the market. For a carrier, that intelligence starts with the same public data your customers already check.
Key takeaways
Your record is public and free
Anyone can pull your SAFER Company Snapshot, which shows your safety rating if you have one, your out-of-service inspection summary, and your crash information.
Buyers can benchmark you in seconds
The snapshot lists your out-of-service rates next to national averages, which were 22.26% for vehicles and 6.67% for drivers as of August 28, 2026.
Large shippers publish their bar
Amazon Relay, for example, requires authority active for at least 180 days, BASIC scores under set thresholds, and $100,000 in cargo coverage.
Some data stays private
FMCSA keeps the Crash Indicator and Hazardous Materials Compliance BASICs private, and complete SMS results are visible only to enforcement and to you.
Your competitors are just as visible
The same public data buyers use to judge you lets you benchmark the carriers you compete with.
Positioning has to match the record
Claims about safety or reliability only work when the public data backs them up.
In this articleContents
What do shippers and brokers check about a trucking company?
Most shippers and brokers start with your FMCSA SAFER Company Snapshot, a free public record they can search by your DOT number, MC number, or company name.
FMCSA describes the snapshot as a record of a company's identification, size, commodity information, and safety record. In practice, that means a buyer can see:
- Who you are, how many trucks you run, and what you haul
- Your safety rating, if FMCSA has assigned one
- Your roadside inspections and out-of-service rates, next to the national averages
- Your crash summary
What buyers cannot see
FMCSA keeps the Crash Indicator and Hazardous Materials Compliance BASICs private, and complete Safety Measurement System (SMS) results are available only to enforcement and to carriers logged into their own profile. The inspection record underneath them is still visible on the snapshot.
How to read your record the way a buyer does
A buyer reading your trucking company's snapshot is asking one question: is this carrier safer or riskier than average? Your out-of-service rate is the fastest way to answer it.
| Inspection type | National out-of-service average |
|---|---|
| Vehicle | 22.26% |
| Driver | 6.67% |
| Hazmat | 4.44% |
If you sit well below those averages, that is a positioning point worth putting in front of buyers. If you sit above them, fix it before you lean on safety in your pitch.
Keep your fleet size in mind. An out-of-service rate is a share of your inspections, so for a small fleet with few inspections, a single out-of-service order moves the number a lot. FMCSA's SMS also compares carriers only against others with a similar number of safety events, and in SMS higher percentiles mean worse performance.
What large shippers now require
Some of the most useful market intelligence a carrier can get is published openly by the buyers themselves. Amazon Relay is a clear example: its FAQ lists the standards a carrier must meet to haul its loads.
| Requirement | Amazon's minimum |
|---|---|
| Authority | Interstate authority active at least 180 days, plus a valid MC number |
| Safety rating | Satisfactory, None, or Not Rated |
| Unsafe Driving and HOS Compliance BASICs | Below 60% |
| Vehicle Maintenance, Controlled Substances/Alcohol, Driver Fitness | Below 75% |
| Cargo insurance | At least $100,000 |
Treat standards like these as a map of where the market's bar sits. Our guide to Amazon Relay compliance for new carriers covers the full list.
How to position your trucking company around your record
Positioning works when the story you tell and the record buyers check point the same way.
Step 1: Pull your own record first
Look up your SAFER Company Snapshot as a buyer would, then log in to SMS to see the results only you and enforcement can see.
Step 2: Benchmark the carriers you compete with
Search your competitors on SAFER by name, DOT number, or MC number. Their out-of-service rates and crash summaries are as public as yours, which tells you where you can credibly stand out.
Step 3: Choose the claims your data supports
Lead with what the record proves. An out-of-service rate below the national average is a stronger message than any adjective.
Step 4: Fix gaps before you market around them
If the record works against you, improve it first. Request a review through FMCSA's DataQs system for data you believe is wrong, and work on the violations behind your weakest BASICs. Our guide to unsafe driving violations and CSA scores is a good place to start.
Step 5: Keep your identity consistent everywhere
Use the same legal name, DOT number, and MC number on your website, rate confirmations, and profiles. Buyers are more careful about fraud than they used to be, and consistency is part of how you show you are who you say you are. Our guides to freight fraud and chameleon carriers explain what buyers are watching for.
How Simplex helps you back your brand with a clean record
The best positioning is a record that proves what you say. We help carriers build one.
A record you can market
Our compliance programs include CSA monitoring, driver qualification file management, mock audits, and HOS management.
Authority set up right
Our authority packages cover your DOT number, MC, BOC-3, authority letter, and UCR.
Insurance that meets the bar
As a broker, we quote and place commercial truck insurance, from liability to cargo and physical damage.
Frequently asked questions
What can a broker see about my trucking company?+
Can brokers see my CSA scores?+
What is a good out-of-service rate?+
How do I check a competitor's safety record?+
What do large shippers like Amazon require?+
How do I fix wrong data on my public record?+
Where this information comes from
Internal example. The data in this article comes from the official sources below, checked on September 18, 2026.
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1
FMCSA SAFER — Company Snapshot
What the public snapshot contains, how to search it, and national out-of-service averages.
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2
FMCSA — Safety Measurement System
Which BASICs are private, and who can see complete SMS results.
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3
FMCSA — SMS Methodology (PDF)
Peer grouping and what higher percentiles mean.
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4
Amazon Relay — FAQ
Relay's published carrier requirements.
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5
FMCSA — DataQs
How to request a review of data you believe is incorrect.
Written by
Melyna Aguilar
Brand, Positioning & Go-To-Market Strategy, Simplex Group
Melyna Aguilar leads Brand, Positioning & Go-To-Market Strategy at Simplex Group. Her work applies market intelligence to brand strategy, positioning, content alignment, and go-to-market execution, on the principle that market intelligence should shape how a brand positions, communicates, and wins in the market.
Published
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Your record is your first sales conversation
Buyers meet your trucking company's public record before they meet you. When your story and your record agree, positioning gets easier, and every claim you make carries more weight.
If you want help building a record worth marketing, talk to our team.