How to Verify an Auto Transport Carrier Before You Book
Check MC and USDOT numbers on FMCSA SAFER, spot double-brokering and payment scams, and see why a deposit charged before carrier assignment is a red flag.
On this page
- How do I look up an auto transport company's MC and USDOT number?
- What should I check on the FMCSA SAFER record before booking?
- What is the difference between a broker and a carrier, and why does it matter?
- What is double-brokering and how do I spot it?
- Which payment requests should make you walk away?
- Why is a deposit charged before carrier assignment the clearest warning sign?
- What questions should I ask before booking enclosed transport?
- Ready to run this checklist on us?
Most of what goes wrong in auto transport is not a crash. It is a company that took a deposit and never placed the load, or a truck that showed up under a name nobody recognized. All of it is preventable with a few minutes of free public records work before you pay anyone. This page is the checklist AMG Transport Co. uses internally, written so you can run it on us too. For the full picture on enclosed service, start at enclosed auto transport.
How do I look up an auto transport company's MC and USDOT number?
Go to the FMCSA SAFER Company Snapshot at safer.fmcsa.dot.gov and search by USDOT number, MC number, or company name. The record is free, public, and maintained by the federal government. It tells you whether the company exists, what it is licensed to do, and whether that license is active right now.
Ask for the number before you search. Any legitimate broker or carrier hands over an MC and USDOT number on request, in writing, without a pause. AMG Transport Co. gives its numbers on the first call. A company that dodges the question, offers only a business name, or sends a screenshot instead of a number has already told you something useful.
One caution as of August 2026: matching a number is not the same as matching a company. Fraudsters copy real MC numbers onto fake dispatch paperwork. Verify the phone number printed on the SAFER record, then call that number and confirm you are talking to the same outfit.
Where to find the numbers yourself:
- The footer of the company website, usually next to the legal entity name
- The quote email or signed transport agreement
- SAFER's company-name search, which returns every registrant with a similar name
What should I check on the FMCSA SAFER record before booking?
Check five things: operating status reads ACTIVE, the legal name matches what you were told, the entity type matches the role claimed, insurance filings are on file and current, and the recent inspection history is not stacked with out-of-service violations. Anything that reads NOT AUTHORIZED, revoked, or out of service ends the conversation.
A blank safety rating is not a red flag by itself. FMCSA only assigns Satisfactory, Conditional or Unsatisfactory after a compliance review, and most small auto haulers have never had one, so "None" is the most common answer as of August 2026. The out-of-service percentages matter more. SAFER prints the current national averages next to each company's own numbers, so the comparison is already done for you. Well above average means the equipment or the logbooks are a problem.
AMG Transport Co. runs this check on every carrier before dispatch, and you are welcome to run it again yourself on whichever carrier gets assigned to your vehicle.
| Step | Where to look | What good looks like | What should stop you |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Get the numbers | Ask the company directly | MC and USDOT provided in writing, unprompted | "We'll send that later," or a name with no number |
| 2. Look them up | safer.fmcsa.dot.gov | Legal name matches what you were told | A completely different company name |
| 3. Operating status | SAFER snapshot | ACTIVE | NOT AUTHORIZED, revoked, or out of service |
| 4. Entity type | SAFER snapshot | Matches the role claimed, broker or carrier | A "carrier" showing zero power units |
| 5. Insurance filings | FMCSA Licensing and Insurance system | Active liability filing; broker bond BMC-84 or BMC-85 on file | No active filing, or a pending cancellation date |
| 6. Cargo coverage | Certificate of insurance from the carrier | Written limit above your vehicle's value | "We're fully insured" with nothing on paper |
| 7. Inspection history | SAFER snapshot, last 24 months | Out-of-service rates at or below the printed national average | Vehicle out-of-service rate far above average |
| 8. Call back | The phone number listed on SAFER | The same company answers | Dead line, or a stranger picks up |
Step six catches people out. Federal rules require liability filings for interstate carriers, but cargo insurance filings are only required of household goods carriers. A car hauler's cargo policy often will not appear on the federal record at all. Ask for the certificate. More detail on limits and claims lives on insurance and coverage.
What is the difference between a broker and a carrier, and why does it matter?
A carrier owns the truck and physically moves your car. A broker is federally licensed to arrange the move and place it with a vetted carrier. AMG Transport Co. is an FMCSA-licensed and bonded broker, not a carrier. The distinction decides who pays when something goes wrong, because the carrier's cargo insurance is the policy that settles damage.
Brokers must keep a $75,000 surety bond or trust fund on file with FMCSA, the federal minimum as of August 2026. That bond protects carriers and shippers against a broker that does not pay its bills. It is not cargo insurance and it will not repaint a fender. Which means the single most valuable thing a broker does is pick the carrier. The verification work above is the product, not a courtesy.
Neither model is inherently safer. A dishonest carrier and a dishonest broker both cost you money. What you want is whichever party will name the actual hauling company, in writing, before you pay anything.
| Question | Broker | Carrier |
|---|---|---|
| What they do | Arranges the move, places it with a truck | Owns the equipment, hauls the vehicle |
| Federal authority | Broker operating authority | Motor carrier operating authority |
| Financial security on file | $75,000 surety bond or trust fund | Public liability insurance filing |
| Pays for cargo damage | No, the bond is not cargo coverage | Yes, through the cargo policy |
| Your leverage | Card chargeback, bond claim for non-payment | Cargo damage claim |
| AMG Transport Co. | This one | Not this one |
What is double-brokering and how do I spot it?
Double-brokering is when the company you hired quietly hands your vehicle to a different carrier you never approved and never checked. Sometimes it is lazy dispatching. Sometimes it is outright fraud, where the first party collects the customer's money and never pays the truck that actually did the work.
The consequences are real. If the hauling carrier was never the contracted party, an insurer can dispute the claim. An unpaid hauler can hold the vehicle until somebody settles up. As of August 2026 it remains a live problem, and it is invisible to any customer who never asked for a carrier name.
Legitimate reassignment does happen. A truck breaks down, another carrier covers the load, and that is ordinary. The difference is disclosure. AMG Transport Co. names the carrier before the deposit is charged, and VIN scanning at pickup ties the specific vehicle to the specific truck on the electronic bill of lading.
The specific signals worth reacting to:
- The carrier name on your paperwork changed and nobody told you
- The driver arrives representing a company that is not on the bill of lading
- Nobody will give you the hauling carrier's MC number
- The assigned "carrier" shows zero power units and zero drivers on SAFER
- The dispatch email domain does not match the company's website domain
- The MC number was activated only weeks ago
Which payment requests should make you walk away?
Any request for a wire transfer, Zelle, Venmo, Cash App, cryptocurrency, or gift cards. Those methods get chosen because they are irreversible. A legitimate broker takes a card, because a card leaves a paper trail and leaves you a chargeback. AMG Transport Co. takes payment by Stripe card only and never requests wire, Zelle or gift cards for a deposit.
Be fair about one thing. Cash or certified funds due to the driver at delivery is a common industry arrangement and is not fraud on its own. It is also the channel that price-bump schemes run through: the quote came in low, the driver arrives, and the balance is suddenly a few hundred dollars higher with your car already on the trailer. AMG customers never pay the driver directly. If you book cash-on-delivery elsewhere, get the exact balance in writing before pickup and refuse any change at the curb.
| Red flag | Why it works | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Deposit requested before a carrier is confirmed | Money moves before anything has been sold to you | Decline. Ask them to call back with a carrier and a date |
| Wire, Zelle, Venmo, Cash App, crypto or gift cards | Irreversible, no chargeback, no trail | End the conversation |
| Payment to a personal account or an individual's name | Separates the money from the licensed entity | End the conversation |
| Quote far below every other quote | Anchors you low so the price can rise later | Treat as a bid to get your deposit, not a price |
| Refusal to provide an MC number | Blocks the only free verification you have | Walk away |
| Carrier reassigned with no notice | Hides who is actually holding your vehicle | Demand the new name and MC number before pickup |
| Price increases at pickup or delivery | Leverage is highest when your car is on the trailer | Get the final balance in writing beforehand |
| Pressure to book today or lose the truck | Removes the time you need to check records | Slow down. The truck was never that specific |
Why is a deposit charged before carrier assignment the clearest warning sign?
Because at that moment nothing has been sold to you. No truck has committed and no date exists, so the only thing that happened is money leaving your account. A deposit taken before carrier assignment buys a promise and removes the broker's incentive to keep working the load.
The pattern is consistent. An unusually low quote, a deposit up front, then silence while the vehicle sits on a load board at a price no carrier will accept. Weeks later somebody calls to ask you to raise it, and the deposit is non-refundable.
As of August 2026 AMG Transport Co. charges a $207.70 deposit, $200 plus 3.85% card processing, only after a carrier is confirmed and you have approved the pickup date. It stays refundable until dispatch, the price you approve is the price you pay — if carrier availability or corrected shipment details change the workable amount, you see the new option and approve it before anything is charged, and quotes hold for 30 days from issue. Enclosed transport cost breaks down how that price is built.
An upfront deposit is not always fraud. It just spends your leverage at the moment you still need it.
What questions should I ask before booking enclosed transport?
Five, in this order. What is your MC number? Are you the broker or the carrier? Will you name the carrier and its MC number before you charge me? Is this quote final or an estimate that can move? And what is the deposit, when is it charged, and is it refundable?
The answers matter less than the hesitation. A company that has run enclosed loads for years handles all five without stalling. AMG Transport Co. answers them before quoting, and you can check every answer against the federal record while you are still on the phone.
Two more are specific to enclosed. Ask whether the assigned truck loads by liftgate or by ramps, and ask for the cargo limit on that trailer. A low car on a steep ramp is how bumpers and splitters die. Read liftgate vs ramp loading first.
One last habit: as of August 2026 AMG works a 72-hour pickup window, and a real window is a quality filter rather than a delay.
Ready to run this checklist on us?
Yes, and we would rather you did. Call (800) 494-5059 and ask for the MC number before you ask for a price. You will get it on the first call, in writing if you want it, and you can pull the SAFER record while we are still on the line. Before any money moves you get the name and operating authority of the carrier that will actually haul your vehicle, so you can run the same checklist on them. There is no deposit until that carrier is confirmed and you have approved the pickup date, and the deposit stays refundable until the load is dispatched. The check costs you nothing and takes a few minutes. If any of that is not what you hear on the call, hang up and use the checklist on the next company instead.