The first 30 days of a trucking company, documented end to end

Form Your Trucking LLC and Get an EIN (Before You Touch the FMCSA)

Why your entity comes before your MC number, how to choose a state, what to name the company so brokers and insurers can find you, and how to get an EIN the same day for free.

How to Get Your USDOT and MC Number in Motus, Step by Step

How to register for USDOT and MC authority in FMCSA Motus, complete owner identity verification, pay the $300 authority fee, and avoid data mismatches.

FMCSA Motus Identity Verification: What Owners Must Complete Themselves

What FMCSA Motus identity verification requires, who may verify a carrier, what cannot be delegated, and how to prepare your ID and company records before filing.

BOC-3 Filing Explained: Process Agents in Plain English

A BOC-3 designates a process agent in every state so you can be served legal papers. Only a process agent can file it, it costs $25–$150 once, and your authority will not activate without it.

UCR Registration: Who Pays, How Much, and the Deadline That Bites

Unified Carrier Registration is an annual fee based on fleet size, due before January 1 for the coming year. Enforcement is roadside, penalties vary by state, and the official site is free to use.

Trucking Insurance Requirements for a New Authority (What Brokers Actually Check)

Federal minimums versus real-world broker requirements: primary liability, cargo, physical damage, trailer interchange, non-trucking liability, and general liability — with what each one actually pays for.

The 91X Filing and MCS-90: How Insurance Actually Activates Your Authority

Buying a policy does not activate your authority — an accepted Form 91X filing does. What the 91X is, how the MCS-90 endorsement works, why filings reject, and how to verify yours posted.

Eleven Levers That Lower a New Authority Insurance Premium

Underwriters price new carriers on proxies. These are the eleven inputs you control — radius, commodity, driver file quality, telematics, deductibles, and payment structure — and roughly what each is worth.

The New Entrant Safety Audit: What They Ask For and What Fails You

Every new carrier is audited within 12 months. Here is the document request list, the 16 automatic-failure violations, how the offsite audit works, and what happens if you fail.

Drug & Alcohol Program and the Clearinghouse (Yes, Even If You Are the Only Driver)

Consortium enrollment, pre-employment testing, random selection rates, supervisor training, Clearinghouse registration and queries — the exact program a one-truck carrier must have on file.

Driver Qualification File Checklist (Including the File on Yourself)

Every document 49 CFR Part 391 requires in a driver qualification file, what is due at hire versus annually, retention periods, and the four items new carriers most often omit.

ELD Mandate Compliance: Choosing a Device You Will Not Regret

Who must run an ELD, the exemptions that actually apply, hours-of-service basics, what to check before buying, and the transfer, malfunction, and unassigned-driving rules auditors test.

Freight Factoring for New Carriers: When It Saves You and When It Eats You

How factoring works, what recourse vs non-recourse actually covers, the fees hidden below the advertised rate, and how to decide whether a 2.5% discount beats waiting 40 days.

IFTA and IRP: The Two Registrations Everyone Confuses

IRP is how you register the truck across states. IFTA is how you report the fuel you burned in each one. What each costs, what you file, and the recordkeeping that survives an audit.

Your Cost Per Mile Is the Only Number That Matters

Build a defensible cost-per-mile model: fixed costs, variable costs, deadhead, and the break-even rate you must clear before accepting a load. Includes a worked one-truck example.

Choosing a TMS for 1–10 Trucks Without Overbuying

What a transportation management system actually needs to do at one to ten trucks, the features that are worth paying for, and the migration cost of choosing wrong.

Load Boards for New Carriers: Access, Pricing, and the 90-Day Problem

Which load boards accept a brand-new authority, what they cost, why some brokers will not book you for 90 days, and how to find the ones who will.

The Carrier Packet That Gets You Onboarded in One Email

Exactly which documents belong in a carrier packet, how to assemble a single send-ready PDF, and the mistakes that stall broker onboarding for days.

Booking Your First Load: Pricing, Negotiating, and Not Getting Burned

How to price a lane from your real cost per mile, what to verify before accepting, how to read a rate confirmation, and the fraud patterns that target brand-new authorities.