What Is A USDOT Number?

What Is A USDOT Number? | Three Movers

All interstate moving companies, as well as other types of commercial transport companies, are regulated by the U.S. Department of Transportation and, as such, must be registered with the FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration). As part of this registration process, they also receive a registration number with the U.S. Department of Transportation, also referred to as a U.S. DOT number. Each company receives a unique U.S. DOT number in order to help with tracking and regulation across a number of different categories that include safety, compliance, inspection, as well as for auditing purposes.

Not all moving companies, however, are required to have a U.S. DOT number. The companies that do need to maintain a U.S. DOT number include those that haul more than 10,001 pounds and are also involved in interstate commerce, meaning they offer moving services from one state to another. Based on these criteria, there are some cases in which a moving company can operate within only one state and provide moving services of less than 10,001 pounds without having to obtain a U.S. DOT number. Even with that exception, most intrastate moving companies (within the same state) will still have to register for a U.S. DOT number depending on the state regulations. As of this writing, 38 of the 50 states require transport companies to have a U.S. DOT number, even if they only operate within that state.

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Why Is A U.S. DOT Number Important?

As someone looking for a prospective moving company to help with a local or long distance move, you can easily look up information about a company using its U.S. DOT number. The easiest way to do this is by using the SAFER (Safety and Fitness Electronic Records) system provided by the FMCSA. By simply inputting the U.S. DOT number of a moving company, you can find out valuable information that is not easily attainable anywhere else, and if it is, it is not maintained by the official body that regulates the industry. The SAFER system will provide information about safety ratings, inspections, home office location, the type of cargo they’re authorized to transport, whether they’re a carrier or broker, as well as the size of their fleet and number of drivers. This may not seem at first glance to be all that valuable as a consumer, but it’s a quick and easy way to check if a moving company is who they say they are, and whether they actually provide the services you’re looking for.

In other words, it’s a good way to safeguard against falling victim to fraudulent or unregistered moving companies, of which there are unfortunately far too many of in the moving industry. The information listed on a company website should match what you find using the SAFER system and you should be able to easily find their U.S. DOT number on the company website. Any company that is not forthright with this information should definitely raise some red flags that they may not be a legitimate moving company.

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