Source notes and definitions
Know what each carrier observation means.
CarrierWire compares dated FMCSA census snapshots to help compliance providers find prospects and follow changes. The public lists, reports and paid feeds use the same deterministic event records.
The source and its timing
The FMCSA Company Census File contains active, pending and inactive registered entities. FMCSA describes it as a daily snapshot of a 24-hour-old database. It does not provide real-time registration or licensing decisions. FMCSA Open Data Program documentation explains its coverage and refresh schedule.
CarrierWire retains the raw source and compares records by USDOT. The first snapshot establishes a baseline and creates no new-carrier events. Later comparisons produce dated observations; a record's first appearance in our feed may occur after its original registration.
Customer delivery runs after source checks pass, usually by the following morning Eastern, using the latest completed source day. A delayed source or failed check can delay publication and delivery. Every page and delivered row carries its source date.
Signal definitions
| Signal | What CarrierWire observed | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| New registration / newly observed USDOT | A USDOT record appeared after being absent from the prior snapshot. | Does not establish a business formation date, authority grant or buying intent. |
| Authority granted | A new active authority slot appeared, or a pending/unknown slot became active. | A census-derived active-slot signal; use licensing records for the underlying decision. |
| Authority reactivated | An inactive census authority slot became active. | Distinct from the first appearance of an active slot. |
| Authority inactivated | An active census authority slot became inactive. | Does not identify the cause or establish a revocation or insurance lapse. |
| Address change / fleet growth | A normalized address changed or reported power units increased. | Describes source records; not independently verified operational changes. |
| Entity deactivated | An active entity became inactive. | Does not cover every entity-status transition. |
Contact quality
Phone format checks look for a normalized ten-digit number. Email checks look for a plausible address structure. Reuse above a threshold is flagged as a suspected agent or shared contact.
“Direct” in the event CSV means the reuse heuristic did not flag the contact. It is not an ownership check. CarrierWire does not verify reachability, deliverability, consent or who answers.
Prospects and event rows
Paid prospect feeds combine matching events into one row per USDOT within the delivered window. Event exports retain one row per change, so a carrier can appear more than once.
Different USDOTs are not assumed to be different businesses. Existing-customer suppression matches uploaded USDOTs, not names or corporate ownership.
What the C/TPA preset establishes
The compliance preset selects active records reporting at least one CDL driver and a contact that passes format checks, while excluding suspected agent contacts. These filters help narrow review; they do not establish the carrier's testing obligations or need for a new provider.
FMCSA testing rules apply to covered operations using CDL-required vehicles. Consortium requirements depend on the operation and number of covered drivers; some employers can manage their own testing program. Read FMCSA's consortium guidance and owner-operator guidance when assessing fit.
How public counts and reports work
State/month counts use distinct USDOTs and the carrier's state at the event's source date. Later address changes do not move a historical observation to a different state. A state list's table is paginated; the summary describes the entire observed cohort.
Reports show monitored days versus elapsed days. The first baseline, missing source days and periods before monitoring began are excluded. Partial coverage is labeled and is not extrapolated into a complete market total. Public state lists and reports show contact presence rather than actual phone and email values.
Public monthly cohorts retain a rolling twelve-month window. Carrier detail pages remain a limited cohort. Source updates are deterministic; no language model creates records, contact scores, events or counts.
Inspect the data for your territory
Use the dated preview to judge whether the available prospects fit your workflow.
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