Keep fraud away from your inventory.
A dealer moving units every week is a bigger target than a private shipper moving one car. The losses come in three forms: a load handed to a carrier you never hired, a truck using a real carrier's identity, and money paid to the wrong account. Each one has a simple control.
How do car dealers prevent double brokering and carrier fraud?
Verify every carrier on FMCSA's SAFER system and call the phone number listed there. At pickup, confirm the company name and USDOT on the truck match the dispatch, and record the driver, tractor and trailer plates. Release units only to the carrier you booked, and pay only the company named on the rate confirmation.
Different crimes, the same weak points.
- Double brokeringA “carrier” accepts your load and quietly hands it to another carrier you never vetted, often at a lower rate, sometimes without paying them. Your car ends up on an unknown truck with unknown insurance.
- Cloned identityFMCSA warns that criminals use other carriers' USDOT numbers without permission. The SAFER record looks perfect because it belongs to a real company. The phone, email and truck are not theirs.
- Fictitious pickupSomeone shows up at your lot or the auction gate with paperwork for a load they were never assigned, and drives away with the unit.
Vetting that takes minutes.
- 01
Check SAFER
Operating authority authorized, entity type carrier, legal name matching the company on the dispatch. Full walkthrough: How to check a DOT and MC number
- 02
Call the number on the record
FMCSA's own advice: if the number you were given does not match the one on SAFER, call the SAFER number. If the record shows no phone number at all, consider not booking until you can confirm.
- 03
Verify the insurance
Get a certificate and confirm it with the agent, using a number you found yourself. FMCSA warns that insurance certificates can be faked.
- 04
Put a no-rebrokering clause in writing
Your agreement should say the carrier you booked hauls the load on its own equipment, and may not hand it to anyone else without your written approval.
The step most fraud gets past.
FMCSA tells shippers to confirm the name and numbers on the truck that shows up are the same as the carrier they booked, and to record the tractor and trailer plates and take pictures of the truck and trailer. For a dealer, that becomes a release policy your lot staff follow every time.
- Name and USDOT on the door — match the dispatch, or the unit does not move.
- Driver's name — matches the one the carrier gave you.
- Tractor and trailer plates — written down or photographed.
- A photo of the rig — with the door markings visible.
- Gate passes and releases — issued to the booked carrier only.
- A call if anything is off — to the carrier's SAFER phone number, before the unit leaves.
Where the quietest losses happen.
Pay only the company named on the rate confirmation, to an account in that company's name. An email saying the carrier has “changed banks” is a classic fraud move. Confirm any change by calling the carrier on the phone number you already have on file, never one in the email. COD payments go to the company, not to an individual.
Adapted from FMCSA's own stop list.
- Asks you to list another name — on the paperwork, or says the driver works for someone else.
- No phone on SAFER — or a different one from the number you have been given.
- A different truck shows up — with a story about a breakdown and a “partner company.”
- Payment details change by email — right before payday.
Why an asset carrier helps: when the company you book runs its own trucks, the truck that shows up has our name and our USDOT on the door, and the driver is dispatched by us. There is no hand-off to vet. You can still check us on SAFER first, and you should. More for dealers: Dealerships
Straight answers
What is double brokering in auto transport?
When a carrier, or someone posing as one, accepts a load and then hands it to another carrier without the shipper's knowledge or consent. The shipper loses control of who has the vehicle and whether they are insured, and the second carrier often goes unpaid.
How can a dealer tell if a carrier is real?
Look the carrier up on FMCSA’s SAFER Company Snapshot, confirm operating authority is authorized and the entity type is carrier, then call the phone number listed there. At pickup, check the name and USDOT on the truck match the dispatch.
What should I do if I think a load was double brokered?
Find out who has the vehicle and who is paying the freight, and contact the carrier you originally booked using the phone number on SAFER. FMCSA advises that in many cases the other parties are victims too. Report it to FMCSA's consumer complaint database at nccdb.fmcsa.dot.gov and to the DOT Inspector General hotline at oig.dot.gov/hotline.
Should I use a broker or a carrier for dealer trades?
Both work. A broker gives you reach, and a direct carrier gives you a known truck and driver. The trade-offs are in car hauler or auto transport broker.
Read next
Dealerships
A standing dealer-vendor agreement: trades, auction-to-frontline, customer deliveries and recon shuttles, one call, photos at both ends, Net 15 for approved accounts.
Read onDealer trade checklist
What a dealership should have ready before a car hauler arrives: keys, paperwork, condition photos, lot access, and the three causes of most failed pickups.
Read onHow to check a DOT and MC number
How to check a car shipping company's USDOT and MC number on FMCSA SAFER, step by step: what each field means, insurance, and how to spot a cloned number.
Read onDirect, no broker
Why dealers, auction buyers and exporters book Prime Trans directly: an asset-based car hauler, MC 1575910, with its own trucks, one dispatcher and no broker markup.
Read onStill want a person to answer it?
We would rather talk you out of the wrong service than sell you one. Tell us what you are moving.