Active authority
Active authority means the operating grant is in force when you look it up. Licensing and Insurance uses active for a grant that is currently in business. Check that status on pickup day, not only on the day the quote was sent.
Key facts
- SAFER ACTIVE
- The USDOT number is active, which is a different line from operating authority
- Source: safer.fmcsa.dot.gov
The sources are listed on this page.
On FMCSA's Licensing and Insurance record, an active status means the carrier, forwarder, or broker is currently in business for that type of authority. Inactive means the grant has been revoked. None means the company is not registered for that type. SAFER uses a different word, ACTIVE, for the USDOT census number itself. A live census number is not the same fact as an active broker or carrier grant.
When to check
Check when you book, and check again the day the driver is coming. A grant that showed active can later show inactive, which on this record means revoked. The quote email is a snapshot of whatever the sender pasted. It is not the file. Inactive authority is the status to refuse.
What to match
Match the legal name, the docket, and the role. Active broker authority does not authorize the company to haul the car. Active carrier authority does not mean the driver at the curb is that carrier. Read the door and the bill of lading. RideShipper does not flip a company to active, and a badge on an advertisement is not the L&I row.