FMCSA's QCMobile API is free, official and the right place to start if you want to build carrier checks yourself. VerifyCarrier's evidence API returns the FMCSA record, insurance filings, UCC history and contact overlaps in one dated response, with 100 calls a month free and 1,000 on the $49 plan.
Prices checked against FMCSA QCMobile API's own site. Check their site for current terms.
| Feature | VerifyCarrier | FMCSA QCMobile API |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free lookups; Carrier watch $49/month | Free; a WebKey is issued to a Login.gov developer account |
| Sign-up | Email signup; API key in the dashboard | Login.gov account, then a WebKey from My WebKeys |
| Carrier record | Normalized FMCSA carrier, authority, BASICs, inspections and crash summaries with field availability | Carrier, authority, basics, cargo-carried, operation-classification, oos and docket-numbers resources |
| Insurance filings | Active and pending policies with retrieval time and pagination | Not among the documented QCMobile resources |
| UCC and contact overlaps | Matched UCC/state-lien history and census contact overlaps, with sources | Not provided; different public sources |
| Source outages | Per-source status in every response; partial results are labelled | HTTP errors (400, 401, 404, 500) |
| Alerts | Daily email when FMCSA posts an insurance cancellation or involuntary suspension (with the effective date), or the census shows an out-of-service or safety-rating change | None; poll and diff the records yourself |
| Rate limits | Included: 100 calls/month free, 1,000 on the paid plan | Not stated on the developer site |
VerifyCarrier: web lookups are free; the Carrier watch plan is $49/month for 50 carriers with the API included.
Yes. FMCSA's QCMobile developer site says access is free; a webkey is issued to a login.gov developer account (mobile.fmcsa.dot.gov, checked October 24, 2026). VerifyCarrier's API is also free to start: 100 calls a month on a free account, 1,000 a month on the $49 Carrier watch plan.
The documented resources are: carrier by name, usdot number or docket number, plus basics, cargo-carried, operation-classification, oos, docket-numbers and authority. Returns the first 50 carriers; page with start and size. Insurance filings are not among the documented resources; those live in FMCSA's separate Licensing and Insurance system.
Not stated on the developer site as of October 24, 2026. If your product depends on either, test it yourself and keep the dates FMCSA returns with each record.
One call to GET /api/carrier/:dot/evidence returns the normalized FMCSA carrier record, active and pending insurance filings, matched UCC and state-lien history, and public census contact overlaps, each with its source and retrieval date and a per-source status (available, partial or unavailable). You do not join four government sources yourself, and a source outage is reported instead of hidden.
Yes. Many teams keep a direct QCMobile call for a specific field and use VerifyCarrier for the combined evidence record and for alerts. Both expose public FMCSA data; neither makes the approval decision for you.
The public FMCSA checks to run before booking a load, whichever tool you use. Read the carrier vetting guide.