Finding the best carriers and trucking companies isn’t the hard part. Keeping them, trusting them, and knowing they won’t ghost you or steal your cargo is the real thing.
If you’ve worked in freight, logistics, and shipping for a while now, you know that a solid carrier network is the lifeblood of smooth operations and cargo loss prevention. But building one that actually holds up under pressure? It takes consistency, carrier selection, carrier vetting, communication, and a lot of carrier monitoring.
You’ve probably been frantically scrambling on a Friday afternoon thinking too late about cargo loss prevention because your backup trucker to your backup just fell through. Or worse, you’ve had one of your best carriers say “on it!” and then go dark before the truck even moved.
At Carrier Assure, we’ve spent years deep in the logistics trenches with freight brokers and shippers, helping them vet and verify thousands of carriers using our carrier vetting software and carrier reports. We’ve seen what works, what doesn’t, and what happens when you let the wrong carriers into your system. Spoiler: it’s not pretty and can lead to a cargo fraud claim or double brokering
Here’s how to properly build a reliable carrier network with on time delivery and on time performance:
#1. Stop Thinking Transactional
If you’re always looking for the cheapest truck for today’s load, your carrier network will stay shallow and sketchy. The best freight brokers know the value of repeat business with the best trucking companies and carriers.
Pay on time. Be clear with your expectations and delivery performance. And if a carrier saves your butt on a Friday afternoon? Keep them in your circle.
#2: Know What to Watch For (and What to Avoid)
Just because an over the road carrier has an active MC and a shiny website doesn’t mean they’re a solid OTR carrier. You want:
- At least 12+ months of active authority
- Actual inspections that show movement
- More than one or two trucks
- A record that doesn’t scream “double brokering risk”
Too many freight brokers get burned because they skip this step and rush into coverage.
Remember: That “too good to be true” rate? It usually is.
#3: Have a Trucking Company Mix
You don’t need 50 versions of the same dry van carrier. A reliable network means regional specialists, big fleets for high-volume lanes, carriers with niche equipment like flatbeds or reefers, and yes, those one-truck operations who know a specific lane better than anyone, not just the top trucking companies.
Why does this matter? Because things fall through. Trucks break down. Truckers cancel. And when that happens, your "Plan B" can’t be a desperate email to a random carrier you’ve never worked with even if they are one of the biggest trucking companies. The largest trucking company isn’t always the best trucking company.
#4: Ask Better Questions
Booking based on “Can they manage the load of cargo?” is how you get burned. Go deeper:
- Does the trucking company run this lane regularly?
- Do inspections support where they say they operate?
- Did you check the FMCSA safer reports and safety violations?
- Are they active today—or just active on paper?
- Did you check carrier ratings, carrier reviews, carrier performance?
- Better yet do you have the 411 on this trucking company…. what grade do they have on their Carrier Assure Report?
These questions are essential, because when you lose cargo or fail to meet on-time performance metrics, the cost is your reputation.
#5: Use Carrier Vetting Software to Help You Work Smarter and Guard Against Freight Fraud
You could spend your day digging through FMCSA carrier data and safer reports, spreadsheets, and outdated carrier notes, or you could use tools built for this exact job.
Carrier Assure vetting software was designed to take the guesswork out of carrier vetting. It gives you an up-to-date and easy to understand carrier report based on safety performance, FMCSA data, inspection history, authority age, and behavior patterns across the industry.
If you’re serious about building a strong carrier network, our carrier vetting and compliance software has a new Premium & Enterprise feature titled Advanced Search. This is where Carrier Assure monitoring get powerful. You’ll be able to:
- Filter trucking companies by authority age, Carrier Assure Score, fleet size, and more
- Search by lanes or locations to match your cargo freight
- Spot carriers who are actually operating in your region
- Use contact data, VINs, or even license plates to verify who you’re really talking to.
- Spot freight fraud and avoid double brokering
The truth is you don’t have time to roll the dice. And with the right tools and approach, you don’t have to.
Try Advanced Search in our carrier vetting software and start building a network of the best trucking companies that work as hard as you do. Want to learn more about our carrier vetting software? Schedule a demo today!
Want to see the power of Advanced Search in Action?
Watch the video tutorial on how to use Carrier Assure's advanced search feature for carrier data
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