FMCSA allows you to download motor carrier information that you can use to build a trucking insurance prospect list. Filter the data based on fields such as power units, radius, cargo and business experience. The data can help you find out the existing insurance agency of a company and when its policy may expire. Keep the data up to date by refreshing it weekly.
Most for-hire motor carriers in the US must register with the FMCSA. They need to file proof of liability coverage and update their company profile at least every two years. That makes trucking one of the few commercial lines where the prospect data, the incumbent insurer and the buying triggers are all public.
Key Takeaways
- A trucking insurance list is built from FMCSA public data that anyone can download for free.
- Categorizing the trucking company’s specific business appetite, such as fleet size, operation type and radius, is useful for building an effective prospecting strategy.
- Trucking company registration date usually gives you an estimated expiration date of policies since most of them last annually.
- Possible renewal dates and event triggers can help you understand when and how fast you should contact a trucking insurance prospect.
- Fleet size can help you identify the authority that influences the final decision for buying a policy.
- A trucking insurance prospect data can become outdated fast, so you need to update it weekly.
- Buying DOT leads may save you time, but they are usually sold to multiple insurance companies.
What FMCSA Data Gives You for Free
There are three public data sets that are most important for you: carrier profiles, insurance filings and safety history. Anyone can download them from the DOT open data portal.
FMCSA publishes these files for free as part of its open data program. Here is what a trucking business can collect from them:
- Company Census File: This file includes the basic information to identify a motor carrier, such as legal name, USDOT number and docket numbers. It also includes contact information such as physical address, phone and cell phone and company officer names. Other details include company officer names, power units, driver count, annual mileage, hazmat indicator, operating radius and the date of the last MCS-150 update.
- Licensing and Insurance files: Operating authority grants and revocations, the insurer behind each BIPD filing, filing effective dates and pending cancellations.
- Safety Measurement System (SMS) data: CSA BASIC scores, inspections, out-of-service orders and crashes. Use it to check appetite fit, not to find contacts.
The FMCSA data doesn’t cover information such as premium, policy expiration date, loss runs or a reliable email for every carrier. So verify the data in your first conversation.
Key Steps to Create a Trucking Insurance Prospect List From FMCSA Data
Downloaded FMCSA data can include information about many trucking companies. Some of them may not fit your industry. Here is a step-by-step process you can use to filter the data and select the most suitable leads.
Step 1: Define Your Appetite Before You Pull a Row
Write out your filters in census field terms first. A list that is customized to your specific markets will quote and convert much better than location-based lists.
Use fields and filter rules to sort the contact:
- Fleet Size: Segment the trucking prospect based on the number of power units they have. For example, companies with 1 to 10 are small-fleet, 11 to 50 are mid-fleet and above 50 are large-fleet. It will help you decide who to contact when selling trucking insurance.
- Operation Type: Divide your list by carrier type, such as for-hire (authorized carrier), private carrier or exempt for-hire.
- Radius: Use a label for leads based on their typical travel distance, such as interstate beyond 100 miles versus local or intermediate radius.
- Commodity: The public data you download may include the information of some trucking companies that carry goods that your industry doesn’t cover. So you need to categorize carriers based on the commodities they transport, such as general freight, reefer, auto haul, dump, hazmat. Then, remove the contacts who carry the goods you don’t insure.
- Years in Business: Check the FMCSA registration date of carriers. Separate new carriers from carriers with three or more years in business.
- Safety: Drop or flag carriers with BASIC alerts or a high out-of-service that your markets don’t cover.
- States: Filter contacts based on the states where you or your producers hold an active license.
Once the filters are set, score each carrier against your appetite so producers work the best fits first.
Step 2: Pull and Clean the Census File
Download active interstate carriers, use the USDOT number as your main tracking ID and strip out stale or duplicate rows before you dial.
- Filter on status and operation. Keep active records with for-hire authority, then apply your Step 1 filters.
- Track by the USDOT number. Docket (MC) numbers still exist, but under FMCSA’s Motus registration system, each operating authority gets its own docket number, so one carrier can carry several. The USDOT number stays the same.
- Remove stale profiles. Carriers must update the MCS-150 every 24 months or face USDOT deactivation. A profile older than that often means a closed or parked operation.
- Flag repeated phone numbers. Some records include the contact information of a permit or compliance filing service instead of the carrier. A phone number shared across dozens of USDOTs usually means it doesn’t belong to an owner.
- Merge duplicates. A single owner can run several USDOT numbers under different LLCs. Manage the records under a single group.
Step 3: Add the Insurance Layer
The insurance filing data shows you the existing information of a motor carrier and when their policy may expire.
- Incumbent insurer. The BIPD filing (Form BMC-91 or BMC-91X) names the insurer of record. If your markets cannot compete with that insurer on this class, move on early.
- Approximate X-date. Trucking policies usually last a year. So you can estimate a possible X-date based on when a policy became effective and verify it on the call. It will help you to time your outreach to the renewal window.
- Pending cancellations. The insurer can’t cancel a policy within 30 days after filing a cancellation notice with FMCSA. Use this 30-day window to contact a carrier.
- New authority grants. A new for-hire carrier cannot activate its authority until a liability filing is on record. New grants are the earliest window of all.
- Reinstatements. Carriers who had a revocation need a new filing before they can run again.
Step 4: Segment by Trigger, Not by State
Split your prospect list based on present carrier status. It helps you decide the speed, message and cadence for contacting each segment:
- New authority (granted in the last 30 days): Contact within days. These carriers decide on insurance, factoring and load boards fast.
- Pending cancellation (next 30 days): Contact within the week a carrier submits a cancellation file. It increases your chance to win new trucking authority insurance accounts.
- Renewal window (X-date 60 to 120 days out): Run a 60-120 day outreach program following a commercial insurance prospecting strategy before prospects renew their policy with existing insurer.
- Growth signals: Power units up on the latest MCS-150, a new hazmat flag or a wider radius. Coverage needs change with the operation.
- Fit with no trigger: Some prospects may not have any activities within trucking insurance buying signals. Keep these in a slower nurture sequence and do regular follow-up.
Step 5: Find the Decision-Maker and Clear Compliance
For fleets, under 10 power units usually owner buy the insurance. The safety director, CFO, or fleet manager handles the process and the owner signs it for larger fleets. Identifying the right decision-makers helps you understand who can approve a contract and how to handle the trucking insurance sales objections they have.
- Start with the officer fields. The census file typically includes one or two company officers with the owner.
- Verify before outreach. Verify phone numbers and use the work emails from the company domain. LinkedIn often shows the safety director for companies with a fleet size over 20 units. Use list-building services if you don’t have staff for verification.
- Scrub the phones. Many owner-operators list a personal cell. Check numbers against the National Do Not Call Registry and never use autodialers or prerecorded messages on cell numbers without consent.
- Follow CAN-SPAM on email. Provide a physical address and a working opt-out in every message.
When the list is ready, use a commercial insurance cold call script with a tested opener for each segment. This is not legal advice. However, you should discuss your outreach policy with a legal expert before using it.
Step 6: Refresh Weekly and Track What Converts
A trucking prospect list can become outdated within weeks. So track new authority and cancellations daily and update your list every week.
- Pull the changes: New carriers, new insurance filings, new cancellation notices, revocations.
- Retire dead records: Revoked authority, out-of-service orders and inactive USDOT numbers.
- Track by segment: Contact rate, conversation rate, quotes submitted and policies bound. Cut the segments that do not bind.
Bought DOT Leads vs. a List You Build
DOT lead selling services can reformat and sell the same public FMCSA files to insurance agents. Buying a lead may help you save time and trucking insurance lead costs but doesn’t provide exclusive data.
- Build it yourself if you have someone who can handle a CSV and run the refresh every week.
- Buy a feed if contacting a new authority fast matters more than cost. Agencies that buy a feed get their contact list on the same day.
- Hand off the outreach if managing the list is not the problem but it is the time you need to make the calls.
Agencies that want qualified appointments with owner-operators and fleet decision-makers can use CallingAgency’s trucking insurance lead generation and appointment-setting service. It builds prospect lists and contacts those prospects, so agents can spend more time discussing coverage and preparing quotes.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find trucking companies to insure?
Download the FMCSA Company Census File and filter it to your appetite. Use fields such as power units, radius, cargo and state for filtering. Then, add insurance filing data to track renewal, cancellation or authority changes. Identify trigger events to contact a carrier fast.
What are FMCSA leads for insurance agents?
FMCSA leads are motor carrier records collected from a public or government data source. These records include FMCSA registration, insurance filings, authority grants, or coverage changes of a carrier. Lead list providers sell these records after cleaning and formatting them.
Is FMCSA data free to use for prospecting?
Yes. FMCSA publishes the census, licensing and insurance files on the DOT open data portal at no cost. However, telemarketing and email rules are still applicable if you use this data to contact the carriers.
Does FMCSA data show a carrier’s insurance renewal date?
Not directly. It shows the effective date of the liability filing and the insurer of record. Most trucking policies are annual. So it shows an estimated renewal month, which you can confirm during the first call.
What is a motor carrier prospect list?
A motor carrier prospect list includes trucking company information based on an insurance agency’s appetite. It includes trucking leads contact data, fleet details and triggers such as a renewal, cancellation, or new authority.
