After the Supreme Court’s Montgomery ruling, FMCSA safety ratings are getting a lot more attention across the trucking industry. The ruling focused on whether brokers can be held responsible for hiring carriers with known safety problems. After today, brokers may now face greater pressure to document and explain why they hired a specific carrier.

For carriers, one thing is becoming clear: paperwork is now a more important part of your sales process.

In a post-Montgomery market, small carriers won’t automatically get shut out, but brokers will look more closely at safety records, compliance history, and operational professionalism before booking freight.

Here’s what carriers need to know.

What Is an FMCSA Safety Rating?

An FMCSA safety rating is a federal evaluation of a trucking company’s safety practices.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) assigns these ratings after conducting a compliance review of a motor carrier’s operation.

During that review, FMCSA may evaluate:

• Hours-of-service compliance

• Vehicle maintenance records

• Driver qualification files

• Drug and alcohol testing programs

• Crash history

• Overall safety management practices

After the review, the carrier receives 1 of 3 ratings:

Truck Drivers Do Not Receive FMCSA Safety Ratings

One of the biggest misconceptions after the Montgomery ruling is that individual truck drivers get FMCSA safety ratings. They do not.

Safety ratings apply to motor carrier companies, not the person behind the wheel.

If you’re an owner operator operating under your own authority, the rating applies to your business. If you drive for another carrier, the rating belongs to that company.

Here’s the difference:

What Is a PSP Report?

A PSP report, or Pre-Employment Screening Program report, includes a driver’s roadside inspection and crash history collected from FMCSA data. Employers and insurers usually review PSP reports during hiring.

What Is a DAC Report?

A DAC report (AKA Drive-A-Check) is a report card for drivers. It tracks employment history in the trucking industry and may include information from past carriers about a driver’s work record. Not all carriers use DAC reports, but a lot of larger fleets and insurers review them during the hiring process.

Here’s the Catch: Most Carriers Have No Safety Rating

This is where the Montgomery ruling becomes complicated.

According to industry experts discussing the case, roughly 94% of carriers currently operate without an FMCSA safety rating because they have never gone through a formal compliance review.

Today, most carriers are considered unrated. Unrated doesn’t automatically mean unsafe. In most cases, it just means FMCSA has not audited the company yet. Post-Montgomery, brokers may now face more legal pressure when hiring carriers from a market where most companies have no formal rating at all. 

All that creates a difficult reality across the industry: Brokers are being asked to make defensible hiring decisions using incomplete safety visibility.

This is one of the ruling’s biggest long-term implications, especially for small carriers.

Why This Could Affect Small Carriers the Most

Large fleets often have:

• More documented safety programs

• Dedicated compliance teams

• Established operating histories

• More structured onboarding processes

While many small carriers do not.

That doesn’t automatically make small carriers unsafe, but in a higher-liability environment, brokers may naturally gravitate toward carriers they believe are easily defensible hirings in court.

For smaller carriers, professionalism and documentation may become a larger competitive advantage moving forward.

What Brokers Will Likely Start Looking At

As brokers tighten vetting processes, carriers may face more scrutiny around:

• FMCSA safety ratings

• Inspection history

• Out-of-service violationsca

• Insurance coverage

• Driver qualification records

• Maintenance records

• Claims history

• Response times and communication quality

• Documentation accuracy

• SAFER profile consistency

The bottom line: carriers with organized operations and cleaner records will stand out. 

What Carriers Should Do Now

First, don’t panic if your company is unrated. Think of this as an opportunity to tighten up your operation before brokers begin asking harder questions.

Consider focusing on:

• Keeping inspections clean

• Addressing repeat violations

• Maintaining organized records

• Verifying SAFER profile information

• Improving response times to brokers

• Keeping insurance documents current

• Update your carrier packet with the new essentials

In a post-Montgomery market, operational discipline may increasingly become part of winning freight.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a carrier operate without an FMCSA safety rating?

Yes. Most carriers currently operate without a formal FMCSA safety rating because they have never undergone a compliance review.

Does “unrated” mean unsafe?

No. Unrated simply means FMCSA has not formally reviewed the carrier yet.

Can brokers still hire unrated carriers?

Yes. The Montgomery ruling does not ban brokers from working with unrated carriers. However, brokers may increase documentation and vetting requirements moving forward.

Will brokers require more paperwork after Montgomery?

Many industry analysts expect brokers to strengthen vetting and compliance processes, especially around safety history, insurance verification, and operational documentation.

What is a conditional safety rating?

A conditional rating means FMCSA identified safety issues that require correction. The carrier can still operate, but the rating signals elevated compliance risk.

Final Thoughts

The Montgomery ruling may reshape how brokers evaluate carriers for years to come.

One of the biggest challenges moving forward is that most carriers remain unrated, leaving brokers to make legal and operational decisions with incomplete safety data.

For carriers, that means organization, documentation, and professionalism may matter more than ever.

Once you understand your safety profile and are ready to roll, start searching TruckSmarter’s free load board. Trusted by over 1 million drivers, it helps owner-operators find quality freight faster without subscription fees.