Data · Operating authority · 3 minute read · For release November 2026
Dump trucks with no active authority
8.5%
Interstate for-hire dump truck haulers list 73,270 trucks on their federal registrations. 6,253 of those trucks, 8.5%, belong to carriers with no active federal operating authority.
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8.5%
of trucks, no active federal authority
22.4%
of trucks at one-truck carriers
7.9%
no federal or state authority, in eight states
Three kinds of gap
2.0% of trucks belong to carriers with no authority on record. 5.9% belong to carriers whose authority isn't active: revoked, given up or never granted. 0.7% belong to carriers with an application pending.
Smaller fleets, bigger gaps
At one-truck carriers, 22.4% of trucks show no active authority. At fleets of 21 or more, 4.1%. Some of that is lawful: an owner-operator leased to a larger carrier runs under that carrier's authority.
No active federal authority, by fleet size
Share of trucks, interstate for-hire dump truck haulers.
FMCSA census (az4n-8mr2), Motus carrier authority (inys-ebih), earlier carrier authority (6eyk-hxee), October 16, 2026
State records close part of it
A carrier that hauls inside one state needs that state's authority, not federal. In the eight states HaulStanding reads automatically, we looked up all 663 carriers with no active federal authority. 156 hold an active state certificate. 507, with 1,529 trucks, hold neither.
No active authority, by state
Share of each state's interstate for-hire dump truck haulers' trucks.
TxDMV, California DMV, Georgia DPS, MnDOT, Kansas Corporation Commission, Michigan State Police, Washington UTC, Hawaii PUC, October 16, 2026. Hawaii (6 carriers) is in the totals, not the chart.
Next steps
A truck at the scale house doesn't show its authority. The record does. Check a hauler on HaulStanding before the first load: federal authority, insurance on file, and the state certificate in the states read daily. Then watch the haulers you hire and get an alert the day their authority changes.
How we counted. FMCSA public tables on data.transportation.gov, read October 16, 2026. Carriers: active USDOT numbers marked interstate and authorized for hire only (no private or exempt operation), and dump truck haulers by our definition. Trucks: power units on the carrier's MCS-150; 42 carriers reporting 10 or more trucks and more than three per driver are set aside as likely errors. Authority: hauling authority only (not broker), from the Motus carrier table where FMCSA lists the docket, otherwise the earlier carrier table. State authority: an active or granted certificate tied to the USDOT number.
Limits. Interstate is what the carrier declares, and many local haulers mark it anyway. Leased owner-operators run under another carrier's authority. Truck counts are self-reported and often stale, and some of these carriers no longer run trucks and never closed the USDOT number.
Public records as FMCSA and the states publish them, which can contain errors. Figures describe groups, not any one carrier. Not legal advice.
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