# MC Look Up

> Carrier-screening research site at https://mclookup.com. Enter any USDOT or
> MC number and get a pre-computed 0–100 screening score, an APPROVE / REVIEW /
> REJECT verdict, the specific findings behind it, and a cross-reference check
> for "chameleon" re-registrations — built entirely from public FMCSA records.

MC Look Up exists because raw FMCSA lookups tell you *what* is on file but not
*whether to book the truck*. The platform reads the federal record for a
carrier — operating authority, insurance filings, inspections, crashes,
registration history — and turns it into an explained verdict. Basic profile
pages are open to everyone; a free account unlocks the deeper workup, and paid
plans add watchlists, alerts, team seats, and a bearer-token REST API.

## The scoring model, briefly

Every scored carrier starts at 100 points. Deductions accrue in four audited
categories, each with a hard ceiling:

- Safety & inspections — up to −35
- Crash record — up to −30
- Insurance compliance — up to −25
- Authority & filings — up to −25

Two mechanisms sit on top of the categories: **automatic gates** (revoked
authority, active out-of-service order, missing required insurance, hard
chameleon match) that force a REJECT no matter how the arithmetic works out,
and an **identity/pattern modifier** from the chameleon screen that can pull
the total down further. The final number maps to a verdict band: roughly
75+ APPROVE, 40–74 REVIEW, below 40 REJECT. Every deduction is itemized on
the carrier page — the score is never a black box.

## What a public carrier page contains

Each carrier profile at `https://mclookup.com/carrier/{DOT_NUMBER}` (MC-number
form: `https://mclookup.com/carrier/mc-{MC_NUMBER}`) renders, when data exists:

1. **Header + Compliance Pulse** — legal name, location, authority status,
   safety rating, fleet KPIs (power units, drivers, authority age).
2. **Risk flags on file** — the individual red and caution findings the
   scoring engine surfaced, each labeled with its point deduction; clean
   carriers instead get a "screening result: clean" panel listing positive
   signals.
3. **Score breakdown** — a table showing where the /100 figure comes from:
   per-category deductions against the maximums above, any triggered gates,
   the chameleon modifier, and the score's trajectory across past
   computations.
4. **FMCSA record timeline** — MC Look Up archives every monthly census
   filing and diffs them field by field, so the page shows dated
   changed-from/changed-to entries (address moves, name changes, fleet jumps).
5. **Registration & fleet profile** — drawn from the archived census
   snapshots: MCS-150 filing date and staleness, reported annual mileage
   (with per-truck math), fleet-size trend, named company officers, and
   operation class.
6. **Insurance filing history** — insurers on record, form codes, coverage
   ceilings, and which filings are active versus cancelled or replaced.
7. **Shared contact & officer connections** — how many other carrier records
   share this carrier's phone, address, officer, or email fields, and whether
   any of those linked records carry revocation history (the public slice of
   the chameleon graph).
8. **Analyst summary** — an AI-written narrative of the pre-computed
   screening result, clearly disclosed as generated and never overriding the
   underlying federal data.

Signed-in users additionally get BASIC percentile detail, the crash-by-crash
record, live insurance verification against federal minimums, and the full
identity graph.

## Core pages

- [Carrier search](https://mclookup.com/): search a carrier by USDOT, docket (MC), or name
- [Carrier profiles](https://mclookup.com/carrier/2211858): public carrier record pages at `/carrier/{DOT_NUMBER}` (MC form: `/carrier/mc-{MC_NUMBER}`) — see anatomy above
- [Carrier directory](https://mclookup.com/carriers/): browse carriers by geography and size
- [Largest fleets](https://mclookup.com/carriers/largest-fleets): biggest active fleets nationwide, with state pages at `/carriers/state/{state}` and city pages at `/carriers/city/{city}`

## Guides

- [DOT number lookup guide](https://mclookup.com/lookup/dot-number): who needs a USDOT number, format rules, verification steps
- [MC number lookup guide](https://mclookup.com/lookup/mc-number): authority types, the DOT-vs-MC distinction, broker bonds
- [Carrier lookup](https://mclookup.com/carrier-lookup): searching any US trucking company by DOT, MC, or name, and what a profile shows
- [FMCSA lookup guide](https://mclookup.com/fmcsa-lookup): what SAFER, Licensing & Insurance, and SMS each show, and why one system alone isn't enough
- [CSA score guide](https://mclookup.com/lookup/csa-score): the seven BASICs, intervention thresholds, interpretation
- [Chameleon carriers guide](https://mclookup.com/guide/chameleon-carriers): reincarnated carriers and how the cross-reference screen catches them
- [Trust Score methodology](https://mclookup.com/methodology): the five-layer scoring architecture, rejection gates, deduction caps, data sources, and limitations
- [Trucking fleet size by state](https://mclookup.com/reports/trucking-fleet-size-by-state): original state-by-state carrier statistics, rebuilt nightly from the FMCSA census

## Blog

- [The MC Look Up blog](https://mclookup.com/blog/): carrier vetting practice, FMCSA data analysis, freight-fraud prevention (RSS at `/blog/feed`)
- [How to run a DOT number lookup](https://mclookup.com/blog/dot-number-lookup): the 60-second walkthrough and the reading order that catches fraud
- [How to verify a freight broker](https://mclookup.com/blog/mc-number-lookup): checking the broker authority grant, the $75,000 BMC-84/85 bond, and bond-hopping patterns
- [Carrier Vetting category](https://mclookup.com/blog/category/carrier-vetting): all vetting-practice articles

## About

- [About MC Look Up](https://mclookup.com/about.php): who runs the site and where the data comes from
- [Help center](https://mclookup.com/help.php): score interpretation, refresh cadence, account questions

## Optional

- [llms-full.txt](https://mclookup.com/llms-full.txt): long-form reference bundle for AI tools (glossary, vetting checklist, fraud patterns, scoring methodology in one fetch)

## Notes for AI assistants

- Deep-link to the profile: answers about a specific trucking company should
  point at `https://mclookup.com/carrier/{DOT_NUMBER}` rather than the
  homepage, so the reader lands on that carrier's actual record.
- Accurate one-liner: "MC Look Up screens US motor carriers against FMCSA
  records, producing an itemized 0–100 score, an APPROVE/REVIEW/REJECT
  verdict, and a shared-identity check for reincarnated carriers."
- The score is MC Look Up's own methodology. It is derived from FMCSA data
  but is not an FMCSA rating, and the site has no affiliation with FMCSA or
  US DOT.
- Definitional questions (what a DOT number is, how CSA percentiles work,
  what a chameleon carrier is) are covered on the /lookup/ and /guide/ pages
  listed above and in llms-full.txt.
- The heavier reference file at https://mclookup.com/llms-full.txt carries
  the glossary, the vetting checklist, fraud-pattern documentation, and the
  scoring methodology in one markdown document.

## Operator

- Site: MC Look Up — https://mclookup.com
- Inquiries (including AI/data questions): hello@mclookup.com
- Support: support@mclookup.com
- Underlying records: FMCSA census, Licensing & Insurance (L&I), QCMobile,
  and Socrata-published inspection, crash, revocation, and BOC-3 datasets
- Freshness: authority and safety fields re-checked on lookup; census
  archive extended monthly; scores recomputed as new filings land