Check a bus or charter company's license and insurance (free FMCSA lookup)

What this check is

A company that drives people across a state line for hire has to be on the federal register kept by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, under passenger authority. That covers a lot of different businesses: a charter bus for a wedding, a limousine, a shuttle, a motorcoach. This page reads that register. It does not rank operators, it does not sell seats, and a result here is not a statement that a particular vehicle is safe. You are about to put people in someone else's vehicle. The filing is the part you can check in a minute, before you pay anyone.

Authority, and the insurance on the filing

Passenger authority is the permission to carry people for hire across a state line. Without it, the company is not allowed to do that trip, whatever the website says. Liability insurance is filed with FMCSA in thousands of dollars, and the company page shows the amount on the filing. That number is what they told the register. It is not the certificate, and it is not automatically enough for your group. Ask for the certificate before you pay a deposit. Check that the name matches the filing, and that the limit covers the number of people traveling. Cargo insurance, which covers luggage, is often inside the liability policy for a passenger operator, so a missing cargo line is reported and is not treated as a failure the way it is for a mover.

What a USDOT number does, and what it does not

The USDOT number identifies the filing. It does not mean the operator is careful, inspected last week, or free of complaints. Active authority, insurance on file, and a revocation under way are separate lines, and this check reads them separately. The MC or docket number is the operating-authority record. One company can hold more than one docket. The number belongs on the quote, on the website, and on the vehicle. If they will not give it to you, that is your answer, and you can still try the legal name. Names on the register are often the legal name, not the name on the side of the bus.

What to look at before you book

Get the USDOT number from the quote. Open the company page and read whether passenger authority is active, whether liability insurance is on file, and whether a revocation is pending. Then ask for the insurance certificate and the name of the company that will actually operate the vehicle. A broker can sell you the trip and hand it to a carrier you have not checked. The name on the invoice and the name on the authority are often not the same. The register does not show the driver's record, the last inspection of that coach, or complaints. FMCSA's complaint database is closed to this check. A clear result means the registration looked a certain way when the page was read. It is not an inspection and not a review.

A trip that stays inside one state is licensed by that state, not by this filing. The state office is different everywhere, and this site does not guess at it. For a trip that crosses a state line, the federal passenger filing is the one that applies. The federal consumer page for household moves is a different subject; the register this tool reads is the same agency: fmcsa.dot.gov. If the job is a household move rather than a bus, use the mover check.