Department of Transportation

Department of Transportation Carriers API

Motor carrier lookups

GitHub OpenAPI

Operations 2

GET /carriers/{dotNumber} Look up a carrier by USDOT number #
GET /carriers/name/{name} Look up carriers by legal name #

Documentation

📖
Documentation
https://vpic.nhtsa.dot.gov/api/
📖
Documentation
https://api.nhtsa.gov/
📖
Documentation
https://mobile.fmcsa.dot.gov/qc/services/getting-started
📖
Authentication
https://mobile.fmcsa.dot.gov/qc/services/manage
📖
Documentation
https://www.faa.gov/data

Specifications

⚙
OpenAPI
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/department-of-transportation/refs/heads/main/openapi/department-of-transportation-carriers-api-openapi.yml

Schemas & Data

📊
JSONSchema
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/department-of-transportation/refs/heads/main/json-schema/vehicle-schema.json
📊
JSONSchema
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/department-of-transportation/refs/heads/main/json-schema/recall-schema.json
📊
JSONSchema
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/department-of-transportation/refs/heads/main/json-schema/carrier-schema.json

Other Resources

🔗
Examples
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/department-of-transportation/refs/heads/main/examples/vin-decode-example.json
🔗
Examples
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/department-of-transportation/refs/heads/main/examples/recall-example.json

Work with this as data

Every API here is available over the APIs.io API and to AI agents over MCP.

MCP server

One button, every client — Claude, Cursor, VS Code and the rest.

https://apis.io/mcp

Tools for apis

7 MCP tools reach this
  • find_apisBrowse and filter every API in the catalog.
  • get_api_artifactsOne API's artifacts, grouped by type.
  • get_openapiThe primary OpenAPI for this API.
  • find_similar_apisAPIs that look like this one.
  • apis_io_searchSTART HERE — APIs, providers and tags for one query, each with its total.
  • resolveTurn a domain, URL or GitHub org into the provider it belongs to.
  • find_cohortsEvery scored population of providers in the catalog.
All 92 tools →

Call it yourself

curl for this page
This API 
curl "https://apis.io/api/v1/apis/department-of-transportation-carriers-api"
All apis 
curl "https://apis.io/api/v1/apis?limit=25"

Discovery needs no key. Ratings and market analysis are Pro.

Get an API key

Free tier, no form to fill in. Signing in shares your email address with us — we store it to create your key and to recognise you if you sign in with another provider. See our Privacy Policy and Terms.

GitHub Google LinkedIn

A second provider on the same verified email joins the account you already have.

OpenAPI Specification

department-of-transportation-carriers-api-openapi.yml Raw ↑ 
openapi: 3.2.0
info:
  title: FMCSA QCMobile Carriers API
  description: The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) QCMobile web services provide programmatic access to motor-carrier registration, operating-authority, safety-rating, and inspection data. Consumers can look up carriers by USDOT number, MC/MX number, or name, and retrieve related crash, inspection, and authority records.
  version: '1'
  contact:
    name: FMCSA
    url: https://mobile.fmcsa.dot.gov/
  license:
    name: Public Domain
    url: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/
servers:
- url: https://mobile.fmcsa.dot.gov/qc/services
  description: Production
security:
- WebKey: []
tags:
- name: Carriers
  description: Motor carrier lookups
paths:
  /carriers/{dotNumber}:
    get:
      tags:
      - Carriers
      summary: Look up a carrier by USDOT number
      operationId: getCarrierByDotNumber
      parameters:
      - name: dotNumber
        in: path
        required: true
        schema:
          type: integer
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Carrier record
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/CarrierResponse'
  /carriers/name/{name}:
    get:
      tags:
      - Carriers
      summary: Look up carriers by legal name
      operationId: getCarriersByName
      parameters:
      - name: name
        in: path
        required: true
        schema:
          type: string
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Carrier records
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/CarrierListResponse'
components:
  schemas:
    CarrierListResponse:
      type: object
      properties:
        content:
          type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/Carrier'
    Carrier:
      type: object
      properties:
        carrier:
          type: object
          properties:
            allowedToOperate:
              type: string
              enum:
              - Y
              - N
            dotNumber:
              type: integer
            legalName:
              type: string
            dbaName:
              type:
              - string
              - 'null'
            ein:
              type: string
            phyStreet:
              type: string
            phyCity:
              type: string
            phyState:
              type: string
            phyZipcode:
              type: string
            telephone:
              type: string
            totalDrivers:
              type: integer
            totalPowerUnits:
              type: integer
            statusCode:
              type: string
            mcs150Date:
              type: string
              format: date
    CarrierResponse:
      type: object
      properties:
        content:
          $ref: '#/components/schemas/Carrier'
  securitySchemes:
    WebKey:
      type: apiKey
      in: query
      name: webKey
externalDocs:
  description: FMCSA QCMobile Web Services
  url: https://mobile.fmcsa.dot.gov/qc/services/getting-started