Live in the platform now. Every score in DOT Intel today reflects these factors.
Approved for the next release. Factor definitions locked; implementation in flight.
Acknowledged factors not yet built — typically waiting on FMCSA SMS / inspection / crash ingest pipelines or operator self-report (claim flow).
The 0–100 Scale
What each band means
Higher score = lower risk. Most accounts land in Standard or Substandard. Preferred is reserved for clean profiles with no significant red signals; Ineligible is a categorical override that bypasses the gradient score entirely.
80–100
Preferred
Strong account profile. Minimal underwriter friction expected. Most carriers will quote competitively.
60–79
Standard
Routine account. Some carriers prefer; others may require manual review or modest pricing adjustment.
40–59
Substandard
Underwriter referral likely. Expect carriers to ask follow-up questions or apply higher rates. Several may decline.
0–39
High Risk
Most carriers will decline. A few specialty markets remain. Pricing reflects elevated loss expectations.
Override
Ineligible
A categorical disqualifier overrides the gradient score. The carrier cannot be insured under most appetites until the disqualifier is resolved.
Factors
What we evaluate
The categories of signal that move a carrier's score, grouped by theme. The full factor library — every signal, its exact thresholds, and how it's weighted — is available to DOT Intel members.
Regulatory & Authority
3 of 3 signals live
Authority status, revocations, and federal registration signals.
Safety
1 of 1 signal live
Crash, inspection, and out-of-service history from public FMCSA records.
Carrier Operations
2 of 2 signals live
Fleet size, mileage, operating-authority age, and operational footprint.
Cargo Exposure
1 of 1 signal live
Hazmat indicators and cargo types that shape risk exposure.
Insurance Quality
5 of 6 signals live
Coverage continuity, lapses, cancellations, and insurer changes.
Data Confidence
2 of 2 signals live
How complete and consistent a carrier's public record is.
FMCSA SMS BASICs
5 of 7 signals live
FMCSA SMS Behavior Analysis & Safety Improvement Category signals.
Driver Compliance
0 of 3 signals live
Operator-reported driver credentials and program status (claim flow).
Shared-Attribute Signals
0 of 1 signal live
Shared-attribute links used in fraud / reincarnation-risk detection.
See the full factor library
The exact signals inside each category, their trigger thresholds, and how each one is weighted are reserved for DOT Intel members — so the scoring method stays our moat, not a competitor's.
Data Sources
All free, all public
DOT Intel is built on FMCSA's public regulatory data. We don't pay for paid VIN lookups, paid VOIP detection, or commercial data brokers. If we ever do, we'll tell you here first.
FMCSA Company Census
Live (per-DOT API call)
Authority status, fleet size, location, hazmat indicator, cargo flags, prior revocation, leased drivers, mileage. Pulled live every time you view a carrier.
FMCSA Licensing & Insurance (L&I)
7.5M filings (1.89M in 4-yr window)
Every insurance filing recorded by FMCSA — current coverage, lapses, cancellations, insurer changes. The backbone of the insurance-quality factors.
FMCSA SAFER
Refreshed nightly
Authority registration, OOS status, safety ratings. Folded into the Census view today; will become its own daily ingest as the platform matures.
FMCSA SMS BASIC measures
Live — monthly refresh via data.transportation.gov SODA API
Five publicly displayed Behavior Analysis & Safety Improvement Categories (Unsafe Driving, HOS Compliance, Driver Fitness, Controlled Substances, Vehicle Maintenance). FMCSA publishes the raw measure and alert flag; we recompute the percentile ourselves.
FMCSA inspection + crash records
Live — 24-month rolling window (FMCSA's publishing horizon)
Per-inspection and per-crash detail powering the 24-month safety rollups (vehicle/driver out-of-service rates, fatal/injury/tow-away crash counts). FMCSA publishes a rolling 24 months of detail; the SMS Methodology scoring window matches.
Operator self-report (claim flow)
Roadmap — driver-persona dashboard pending
CDL expirations, MVR refresh dates, drug-test schedule, SAP status. All from the operator themselves, gated by the dotintel.io claim flow.
Honest Limitations
What this score is not
It's not a quote, binder, or coverage guarantee.Every score in DOT Intel is illustrative. Final binding decisions belong to the carrier and underwriter, who use proprietary inputs we don't have access to.
It's not the same as the FMCSA SMS score and not a federal safety rating.SMS measures regulatory safety performance. Our score is an underwriting-visibility model that uses public SMS measure inputs (Unsafe Driving, HOS Compliance, Driver Fitness, Controlled Substances, Vehicle Maintenance) alongside insurance and authority signals. The Crash Indicator and Hazmat Compliance BASICs are not publicly displayed by FMCSA for property carriers, and we don't infer them.
It's not predictive of premium.A Preferred-band score doesn't guarantee a low quote. Carrier-by-carrier appetite, rate filings, and submission specifics determine pricing.
We don't use paid data sources today. No phone-metadata enrichment, no DMV / VIN history, no commercial address validators. When that changes — typically post-revenue — this page will tell you first.
Sparse data caps the headline score. When 3 or more critical inputs are unknown, we cap the visible score at 65 (top of Standard band) so a profile with too many missing pieces never reads as Preferred. Your carrier report flags which inputs were unknown.