A complete guide · Updated May 2026

Carrier Setup Packets

A carrier setup packet is everything a freight broker needs from a new carrier before tendering them a load. Here's what goes inside the packet, how brokers used to send and chase them, and the modern way to skip the chase entirely.

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The basics

What is a carrier setup packet?

A carrier setup packet is the bundle of paperwork, documents, and verifications a freight broker collects from a motor carrier before working with them. The same bundle goes by a few different names depending on who's talking — "carrier packet," "broker setup packet," "new-carrier paperwork," "carrier compliance file" — but they all describe the same thing: the legal and operational record a broker maintains so they can confidently tender freight to that carrier.

The setup packet is one piece of a larger workflow called carrier onboarding. The onboarding workflow is the full process — verifying authority, collecting documents, signing the agreement, activating the carrier in the TMS. The setup packet is specifically the document set that holds it all together. A complete setup packet is the artifact a broker can pull up in a claim, an audit, or a year-end review and say: "here's everything we collected before we ever tendered them a load."

Anatomy

What's inside a carrier setup packet

Every brokerage tunes their setup packet to their compliance posture, but the spine of a complete packet is consistent across the industry. These are the documents and data points that typically make up a US freight broker's setup packet for a new motor carrier.

Broker-Carrier Agreement

The contract. Payment terms, claims process, liability allocation, dispute resolution — all signed.

MC certificate

Proof of active FMCSA operating authority. Pulled from SAFER or supplied by the carrier.

COI bundle

Certificates of Insurance — auto liability, motor truck cargo, and general liability. Broker named as certificate holder.

W-9

Tax identification details so the broker can issue 1099s correctly at year end.

Notice of Assignment

Required when the carrier uses a factoring company. Directs payment to the factor, not the carrier.

Equipment / lane profile

Trailer types, services offered, operating geography. The data the broker's TMS needs to match the carrier to freight.

Dispatch contacts

Primary dispatcher name, email, phone, and after-hours contact. Where load offers and load-status calls actually go.

Authority-signer details

The person at the carrier authorized to bind the company — name, title, contact info, and a verified email.

Custom addenda

Anything else the broker needs — flatbed-specific safety form, hazmat addendum, equipment photo, ACH form, references.

Two ways to send a packet

The setup packet workflow: email-and-fax vs. one link

Brokerages still run setup packets through a Word doc and an email thread — and it works, sort of. The alternative is a single link the carrier completes in their cab on a phone. Both arrive at the same artifact (a signed packet). What differs is the broker's time, the carrier's completion rate, and the broker's exposure to fraud during the process.

Traditional Word doc + email

Email the carrier a packet template — a PDF or Word doc with blank fields.
Carrier prints, signs, fills in handwriting, scans, emails back.
Broker opens the PDFs, eyeballs every page, looks for missing initials.
Broker hops to FMCSA SAFER, copy-pastes the MC# to verify authority.
Broker emails the carrier's insurance agent to confirm coverage.
Broker re-types the carrier into the TMS — name, MC#, equipment, dispatcher, lane profile.
Two to five business days later, the carrier is activated.

CarrierPacket.Link One link

Broker designs the packet once — branding, required documents, custom agreement.
Broker sends the carrier a single link (or embeds it on their site).
Carrier completes the form on a phone or laptop in the cab.
FMCSA authority + insurance + safety scores pulled automatically.
Carrier signs via email-OTP — the click on the verification email is the signature.
Webhook fires into the broker's TMS with the signed PDF, every document, and the risk verdict.
Under an hour from "send link" to "ready to tender."

The CarrierPacket.Link way

Run carrier setup as software, not a process

CarrierPacket.Link is a complete digital carrier setup platform — broker-branded, embeddable, with every document and verification built in. Brokers design a packet once, share it as a link, and get back signed and verified records that drop straight into the TMS. The carrier-facing experience is mobile-first and pre-fills FMCSA data the moment the carrier types their MC# or DOT#.

Every setup packet that comes back to a broker through CarrierPacket.Link runs through our five-layer verification stack: real-time FMCSA verification, a PASS / WARN / FAIL risk score from our SearchCarriers integration, email-OTP signing, an optional FMCSA-phone SMS claim for high-stakes packets, and an audit envelope baked into the signed PDF. The full breakdown of those layers lives on the Carrier Onboarding page — they protect every setup packet, automatically.

30 days free

Try the modern setup packet

Spin up an account, design your first packet, brand it with your logo and colors, and send it to the next carrier on your list — all this afternoon. No credit card to start, no procurement cycle, no per-seat fees.

30 days free with the full feature set
Brand the packet with your logo, colors, and your own agreement
Real-time FMCSA verification + risk scoring on every submission
Webhook + REST API + CSV — your TMS, your way

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FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What's the difference between a carrier setup packet and a digital carrier packet?

Same thing, different vintage. "Carrier setup packet" usually refers to the document bundle itself — the Word/PDF template a broker sends to the carrier. "Digital carrier packet" is the modern web-based version where the document collection happens on a form instead of by email. The artifact at the end (a signed, audit-trailed PDF) is functionally identical; what changes is who does the work and how long it takes.

Do I have to use a standard template, or can I use my own?

Bring your own. CarrierPacket.Link lets you upload your own Broker-Carrier Agreement PDF (up to 5 MB) as the contract carriers sign. You can also configure which documents the packet requires (W-9, COI, Authority, References, ACH, plus a custom slot) so the packet matches your actual compliance posture. If you don't have a template yet, our Broker-Carrier Contract page has a free template + customizer you can use.

How long does setting up a carrier actually take with CarrierPacket.Link?

For the carrier: typically 10-20 minutes on a phone in the cab. For the broker: minutes — the carrier shows up in the dashboard the moment they submit, the verdict + risk reasons render automatically, and the signed PDF lands in the broker's TMS via webhook seconds after the carrier clicks the verification email. End-to-end, well under an hour in most cases.

What's the FMCSA verification on every packet?

When the carrier enters their MC# or DOT#, CarrierPacket.Link pulls the live FMCSA record through our SearchCarriers integration — operating authority, insurance type and amount, MCS-150 update date, physical address. The form pre-fills with the FMCSA-of-record values, so the broker can see at a glance whether what the carrier is typing matches the federal database.

Does the 30-day free trial include the full feature set?

Yes. The 30-day trial gives you the complete CarrierPacket.Link product — packet design, custom agreements, FMCSA verification, risk scoring, email-OTP signing, webhook integration, REST API, the broker dashboard, and unlimited submissions. You can be running a real packet to a real carrier within minutes of signing up. No credit card required to start.

Spin up your first setup packet today