Vehicle and company markings can identify records to review, but they do not establish responsibility, coverage, or a claim outcome.

Preserve what is visible

  • Company name, USDOT or MC number, vehicle and trailer markings, plate, location, and source of each item
  • Photographs or video preserved with the date and a note of what was personally observed
  • A difference between a logo, a registration record, an agency report, and an assumption about ownership
  • Unreadable or missing markings noted as unknown rather than completed from memory

Use public registration information within its limits

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration provides carrier-registration information. A search can identify a public record, but it does not decide who was responsible for a particular crash.

Questions arising from a commercial-vehicle collision may be considered in a North Carolina trucking-accident claim, which requires a fact-specific review.

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