Carrier Selection File — generated before dispatch.

The worst day starts three years later.

Before a load moves, DispatchDiligence creates the Carrier Selection File: a timestamped record showing what was checked, which policy applied, who reviewed the decision, and why the load moved.

Checking a carrier is not the same as proving how the dispatch decision was made.
The deposition questions
Q1What did you know about this carrier before dispatch?
Q2When exactly did you check them?
Q3What public safety data did you review?
Q4Who approved the decision to use them?
Q5Was this your standard process or a one-time call?
Q6Show me your carrier vetting policy as it existed that day.
The issue is not fear. It is missing proof.
Why now

This did not come out of nowhere.

The legal shift facing freight brokers has been building in the federal courts for years. May 14, 2026 was the resolution, not the beginning.

2017
The crash

Shawn Montgomery loses part of his leg after a truck veers off course in Illinois. C.H. Robinson brokered the load. The negligent carrier-selection question enters federal litigation.

2023
The circuit split

The Seventh Circuit rules in Ye v. GlobalTranz that FAAAA preemption bars negligent-selection claims against brokers. Other courts disagree. The industry keeps operating in uncertainty.

May 14, 2026
The ruling

Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC. Unanimous. FAAAA preemption no longer automatically keeps negligent carrier-selection claims out of state court. Brokers now need a clearer dispatch-time record of their carrier selection process.

The operational question after Montgomery is simple: when risk data was available, did the broker ask the hard questions before choosing the carrier?
DispatchDiligence framing of the post-Montgomery workflow problem
The artifact

The product is the Carrier Selection File.

One file generated before dispatch. Not a score. Not a dashboard. The evidence record that shows how the carrier decision was made.

Generated Before Dispatch
Carrier Selection File - Evidence Record
dispatchdiligence | Load ID: LD-YELLOW-014 | Policy carrier_selection_policy_v1.3 | Evidence Record v1.0 | Confidential
Policy Outcome: Review Required
Generated
June 8, 2026 15:25:26 UTC
Brokerage
Enterprise Pilot Broker LLC
Load ID
LD-YELLOW-014
Policy version
carrier_selection_policy_v1.3 - Applied at dispatch time
Pre-dispatch timing governanceWithin 48h pre-dispatch window

Checked 3h34m before scheduled departure. This timing flag is separate from the carrier risk outcome.

Scheduled Departure
June 8, 2026 19:00:00 UTC
Check / File Time
June 8, 2026 15:25:26 UTC
Policy Window
48 hours before scheduled departure
Carrier Identity
Legal name
BLUE RIVER DEMO LINES LLC
USDOT number
2000001
MC number
MC-200101
Authority status
Active - Property authority confirmed
Safety rating
Satisfactory
FMCSA snapshot
June 8, 2026 15:21:44 UTC
Source: Synthetic FMCSA/QCMobile training snapshot
Policy Review - carrier_selection_policy_v1.3
Policy flags
R-003 Vehicle OOS above yellow thresholdR-006 Prior enforcement-review signalEVID-002 Approval details required
Policy result
REVIEW REQUIRED
Triggered rules
R-003, R-006, EVID-002
Insurance status
Insurance data displayed for COI/manual verification
Decision Record
Decision type
Controlled Proceed - Manager Approved
Decision timestamp
June 8, 2026 15:25:19 UTC
Approving manager
John Doe - Operations Manager
Dispatcher
T. Williams - Dispatch
Load details
Chicago, IL -> Dallas, TX
General freight - time-sensitive pickup
File stored
Stored evidence record - Append-only audit trail
Yellow - Review Required - controlled handling before load moves

A configured policy rule produced a yellow consequence. Dispatch could not treat this as a clean proceed. A manager-approved Controlled Proceed was documented for this load.

Exception reason
Vehicle OOS and prior enforcement-review signal required manager review.
Load-specific justification
No alternate approved carrier available before pickup cutoff.
Compensating controls
Fresh snapshot reviewed. Approval limited to this load. Increased check-call cadence.
Policy controls applied
These are sample thresholds from carrier_selection_policy_v1.3 preserved with the file.
Review Required
ControlPublished policy thresholdSource valueResult
Auto liability / BIPD filingInformational pending COI/manual verification workflow$1,000,000 confirmedDisplayed, not scored
Cargo filingInformational pending COI/manual verification workflow$100,000 confirmedDisplayed, not scored
Vehicle OOSGreen <= 20%; yellow > 20%; red > 25%22.1%Yellow / Review Required
Driver OOSGreen <= 8%; yellow > 8%; red > 10%6.1%Green
Crash totalGreen <= 1; yellow > 1; red > 31Green
Enforcement indicatorActive/elevated indicator = Yellow / Review RequiredPrior enforcement-review signalYellow / Review Required
Scope note: Controlled Proceed is a limited record of a human exception decision for this load. It does not certify that the carrier is safe, does not create a standing approval, and does not replace counsel review.
SHA-256 Evidence Hash
Database-written - Not user-editable - Append-only audit trail
ae343ba0110c4aed2682b2e88a928b31908d999416160b42104b1cb7e640b907
1

You knew

What was visible in public FMCSA data at the moment of dispatch, not reconstructed after the fact.

2

You followed process

The same versioned policy applied to this carrier as every other carrier. The rule version is stored with the decision.

3

You documented judgment

When risk appeared, a human saw it and made a documented decision before the load moved.

Checking a carrier is not the same as proving how the dispatch decision was made.
How it works

Check the carrier. Apply policy. Save the file.

Designed for operators: fast enough that dispatchers use it under pressure, structured enough for counsel, underwriters, and internal audit to review.

Step 01
DOT / MC Entered
Dispatcher enters carrier. Approved roster checked first.
Step 02
FMCSA Data Snapshotted
Live data pull stored with timestamp and hash at decision time.
Step 03
Policy Applied
The broker's published policy runs against the source fields. No black-box scoring.
Step 04
Decision Documented
Human chooses Proceed, More Info Needed, Controlled Proceed, or Do Not Proceed.
Output
Carrier Selection File
Timestamped PDF generated, stored, and tied to an immutable audit trail.
Green - Approved

Carrier meets all policy thresholds. File generated. Load proceeds.

Yellow - Review Required

Yellow is not approval. Customer policy requires human handling before dispatch.

Red - Do Not Dispatch

Carrier should not be used unless the blocking issue is resolved and a new review is completed.

The yellow path - where discipline matters
Yellow means slow down, handle the issue, and document the decision before the load moves.
When a carrier triggers review, DispatchDiligence does not pretend the carrier is approved. The user must choose a real path: gather more information, request Controlled Proceed manager approval, or decide not to proceed. Controlled Proceed requires a structured reason, load-specific justification, compensating controls, and a named approving manager.
Carrier positioned near pickupRequired equipment availableApproved carriers unavailableFresh FMCSA snapshot reviewedInsurance manually verifiedManager approval capturedApproval limited to this load only
Policy setup

The customer decides what turns green, yellow, or red.

DispatchDiligence does not sell a generic carrier score. It applies the brokerage's published policy to the source fields available at review time, then preserves the exact policy version with the file.

Published rules

Users can see the policy in force: authority requirements, OOS bands, inspection rules, crash rules, source age limits, and review consequences.

Green / yellow / red bands

Numeric fields can be configured as green, yellow, or red. Some fields can be binary. Others can be excluded from the rating policy entirely.

Insurance by type

Auto liability, cargo, bond, and filing signals are handled as separate policy expectations, not one vague insurance checkbox.

Restricted admin setup

Policy editing, roster upload, approvers, permissions, and version history belong in Admin. Dispatchers use the published policy; they do not rewrite it during coverage.

Pre-dispatch tools

Batch intake and retrospective audit live away from the live dispatch screen, so managers can process bulk work without crowding the operator path.

Version history

Every change creates a policy history record so an old Carrier Selection File can show which rule set existed at the time of the decision.

Who it's for

Four people. One system of record.

DispatchDiligence answers the question each person in your brokerage will eventually face.

The dispatcher
47 loads to cover by 3pm
"Is this carrier approved? Has anything changed since we last used them?"
Green light or escalation in under 60 seconds. No hunting. No guessing.
Compliance manager
Policy, process, audit trail
"Show me our carrier selection policy and prove it was followed consistently."
Versioned policy, full audit trail, exception log - exportable on demand.
General counsel / risk officer
Years after the crash
"What did you know before dispatch, and why did you still use them?"
Pull the Carrier Selection File. Every question answered. Every field timestamped and hashed.
Underwriter
Annual renewal
"Show me your vetting process, exception rate, and approval authority."
Support renewal conversations with documented process, decision mix, and evidence exports.
Why trust it

What is true today

DispatchDiligence is a founding-stage product. We will not pretend otherwise. Here is what is true today.

Data source
Live FMCSA QCMobile API. Carrier snapshots captured and stored at the moment of the dispatch decision, not pulled retroactively.
Decision engine
Deterministic policy rules. Not AI scoring. Every flag has a named rule, source field, version number, and plain-language explanation.
Evidence integrity
SHA-256 hashed files. Timestamps are database-written, not user-editable. The audit trail is append-only.
Pressure tested
Three synthetic customer profiles. Small broker, mid-market, and enterprise lab checks are passing against the live product.
Legal response
Legal Response Packet on demand. Given a DOT number, the system packages related records, snapshots, decisions, and exceptions for counsel review.
Workflow intake
Manual entry, CSV/batch, API, and webhook triggers. DispatchDiligence can receive load/carrier data without waiting for a native TMS app.
Competitive position
Few systems produce a dispatch-time evidence file tied to a specific load decision, named approver, and versioned policy.
Integration note: DispatchDiligence supports pilot-grade intake through manual entry, CSV/batch upload, direct API calls, and webhook-triggered workflows. Native embedded TMS apps and automatic writeback are design-partner decisions, not public promises.
Important limitation: DispatchDiligence documents process. It does not certify that a carrier was safe, does not decide legal reasonableness, and does not make an unsupported decision disappear. The product is designed to make the record clearer, including when the facts are uncomfortable.
Contact DispatchDiligence

Put a documented carrier-selection process in place before discovery tests it.

When someone asks why you picked that carrier, have the file ready.

A small number of freight brokerages are being invited into the founding pilot. Contact us to talk through fit, timing, workflow requirements, and what an implementation would look like for your team.

OK
Dispatch-time Carrier Selection Files
OK
Policy setup workshop with green/yellow/red bands
OK
Controlled Proceed manager approval workflow
OK
Evidence search and PDF export
OK
Roster upload and carrier classification
OK
Dispatcher training sandbox
Also available during pilot
Retroactive exposure audit
Underwriting review packet
TMS integration planning and intake mockup
Manual, CSV, API, and webhook intake

Contact us

Tell us about your brokerage. We review every message and respond within 24 hours.

Request type
We review every request and respond within 24 hours.
Not legal advice. Does not guarantee legal compliance or litigation outcomes.
Legal/source note: Public legal copy should be reviewed by transportation counsel before broad distribution. DispatchDiligence is not legal advice and does not guarantee compliance, claim avoidance, premium changes, or litigation outcomes.