We’ve been contacted by some clients who went through a safety audit where the auditor refused to accept as proof of enrollment in a drug and alcohol consortium a certificate that did not accurately show the legal name of the motor carrier.

This issue is happening mostly with sole-proprietorships that are also using a fictitious business name or DBA (doing-business-as) that has not been legally registered with your county nor included in the motor carrier profile or authority issued by the state or federal government.

If you sign-up with AADT and tell us your carrier name for example is XYZ Trucking, we do not verify your carrier name through state or federal databases and your enrollment certificate will show the name you gave us.

If your federal or state operating authority (permit) only shows your personal name (e.g. John Smith), you can only use that name on the side of your truck and for registering for services such as drug and alcohol testing services. Using a fictitious business name or d/b/a is allowed, but you need to update your motor carrier profile within FMCSA’s SAFER system to show that additional name and/or notify the state which issued you a permit to include the fictitious name or d/b/a so it is added to your permit. You can then legally use either name to identify your business.

WARNING:  Fixing a problem related to proper motor carrier identification WILL also mean you must notify your liability insurance carrier to submit update proof-of-insurance to either the state and/or feds. Operating authority/permits will be cancelled by states and the federal government if insurance on file does not exactly match the name of the motor carrier.

So, if you are a sole-proprietor (e.g. John Smith) and are legally using XYZ Trucking as a fictitious/d/b/a name for your business, your insurance certificate must reflect both of those names.

You don’t need to fail a safety audit and the good news is we here at AADT can help you fix this problem, often for a very nominal fee.