# FMCSA Motor Carrier Lookup by Name

> FMCSA Motor Carrier Lookup by Name is a paid API for AI agents from api.agentstools.dev, paid per call via x402, $0.008/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-09-14).

Searches US motor carriers by name in the FMCSA Company Census and returns ranked candidates with USDOT number, MC docket, legal name, state, carrier status, authority, and operation type.

## Facts

- Endpoint: GET https://api.agentstools.dev/freight/lookup
- Price: $0.008/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-09-14
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/fmcsa-motor-carrier-lookup-by-name-54cb2469
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_hxXD1ijuZN-lH2mY-e3uv

Status and success rate cover calls made through Zero and Zero's own probes. Third-party monitors may report differently.

## How to call it through Zero

Zero handles the 402 payment challenge and records the run. With the Zero CLI installed (`npm i -g @zeroxyz/cli`):

```sh
zero fetch --capability fmcsa-motor-carrier-lookup-by-name-54cb2469
```

Example prompt: Can you look up 'Werner Enterprises' in the FMCSA carrier database and give me the top 3 results — I need the USDOT number, MC docket, and their authority status?

## When to prefer this

Use this endpoint as a cheap first step when you have a carrier name but need their USDOT number, MC docket, or regulatory status before proceeding with freight booking or compliance checks. Prefer this over full freight carrier APIs when you only need identification and status — not shipment or rate data.

## Known failure modes

- No carriers found matching the provided name — returns empty candidates list
- Name too generic — returns up to limit results but best match may not be at top
- State filter excludes the target carrier — no results returned
- Carrier exists in FMCSA but not yet indexed in Company Census — not returned
- Rate limit or payment failure — request rejected with 402 or 429 error

## How this service works

Search US motor carriers by name in the FMCSA Company Census and get ranked candidates, each with its USDOT number, MC docket, legal name, state, decoded carrier status, authority status and operation. Cheap first step before freight/carrier.

## Output

Returns a ranked list of matching motor carriers (up to the requested limit), each containing the USDOT number, MC docket number, legal name, physical state, decoded carrier status, authority status, and operation type — ordered by match relevance.

## Request schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
 "required": [
  "input"
 ],
 "properties": {
  "input": {
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
    "type",
    "method"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "type": {
     "type": "string",
     "const": "http"
    },
    "method": {
     "enum": [
      "GET",
      "HEAD",
      "DELETE"
     ],
     "type": "string"
    },
    "queryParams": {
     "type": "object",
     "required": [
      "name"
     ],
     "properties": {
      "name": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "Carrier name to search for"
      },
      "limit": {
       "type": "integer",
       "maximum": 15,
       "minimum": 1,
       "description": "Max candidates to return, default 5"
      },
      "state": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "Optional 2-letter physical state filter"
      }
     }
    }
   },
   "additionalProperties": false
  },
  "output": {
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
    "type"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "type": {
     "type": "string"
    },
    "example": {
     "type": "object"
    }
   }
  }
 }
}
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/fmcsa-motor-carrier-lookup-by-name-54cb2469/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from api.agentstools.dev](https://www.zero.xyz/host/api.agentstools.dev/llms.txt)