New motor carrier approvals at nosebleed levels, FTR says

Carrier approvals could result in short-term disruption, consultancy executive says.

Approximately 51,000 motor carriers have already received common or contract carrier authority through June, making 2021 likely to surpass 2020’s calendar-year record of 59,000, according to transport consultancy FTR, which analyzed data from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).

The applicants were predominantly one or two-truck entities, though there were some private fleets who applied for authority so they could conduct for-hire carriage, said Avery Vise, FTR’s vice president-trucking, who presented findings during a company webinar Thursday.

In a post-webinar interview, Vise said the applicants were not driver newbies, but company drivers who have gone out on their own or owner-operators that had been working under a lease arrangement with larger carriers but became fully independent either voluntarily or after being cut loose during 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down much of the nation’s economy.

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