The Carrier Compliance Landscape is Changing in 2026

Carrier compliance has become a defining factor in transportation security. The 9th Annual Descartes Transportation Management Benchmark Survey shows that brokers and shippers now rank compliance and carrier monitoring among their top operational priorities. Fraud incidents, tighter oversight, and growing pressure on carrier vetting have made compliance a daily operational safeguard. 

Carrier compliance was once centered on document collection and regulatory checklists. Now, that’s changing. In 2026, success will depend on ongoing verification and monitoring of the carriers that move your freight.

How Teams are Preparing for Regulatory Shifts

Technology Investment Will Advance Transportation Security

The benchmark survey makes one trend clear: most organizations are responding to regulation and risk by investing in technology to modernize compliance. 

Automation, integration, and data integrity are now the foundation of a reliable carrier network. When systems connect Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) data, insurance validation, and real-time tracking, compliance shifts from a static process to a living control mechanism. This proactive approach is how top performers reduce fraud exposure and maintain transportation security at scale.

FMCSA Compliance Will Redefine Risk Standards

The FMCSA is reshaping carrier compliance across the industry. Its new identity verification process for U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) applicants using IDEMIA facial scans and document authentication closes long-standing registration gaps and limits fraudulent carrier access.

FMCSA’s upcoming Modernization of Tracking and Unified Systems (MOTUS) platform will extend these protections, aligning compliance with modern digital identity standards. For more background, see the Descartes post FMCSA Cracking Down on Freight Fraud: What Shippers, Brokers, and Carriers Need to Know. 

Together, these updates mark a shift: FMCSA compliance is no longer a regulatory checkpoint, but the baseline for logistics risk management.

Continuous Monitoring Will Become Standard Practice

Carrier risk doesn’t end at onboarding - insurance expires, safety ratings shift, and fraudulent carriers reappear under new identities. The Benchmark Survey shows that monitoring for these changes now ranks among the top capabilities logistics leaders need most. 

Leading brokers are replacing periodic reviews with continuous data verification linking FMCSA records, insurance updates, and visibility data to spot risk before it disrupts operations. Compliance is no longer about checking documents; it’s about maintaining a live, trusted network.

Compliance Will Merge with Daily Freight Operations

When compliance tools operate in isolation, risk signals arrive too late to prevent disruption. The next stage is linking compliance directly to daily transportation execution, so carrier data informs every load, tender, and tracking event. Platforms such as Descartes MacroPoint™ already enable this connection, validating equipment identifiers and driver locations against carrier authority data in real time. 

Integrated compliance delivers: 

• Real-time verification that confirms carrier and driver authenticity before freight moves 

• Proactive disruption control through live exception detection 

• Network-wide visibility that keeps teams aligned and accountable 

By merging compliance with execution, organizations turn data into a continuous safeguard that reinforces every shipment decision.

Verified Data Will Strengthen Logistics Risk Management 

The Benchmark Survey shows that compliance and carrier monitoring have become central to transportation management. New capability areas such as insurance verification and identity validation reflect how organizations are working to reduce fraud and strengthen control within their carrier networks. 

As automation and data integration advance, more teams are using verified information and connected systems to improve accuracy, accountability, and service reliability. These practices form the foundation of operational resilience, helping organizations manage exposure and maintain stability as networks grow more complex. 

The opportunity ahead is to let compliance data move with the freight. When verification and monitoring flow through daily execution, they reinforce every shipment decision and create a more dependable network. 

Looking Ahead

Carrier compliance is becoming an active discipline that defines reputation and resilience. Technology, regulation, and fraud trends are converging, and continuous compliance now underpins transportation security at every level. 

Explore the 9th Annual Descartes Transportation Management Benchmark Survey to see how your compliance practices compare with industry leaders and where investment can strengthen performance heading into 2026.