The definitions
FMCSA’s rules define a for-hire motor carrier as a person engaged in the transportation of goods or passengers for compensation, and a private motor carrier as one that transports property or passengers by commercial motor vehicle and is not a for-hire carrier (49 CFR 390.5). A construction company running its own dump trucks is a private carrier; a company hauling those loads for a fee is for-hire.
Exempt for-hire carriers haul for compensation but only commodities that are exempt from FMCSA’s economic regulation, such as unprocessed farm products (49 U.S.C. 13506). They need no operating authority, though the safety rules still apply.
Why it matters for a carrier list
If you sell to trucking companies, such as insurance, factoring, dispatch, fuel cards or compliance services, for-hire carriers are usually the market. Private fleets operate trucks too, but freight is not their business: they are utilities, distributors, contractors and manufacturers.
The classification is self-reported on the MCS-150, and a carrier can declare several at once. FMCSA’s raw value, kept in our classdef column, can read “PRIVATE PROPERTY;AUTHORIZED FOR HIRE”.
How our files classify carriers
authority_class gives each carrier one label, checked in this order:
| Value | Meaning |
|---|---|
for_hire_authorized | Holds at least one active operating-authority docket (MC, FF or MX) |
for_hire_no_active_authority | Registered as authorized for-hire, with no active docket; mostly intrastate carriers |
exempt_for_hire | Registered as exempt for-hire only |
private | Private carrier of property or passengers |
government | Government-operated |
other_or_unknown | Anything else |
Sources
- 49 CFR 390.5, definitions
- 49 U.S.C. 13506, exempt transportation
- FMCSA Company Census File (data.transportation.gov)
Figures marked as current come from the FMCSA Company Census snapshot of November 7, 2026, as published on this site. How the data is built