Scoring Methodology

Overview

Each mover is scored across five categories on a 0-100 scale. The overall score is a weighted average of these five category scores:

Overall Score = (Complaints × 0.25) + (Licensing × 0.25) + (Reviews × 0.20) + (Safety × 0.20) + (Transparency × 0.10)

How we treat missing data

Licensing & Authority (25%)

Source: FMCSA SAFER System

This score starts at 100. Points are deducted for the following:

• Operating status is NOT "Authorized": score = 0 (hard fail)
• Operating authority not active: -50
• Broker-only entity (no common carrier authority): -15
• No insurance filing on record: -50
• Insurance on file is below the required amount: -30
• Safety rating is "Unsatisfactory": -40
• Safety rating is "Conditional": -20
• No safety rating on file: -10

The score cannot go below 0.

Complaint History (25%)

Source: FMCSA complaint records

For carriers with trucks on record, complaints are normalized per power unit to fairly compare large and small companies.

• Each complaint-per-unit deducts points on a sliding scale
• Hostage-goods complaints are weighted at 2× (most severe consumer harm)
• Complaints filed in the last 12 months are weighted at 2× compared to older complaints

Limited-data treatment: Broker-only entities or companies with zero power units and zero complaints receive a capped score (not a perfect 100), because a clean complaint record on a thin operating footprint is not the same as a clean record on a large, inspected carrier fleet.

Where available, scorecard pages link directly to the public FMCSA complaint portal so readers can review the source records themselves.

The score cannot go below 0.

Safety Record (20%)

Source: FMCSA BASICs, crash records, roadside inspection results

For carriers with inspection data, this score starts at 100 with deductions for:

• Each BASICs category above the 75th percentile (FMCSA alert threshold): -15
• Each BASICs category above the 50th percentile: -5
• Each fatal crash on record: -20
• Vehicle out-of-service rate above the national average: -10
• Driver out-of-service rate above the national average: -10

Limited-data treatment: Companies with no carrier safety inspections (typically broker-only entities with zero trucks) receive a default cautious score of 50, not 100. Carriers with trucks but no inspections on record receive a default of 70. Only companies with real inspection data can score above these defaults.

The score cannot go below 0.

Review Profile (15%)

Source: Publicly available review data

The public rating maps to a score on a harsher curve designed to reflect consumer expectations:

• 4.8–5.0 = excellent (92–98)
• 4.5–4.79 = very strong (82–92)
• 4.0–4.49 = strong to decent (60–82)
• 3.5–3.99 = middling to fair (40–60)
• 3.0–3.49 = poor (25–40)
• Below 3.0 = severe concern (below 25)

Adjustments:

• Fewer than 5 reviews: score is capped at 50 (insufficient data)
• Each review-pattern observation: -10

Review volume increases confidence in the rating but does not add bonus points to the score.

Non-Google source penalty: When review data comes from a platform other than Google (such as Yelp, BBB, or Trustpilot), the review score is reduced by 10%. We apply this penalty because other platforms vary in their ability to detect and remove inauthentic reviews. If no review data is available from any platform, the review score is 0 and the Reviews section does not appear on the page.

The score cannot go below 0.

Transparency (15%)

Source: Company website, BBB

Points are awarded for each item that is publicly visible on the company's website:

• Company has a website: 20 points
• USDOT or MC number displayed on website: 25 points
• Pricing information on website: 20 points
• Physical address on website: 20 points
• Insurance information on website: 15 points

Total possible: 100 points.

Overall score caps

Certain risk signals prevent the overall score from appearing stronger than the underlying data supports, regardless of how the individual category scores add up:

• Licensing score below 60: overall capped at 55
• No insurance filing on record: overall capped at 50
• Broker-only entity with no carrier operating data: overall capped at 60
• 5 or more FMCSA complaints in the last 12 months: overall capped at 55
• 3 or more hostage-goods complaints: overall capped at 50

These caps ensure that a company with a critical licensing, insurance, or complaint problem cannot appear broadly "strong" based on other categories alone.

When a score cannot be calculated

If a company does not have enough data to calculate all five category scores, we do not publish an overall score. Instead, the page shows whatever public data is available and includes a notice: "We do not have sufficient data to calculate a scorecard for this company at this time."

We believe it is better to show no score than a misleading one. The absence of a score — or of any particular data signal — does not imply wrongdoing.

Future signals

The scoring system described above represents the current version of Mover Scorecard. Over time, we may incorporate additional publicly available signals to give consumers a more complete picture. Possible future areas include:

• Website claim checks — comparing claims made on a company's website (such as "licensed and insured") against the corresponding public records.
• Website authenticity signals — observing whether a company's web presence reflects a real, established operation (e.g., company-specific imagery, local identity). These would be treated as transparency/confidence signals, not as proof of any particular status.
• Location consistency signals — checking whether a company's listed address is consistent with a real operating location. This type of analysis requires careful handling and would be reviewed manually before publication.
• Multi-platform review coverage — expanding beyond Google to include other public review platforms, subject to each platform's access policies and attribution requirements.
• Related company research — identifying companies connected through shared ownership, officers, or other strong public signals. This feature would only publish data supported by named public records and would never infer relationships from weak signals.

Any new signal will be clearly documented on this page before it affects scores. The scoring formula version number on each scorecard page tracks which version of the methodology was used.

Score colors

Score colors are a visual shorthand. Always review the full breakdown to understand what is driving a company's score.

Important notes

• Scores are based entirely on publicly available data. A low score does not mean a company is dishonest or dangerous — it means the public record shows areas that may concern consumers.
• A high score does not mean a company is "verified," "trusted," or "safe." It means the publicly available data shows a favorable record across the categories we measure.
• The absence of a data signal (e.g., no review-pattern observations, no complaints) should not be interpreted as a positive endorsement. It simply means that signal was not detected or not yet available.
• Data is refreshed periodically. Each scorecard page shows when its data was last updated.
• The scoring formula may be updated over time. Each scorecard includes a score version number so you can see which version of the formula was used.
• Observational sections — such as review-pattern observations and future transparency signals — use neutral, factual language. They describe what is publicly visible, not what it means about the company's intent.

Data access and costs

The current version of Mover Scorecard is built primarily on free, publicly available data sources. FMCSA data is available at no cost through government APIs and public downloads. Some future features may require paid API access (such as expanded review platform data), and any such dependency will be clearly noted.

This transparency about our own data access is intentional. We believe consumers should understand not just what data we use, but what data we do not yet have access to.