Why we buy MC authorities under 180 days old
If your LLC doesn't yet hold an Amazon Relay contract, our acquisition criteria include a hard line: the MC authority has to be less than 180 days old at the time you submit.
This isn't arbitrary. It maps to how Amazon Relay onboarding works.
The Amazon onboarding window
Amazon's logic for accepting a carrier into Relay weights several factors, but two of them are decisive for fresh LLCs: the age of the MC authority and clean violation history to date. New authority with zero history sits in a sweet spot — Amazon's risk model treats it as a low-violation entity by default, because there hasn't been time for problems to show up.
Once an MC ages past about six months without being used, two things start to work against it. The carrier becomes harder to onboard (because Amazon expects to see operating history on a "mature" MC), and any small violations that have accumulated start to weigh more.
What happens at 181 days
We don't ghost you, but we won't make a binding offer. We'll explain why and, depending on your situation, suggest one of two paths:
- Open a new MC and re-apply once it's issued. Sometimes the cleanest move.
- Build operating history on the existing MC and approach us in 6–12 months when it re-qualifies under different criteria.
What 180 days actually means
We measure from the date the MC is granted active status by FMCSA — not the date you applied. If you're not sure when that was, your FMCSA portal shows it.
When it doesn't apply
If your LLC already has an active Amazon Relay contract, the 180-day rule doesn't apply at all. The contract is what we're buying; the MC age is irrelevant.