Question 1

Can I sell if my MC authority is registered to me personally (sole proprietor / SSN)?

Accepted Answer

No. Authority registered to a sole proprietor under your SSN is tied to you personally, not to a sellable entity, so there's nothing to hand over. Authority held by an LLC or corporation is what changes hands, because the entity itself is what's sold. If you're operating as a sole prop, the honest answer is that this isn't a fit.

Question 2

Does my company qualify if it's only one truck?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Fleet size isn't what decides it — single-truck companies go through all the time. What matters is authority status, insurance, Amazon Relay status if any, and violation history. A single-truck company prices lower than a multi-truck operation, but the process is identical.

Question 3

What if my MC authority is currently inactive?

Accepted Answer

If the LLC has an active Amazon Relay contract, inactive authority is workable — coverage is re-bound and the authority reactivated as part of closing. Without a Relay contract, the authority generally needs to be active, because reactivation alone doesn't produce the continuous operating history freight networks look for. Authorities inactive for more than 12 months are usually beyond reactivation by FMCSA.

Question 4

Can I sell only the MC number and keep the LLC?

Accepted Answer

No, and neither can anyone else legitimately. FMCSA explicitly prohibits selling, leasing, or transferring an MC or DOT number outside a legitimate sale of the underlying entity. The number stays with the entity it's registered to. What you're really selling is the LLC; the MC number transfers with it.

Question 5

I have multiple LLCs — can I sell some and keep others?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Each LLC is a separate legal entity and each is handled independently. Sellers with several often sell one or two and keep the rest — nothing here is all-or-nothing.

Question 6

How much is my MC authority worth?

Accepted Answer

It depends on five real variables, in rough order of impact: whether the LLC has an active Amazon Relay contract (biggest single factor), MC authority age, insurance status, violation history, and any active loans. A clean company with active Relay trades in a much higher band than a fresh non-Relay authority. A written number comes back after a quick FMCSA pull — that's the only honest way to price it.

Question 7

What raises my LLC's value the most?

Accepted Answer

An active Amazon Relay contract, clean CSA scores, no out-of-service orders, and continuous active insurance. If those four are in place, the LLC is in the upper end of our pricing band. Niche specializations (reefer, flatbed, hazmat) help; aged authority alone with no operating history doesn't move the number much.

Question 8

I've heard MCs sell for $20K–$30K — is that real?

Accepted Answer

Be careful with that figure. Overdrive and trade press have reported that the $30K offers floating around for 'aged authority' often come from buyers planning to use the MC for double-brokering or cargo theft schemes, not for legitimate operations. Real fair-market pricing for a clean MC sits well below those headline numbers in most cases. If a buyer offers you $30K with no diligence and no written agreement, slow down and verify them.

Question 9

Asset sale or stock sale — what's the difference?

Accepted Answer

An equity sale transfers the LLC itself, with its authority, EIN, history, and contracts intact. An asset sale moves only specific items — trucks, equipment — and leaves the company behind. These are equity sales, because that's the only structure that preserves what makes a trucking company worth anything. The mechanics get walked through on the call.

Question 10

Does niche freight (reefer, flatbed, hazmat) change the price?

Accepted Answer

Yes — specialized authority and equipment generally trade at a premium to dry van. Hazmat and tanker endorsements add value because the underlying setup (driver qualifications, insurance class, FMCSA permits) is harder to replicate quickly.

Question 11

How long does the whole sale take?

Accepted Answer

Most deals close in 7–14 days from the time we receive your details. Clean LLCs with no active loans, no liens, and a current insurance policy land closer to 7. Deals with active loans, factoring lines, or recent violations land closer to 14. The bottleneck is usually the bank or the lender, not us.

Question 12

What are the actual steps?

Accepted Answer

Four main stages: (1) you submit your company details and a written offer comes back; (2) a short letter of intent is signed and diligence runs; (3) the Membership Interest Purchase Agreement is signed, along with any related state filings; (4) the closing wire goes out and the LLC, phone, email, and bank account hand over. Post-close, the state-level registration updates and the drug-consortium handover are driven for you — you're not left chasing paperwork.

Question 13

Do I have to file anything with FMCSA myself?

Accepted Answer

No. You'll sign one or two state-level documents depending on where the LLC is registered, and those are prepared for you. There's been no FMCSA transfer application or fee for an ownership change since 2013. Everything else is walked through on the call, step by step, before you sign anything.

Question 14

Does my DOT and MC number transfer?

Accepted Answer

Yes. DOT and MC numbers stay with the LLC entity, and the entity is what's sold — that's the whole reason these are structured as equity sales rather than asset sales.

Question 15

Does my EIN transfer?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The EIN stays with the LLC because the entity itself never dissolves. One consequence worth knowing: you can't reuse that EIN for a future business — once issued to an entity, it stays with that entity for life.

Question 16

What about my company phone, email, MyRelay login, ELD account?

Accepted Answer

All of it transfers as part of closing, and it all matters — a company without its phone number is missing half its operating continuity. Exactly what hands over and when is covered on the call, so nothing catches you out on closing day.

Question 17

Do my trucks transfer with the LLC?

Accepted Answer

Only if you want them to. If trucks are titled to the LLC, they transfer automatically with the LLC sale and we factor that into the offer. If you want to keep your trucks (titled to you personally or to a separate entity), we can structure the sale so only the LLC and authorities transfer, and you sell the trucks individually on your own timeline.

Question 18

Can I sell if I still have a loan on a truck?

Accepted Answer

Yes, if the truck is titled to the LLC and the lien is paid off at closing. The payoff is coordinated directly with your lender: the price splits between the lender and you, and you get the remainder. If you'd rather keep the truck, you keep the truck and the loan, and it's excluded from the sale.

Question 19

Do I have to sort out my factoring line first?

Accepted Answer

No. Factoring sits on a UCC lien against the LLC, so it gets addressed at closing — usually paid off, occasionally carried over. Either way it's structured before you sign, not left as a surprise afterwards.

Question 20

What happens to my insurance policy at closing?

Accepted Answer

Active policies are re-bound under the new ownership or replaced. Lapsed coverage is bound from scratch, timed to land within 24 hours of closing. Either way you're not on the hook for coverage after the sale.

Question 21

Can the Amazon Relay contract actually transfer?

Accepted Answer

The contract is held by the carrier — the LLC — not by you personally, which is why selling the company is the only path that keeps it intact. Selling an MC number on its own is prohibited by FMCSA and destroys the value anyway. Exactly how it plays out depends on your account, your scorecard, and how the entity is set up, and that's a conversation worth having on a call rather than a paragraph on a web page. What we can tell you plainly: an active Relay contract is the single biggest thing that moves your number.

Question 22

Does my Amazon scorecard / performance history carry over?

Accepted Answer

Performance history is bound to the carrier ID, and the carrier ID belongs to the LLC — it isn't re-issued when the company changes owners. Amazon recalculates on a 12-month rolling basis, so a strong record carries real weight and is one of the things that pushes a valuation up. We'll walk through what your specific scorecard is worth on the call.

Question 23

Is Amazon Relay the same as Amazon DSP? I'm confused.

Accepted Answer

They're completely different and not interchangeable. Amazon Relay is for independent trucking carriers (Class 8) hauling middle-mile and long-haul freight between Amazon facilities. DSP (Delivery Service Partner) is the last-mile branded-van program with employee drivers. Relay carriers are what this is about — a DSP account is explicitly non-transferable under Amazon's rules and can't be sold this way at all.

Question 24

How much extra is my LLC worth because it has Amazon Relay?

Accepted Answer

A lot — the Relay contract is the primary driver of price for a Relay carrier. That said, be wary of anyone who claims Relay alone adds $20K–$30K on top of an otherwise modest company. Real Relay value depends on contract status, scorecard, lane assignments, and load volume — not on the existence of the account itself. Relay gets priced off the actual operating data we can verify, not off the fact that the account exists.

Question 25

What happens to my drivers when the LLC sells?

Accepted Answer

Drivers are at-will employees of the LLC, so legally their employment continues under the new ownership unless one side terminates. In practice, drivers worth keeping are usually offered continued employment on the same terms or better, and they can choose to stay or leave. Drug-consortium files transfer with the carrier, so there's no break in their compliance status.

Question 26

Do IFTA, IRP, 2290 and the drug consortium all carry over?

Accepted Answer

Yes — when the LLC stays intact, the registrations attached to it stay intact too. None of it is something you need to unwind or re-file yourself. The specifics for your setup get covered on the call.

Question 27

How do I know this is legitimate and not a fraud scheme?

Accepted Answer

Three checks — and use them on anyone you deal with, not just us. (1) There is a written purchase agreement, never a verbal handshake. (2) Funds move through a closing attorney's escrow account, not person to person, and never in cash. (3) The money lands as the documents execute — escrow releases on signature, rather than you handing over the company and waiting. Trade press (Overdrive, CCJ) has documented rings acquiring authorities for cargo-theft and double-brokering schemes. Those operations refuse legal counsel, refuse escrow, push hard for speed, and offer cash. Every one of those three checks is something they won't agree to. Closing remotely, by the way, is not itself a warning sign — a remote closing run through escrow is perfectly legitimate and plenty of sellers prefer it. It's the order that matters, not the location.

Question 28

Will FMCSA inactivate my MC if it sees me 'selling' it?

Accepted Answer

Only if the transaction is structured as a sale of the number itself, which is prohibited. FMCSA explicitly inactivates authorities that are sold, leased, or transferred outside legitimate corporate transactions — and issued a bulletin saying exactly that in March 2026. The legitimate path FMCSA recognizes is an equity sale of the LLC itself, which is how these deals are structured. We've never had an authority deactivated post-close.

Question 29

How do I protect myself from what happens after closing?

Accepted Answer

The purchase agreement carries a release of seller liability for post-close events, and the closing has a clear effective date that draws the line. Your CDL and your personal driving record are separate from the company either way. The full picture — what's covered, what isn't, and what to confirm — is something we go through with you directly before you sign, not something to settle off a web page.

Question 30

How should payment be structured so I'm safe?

Accepted Answer

Wire transfer through escrow at closing — never partial payments, never seller financing for a first-time buyer, never anything in cash. The standard is funds into the closing attorney's IOLTA escrow account, documents signed, escrow releases the wire to your account same day. If anyone asks you to hand over LLC documents before the funds move, that's a flag.

Question 31

How is the sale taxed for me?

Accepted Answer

Held more than 12 months, an equity sale generally qualifies for long-term capital gains treatment on the gain over your basis — but part can be taxed as ordinary income depending on how the price is allocated. Talk to a CPA who knows trucking sales before you close. We're not going to give you tax advice on a web page, and anyone who does should worry you.

Question 32

Will my drivers, brokers, or competitors find out before closing?

Accepted Answer

Not from us. We sign a mutual NDA before diligence on request, and our standard practice is to keep the transaction confidential through closing. The only parties who know during diligence are you, us, the respective lawyers, and any lender involved in a payoff. Nothing is listed publicly, nothing is advertised, and your company is never shopped around.

Question 33

Can I open a new MC authority after I sell?

Accepted Answer

Yes, but FMCSA flags 'chameleon carriers' — new entities that share owners, addresses, or other identifiers with recently sold or revoked entities. If you want to come back into the industry under new authority, you'll go through the standard New Entrant audit (18 months) and you should set the new entity up at a different address from the old LLC to avoid chameleon flags. Common ownership alone isn't disqualifying — it just invites scrutiny.

Question 34

What happens if my LLC doesn't qualify for an offer?

Accepted Answer

We tell you within hours and explain exactly why. No fee, no obligation, no hard sell. If your LLC is close but not quite (for example, MC authority + insurance has only been active for 4 months when we want a clean 6+ month track record), we'll often suggest specific steps to get to qualifying status — or we'll tell you straight that the path doesn't make sense and you'd be better off with a different exit option.

Every questionwe get asked.

Does my company qualify?

Pricing & valuation

Process & timeline

What transfers at closing

Loans, liens & insurance

Amazon Relay specifics

Drivers, employees & operations

Risk & avoiding scams

Taxes, confidentiality & after the sale

Tell us aboutyour LLC.

Does your company have an active Amazon Relay contract?

FAQ — selling a US logistics LLC