Comparison
An RMIS Alternative for Brokers Who Don't Need an Onboarding Platform
RMIS is one of the established names in carrier onboarding and compliance monitoring, built for operations that need packet collection, insurance certificate tracking, and workflow at scale. CarrierClear is a smaller, sharper tool: it reads the federal record, tells you whether a carrier is safe to book and why, and monitors the ones you keep. If you need a full onboarding system, RMIS is a serious product. If you're paying for one to answer a question you could answer in ten seconds, this page is for you.
Check a carrier now
Check any carrier by MC or DOT number right now — free, no account, no implementation call.
Just the number works — with or without the MC/DOT prefix, and spaces are fine. Tip: prefix an MC number with “MC” (e.g. MC123456) so it isn't read as a DOT number.
What RMIS is genuinely good at
RMIS is an enterprise carrier onboarding and monitoring platform. Its strength is workflow: collecting carrier packets, storing signed agreements and W-9s, tracking insurance certificates and their expiry dates, and keeping a compliance record across a large carrier base. For a brokerage onboarding hundreds of carriers with staff who need shared queues, document storage, and integrations into a TMS, that infrastructure is the product and it's real.
If your compliance department is the reason the tool exists, an onboarding platform is the right category and we're not going to pretend otherwise.
Where an onboarding platform is more than you need
Enterprise onboarding tools tend to share three traits: annual contracts, an implementation period before anyone gets value, and a demo request standing between you and seeing whether it works. That's a reasonable model when you're rolling a system out to a department. It's a poor fit when what you actually need is to check a carrier before a load goes out this afternoon.
- Answer first, paperwork later. CarrierClear answers the booking question — authority, insurance on file, safety rating, out-of-service status — in seconds, free, with no account. Onboarding paperwork is a different problem and we don't pretend to solve it.
- No implementation. There's nothing to roll out. Type an MC or DOT number into the homepage. If it's useful, plans start at $49/month and you can cancel whenever.
- Reasons you can defend. Our risk rating lists its factors rather than handing you a score. If a decision is ever questioned, you can show what the record said on the day you checked, backed by a dated PDF.
- Monitoring without the platform. Save the carriers you actually use and we re-check the federal record daily, alerting you when authority, insurance, or out-of-service status changes between loads.
What CarrierClear does not do
Being straight about this saves everyone a wasted trial. CarrierClear does not collect carrier packets, store signed agreements, manage W-9s or factoring notices of assignment, or track insurance certificate documents you've been emailed. We read insurance filings from the federal record, which is a different thing from managing certificates. We also don't integrate into a TMS today.
If those are requirements, you need an onboarding platform and RMIS is a legitimate candidate. Plenty of shops run a vetting tool alongside one, using the fast check at the moment of booking and the platform for the file.
A note on insurance certificates
One thing worth understanding whichever tool you choose: the certificate of insurance a carrier emails you proves very little on its own. It's a document produced outside any system you control. The insurance filing in the FMCSA record is the part a third party maintains, and that's what CarrierClear reads. A tool that tracks the certificate you were sent is tracking the carrier's paperwork; a tool that reads the federal filing is checking the underlying fact.
Common questions
- Is CarrierClear a replacement for RMIS?
- Only if what you use RMIS for is the vetting and monitoring, not the onboarding workflow. We don't collect carrier packets, store agreements, or manage documents. We answer whether a carrier's federal record supports booking them, and we watch it for changes afterward. For many small brokerages that's the whole job; for a compliance department, it isn't.
- Do I have to book a demo to try it?
- No. Put an MC or DOT number into the homepage and you get a result immediately — no account, no card, no call. That's deliberate: you should be able to judge the tool before anyone asks you for anything.
- What does it cost compared with an enterprise platform?
- The check is free. Solo is $49/month and includes the full risk dossier plus monitoring on up to 50 carriers. Team is $99/month with 5 seats and shared audit records. Pro is $199/month with unlimited monitoring. No annual commitment and no implementation fee.
- Can I use both?
- Yes, and some shops should. Use the fast free check at the moment of booking, and keep the onboarding platform for the paperwork and the file. They answer different questions.
- Where does your data come from?
- Operating authority, insurance filings, safety ratings, and inspection and out-of-service history come from FMCSA's public records. Sanctions screening runs against the U.S. Treasury OFAC SDN list, refreshed daily. Phone and address fraud signals on paid dossiers come from third-party verification services.
Sources
What belongs in a carrier onboarding packet →How to verify a carrier's insurance →How carrier monitoring works →Compare carrier-vetting tools →See plans and pricing →
CarrierClear displays public FMCSA records and records your own verification. It is not legal advice and not a certification of any carrier’s fitness, legitimacy, or insurance. Verify independently before relying on any record. Comparisons reflect our understanding of publicly available information as of the date shown and may change; CarrierClear is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any other company named here, and all trademarks belong to their respective owners.