A carrier packet is one clean file with every paper a shipper needs to set you up: your authority, your insurance, your W-9, and your contact and equipment sheet. Build it once, build it clean, and you can send it in under a minute every time a shipper asks.
The full checklist
Every shipper's setup list is a little different, but the core is the same everywhere. Your packet should carry all of this, in this order.
- A cover sheet with your business name, MC number, phone, email, and the lanes you run
- Your operating authority letter
- Your certificate of insurance, current and readable
- Your signed and dated W-9
- Your equipment sheet: truck and trailer type, year, and any gear you carry
- Your references — two or three names with phone numbers, cleared in advance
- Your billing details: who to pay, where invoices go, and your payment terms
That is the whole packet. If a shipper later asks for one extra paper, add it for that shipper and send a fresh copy. Do not stuff the main packet with extras nobody asked for. Short and complete beats long and messy.
Build it as one clean PDF
One file, not seven loose attachments. A shipping manager who has to open seven files, two of them sideways, already likes you less — and that sounds small until you remember they choose between you and five other carriers that day.
Scan or save each page straight, sharp, and right side up. Name the file with your business name and the word packet, so it is easy to find in their inbox weeks later. Check the dates before you send: an expired insurance page or an unsigned W-9 tells the shipper you do not check your own work.
Keep the master file on your phone and in your email, not just on a home computer. The ask always comes when you are in the truck.
Keep it current
A packet goes stale. Insurance renews. Phone numbers change. References move on. Set a habit: every time a paper changes, rebuild the packet that same day.
An old certificate with last year's dates is the most common reason a setup stalls. The shipper's office cannot finish your file with expired papers, and many will not chase you for new ones — they just move to the next carrier on the list. Losing a load that way costs you real money for a five-minute fix.
Send it fast, send it right
When a shipper says "send me your packet," the clock is the test. Send it while you are still on the call if you can, or within the hour. Add two short lines in the email: who you are, and that you are ready for setup and a first load on your lanes.
Then do the quiet extra step most carriers skip. The next morning, send one short email confirming they got it and asking if they need anything else to finish the setup. Files get lost. Inboxes bury things. That one follow-up rescues more setups than any pitch ever will.
After you send it, log it: shipper name, date, who you sent it to. Your packet is out there working for you, and your log is how you know where.
One packet, every shipper
Build the packet once and use it everywhere. Do not rebuild it from scratch for each shipper — that wastes your time and invites mistakes, like sending the wrong insurance page to the wrong place. One master packet, kept current, serves every setup you will do this year. If a shipper needs one extra form, you add that single page for them and send the packet again. Simple, fast, and the same clean file every time is what makes you look steady.
The short version
Your packet is one PDF: cover sheet, authority, insurance, W-9, equipment, references, and billing details. Keep every page clean, current, and right side up. Send it in under a minute when asked, then confirm the next day that it arrived.