A carrier-selection policy is defensible when it states specific thresholds rather than intentions, names who decides and who may override, requires a recorded reason for every override, sets a re-verification cadence after onboarding, and is backed by per-tender records proving it actually ran. A policy that states a standard you cannot show you met is worse than no policy — it hands the plaintiff your own benchmark.
What belongs in it
1 · Authority and insurance minimums
State numbers. "Adequate insurance" is not a standard; "$1,000,000 auto liability and $100,000 cargo, verified on file with the FMCSA at tender" is. Say what happens when coverage is required but not on file — those are different facts and only one of them pays a claim.
2 · Safety criteria
Say explicitly how you treat a conditional safety rating, an unrated carrier, and an out-of-service percentage above the national average. The carrier in Montgomery held a conditional rating; a policy silent on conditional ratings is silent on the fact pattern that produced the case.
3 · Identity verification
Require a check that the carrier is not a reincarnation of a revoked authority. Name the signals — shared address, officer, phone across authorities — so the step is auditable rather than aspirational. See chameleon carriers.
4 · The override procedure
The most important paragraph in the document. Name the role permitted to override, require a recorded reason at the moment of the decision, and state that the override is retained with the selection record. Do not write a policy that forbids overrides — desks override, and a policy contradicted by daily practice is the worst of both worlds.
5 · Re-verification cadence
Authority gets revoked and insurance lapses between your onboarding and your next load. State an interval, and state that material changes append to the carrier's file.
6 · Retention
Align retention to the personal-injury statute of limitations in the states you operate in, plus the time it takes for a suit to be filed and served. A selection record deleted on a two-year IT schedule is a record that will not exist when it is needed.
Write for two readers. The underwriter reads it at renewal to price your book. Plaintiff's counsel reads it in discovery to find the gap between what you promised and what you did. Both are reading the same sentences — so every threshold you state must be one you can prove you met, on every load.
The part that is not a document
A policy is a claim about behavior. What defends you is evidence of the behavior: a record per tender showing the criteria ran, what they returned, who decided, and why. That is the difference between a standard you asserted and a standard you met.
Bring the record to your desk.
A 20-minute scoping call — no cost, no commitment. Bring your current carrier-selection process and we will show you what it produces at claim time.
See if we can help