Skip to main content

How to Onboard a New Carrier Through Highway

The onboarding workflow for bringing a new carrier into polt.ai via Highway — what you need, the vetting rules to check before connecting, and troubleshooting for the most common failures.

P
Written by Poltai

This article points you to the full onboarding workflow for adding a new carrier to polt.ai.

You don't usually need to do this: Most carriers your team works with are already in polt.ai. You only need to onboard a new carrier when you've identified one who isn't already in the system and you want to bring them in for a specific load or relationship.

  • A customer has requested a specific carrier who isn't in polt.ai

  • You've found a new carrier on a load board you want to use

  • You're building a relationship with a carrier referred by a contact

What you'll need

  • The carrier's MC number, DOT number, or company name (for searching them in Highway, MCP, RMIS)

  • The carrier's contact info (email at minimum, for sending the onboarding link)

  • Time and patience — onboarding can take anywhere from a few minutes to several days depending on the carrier's responsiveness and any compliance issues

The full onboarding workflow happens in Highway, not polt.ai. The high-level steps are:

  1. Log in to Highway — sign in at highway.com using your polt.ai email

  2. Search for the carrier — by MC number, DOT number, company name, or phone number

  3. Review the carrier profile — check overall assessment, identity alerts, insurance status, ELD connection, and associations

  4. Verify Shield Status — check the carrier's shield status before initiating a connection. See Understanding Highway shield statuses.

  5. Click Connect — send the onboarding link directly to the carrier's dispatch

  6. Carrier transfers to polt.ai — once connected, the carrier's information pushes into polt.ai within approximately 2 minutes

Before clicking Connect, confirm the carrier passes both Highway's general verification and polt.ai' classification rules.

Highway general verification (all must be true):

  • Active DOT and MC numbers

  • Active interstate authority

  • No out-of-service orders

  • Satisfactory safety rating (if rated)

  • Minimum insurance coverage met

  • At least 90 days of continuous authority

polt.ai classification rules (all must be true):

  • Schedule Autos verified and current

  • VINs on equipment list reviewed

  • ELD Connection active or valid exemption on file

The 3 ELD/VIN/Schedule Autos checks are the most common delay triggers in carrier onboarding. If any are incomplete, the carrier will fail polt.ai' rules and won't sync to polt.ai. Catch these before sending the onboarding link.

After you click Connect

  • Highway retrieves any missing COI, VIN, or insurance documents automatically once onboarding begins

  • After the carrier completes onboarding, they become fully connected in Highway

  • The carrier syncs to polt.ai within approximately 2 minutes

  • Once the carrier's status shows Fully Connected, you can begin assigning loads

  • Always verify who you're communicating with. Identity theft alerts on a carrier's profile mean do not proceed without a compliance review.

  • Failing a rule does not always mean the carrier is disqualified. They may simply be missing documents.

  • Highway does not accept documents directly from brokers. Updates must come from the carrier or insurance company.

  • A recent FreightGuard report may block payment release.

  • If a carrier fails multiple rules, they are not qualified at this time.

For full step-by-step instructions

The complete onboarding walkthrough — including detailed Shield Status guidance, troubleshooting for ELD issues, and FAQs — lives in the Highway documentation portal.

Carrier passes Highway but is failing polt.ai rules. The three most common causes are Schedule Autos not verified, VINs incomplete or mismatched, and ELD missing. Check each in the Highway profile. If all three look correct and the carrier is still failing, escalate to compliance through the polt.ai Help Desk with the MC number and a screenshot of the profile.

ELD connection issues. If the carrier's ELD is disconnected, ask the carrier to reconnect through their Highway profile. If the carrier is ELD exempt, they need to upload Title/Loan Agreement, Cab Card or Registration, and Driver's License through Highway. Have them log into gohighway.com → "My Brokers" → find polt.ai → "View Status" → "Verify Equipment" → upload exemption docs under "I'm not legally required to have an ELD."

Carrier shows Incomplete after connecting. Usually an insurance issue — expired, insufficient, or unverifiable coverage. The carrier must resolve with their provider before assessment completes.

Unsure why a Carrier is a Fail. There are various reasons why a carrier could fail Highway's assessment rules and classifications. If you need help identifying which rule a specific carrier is failing, reach out through the polt.ai Help Desk.

Did this answer your question?