Dmitry Borovoy, Founder Of TruckerNavi, Maps The Filing Gap Behind Pending FMCSA Authority
TruckerNavi founder Dmitry Borovoy finds 94.8 percent of pending FMCSA authority records had no liability insurance filing on record in a September 20, 2026.
For a new trucking company, filing for operating authority does not mean the process is finished. Dmitry Borovoy, founder of TruckerNavi, analyzed FMCSA public registration data and found a striking gap between pending operating authority records and a key filing required for authority to be granted. In a snapshot dated September 20, 2026, FMCSA had 21,643 operating authority records in Pending status. Of those records, 20,520, or 94.8 percent, had no liability insurance filing on record. Only 1,123 had one.
"Every few weeks a capacity note cites the count of pending motor carrier applications at FMCSA as proof that a wave of new trucks is about to hit the spot market. The count is real. The wave is not," Borovoy said.
What The Pending FMCSA Authority Numbers Show
Borovoy's analysis focuses on an important distinction. These figures count authority records, not companies. As of September 20, 2026, 21,643 operating authority records were pending at FMCSA, and 20,520 lacked a liability insurance filing on record.
On the same date, when brokers and freight forwarders were excluded, 18,956 pending motor carrier records lacked a filing. Looking at the state of the business address across all authority types, Texas accounted for 2,540 pending records without an insurance filing, California had 2,348, and Florida had 1,848.
For Borovoy, those details matter when pending operating authority data is used to discuss potential trucking capacity.
"For a rate model, grants are the series that maps to trucks. Pending maps to intentions," Borovoy said.
His approach centers on FMCSA's public tables and reproducibility. Borovoy publishes the exact queries behind his analysis so others can repeat the count. His working paper on pending operating authority is published on Zenodo with DOI 10.5281/zenodo.23067948.
Borovoy has also written about FMCSA registration data for industry audiences. He wrote one data column for Commercial Carrier Journal, published on August 31, 2026. His analysis also appeared in Overdrive on September 25, 2026, and InsuranceNewsNet on September 29, 2026.
Why The Liability Insurance Filing Matters
The missing filing is more than a detail in the data. FMCSA does not grant operating authority until the required insurance filing and BOC-3 process agent designation are on file.
The applicant cannot make the insurance filing. It can only be submitted by an insurer or surety through its registered electronic filer after a policy is bound.
Timing is also important. An application without the required filings is dismissed after roughly 90 days. The applicant then has to file again and pay the $300 fee again.
"The first 90 days kill more new carriers than the freight market does: insurance lapses and paperwork timing, not cheap rates, are the number one authority killer," Borovoy said.
Borovoy brings several distinct perspectives to the subject. He has worked in the trucking industry for seven years. Through TruckerNavi, he works with the compliance process itself. Separately, he is a New Jersey-licensed property and casualty insurance producer, giving him a view of why many new carriers struggle to get quoted.
His insurance practice is presented at SafeBridge Insurance. TruckerNavi does not sell insurance.
Compliance Work Meets Public Data
TruckerNavi is an FMCSA compliance service for new United States trucking companies. It handles company formation, USDOT and MC operating authority filings, BOC-3 and UCR registration, and ongoing safety compliance for owner operators and small fleets.
Service is provided in Russian and English, with clients in New York, New Jersey, Florida, and Illinois.
Borovoy's work also extends to industry education. He is the author of Safety Manager: From Zero to Expert, a book for people entering the industry that explains the compliance side of a trucking company in plain language.
He also wrote a second book, From SAFER to Motus. His books complement his work with public FMCSA data and his focus on explaining trucking compliance and industry information.
The combination gives his data work a practical foundation. TruckerNavi handles authority paperwork, while Borovoy's separate work as a New Jersey-licensed property and casualty insurance producer provides another perspective on the insurance filing that appears to be missing from most pending records in his September 20, 2026 snapshot.
The distinction between the two roles remains important. TruckerNavi is focused on FMCSA compliance and does not sell insurance. Borovoy's insurance work is separate from TruckerNavi.
A Closer Look At What Pending Really Means
Borovoy's September 20, 2026 snapshot highlights why the details behind a headline number can matter. Of 21,643 pending operating authority records, 20,520 had no liability insurance filing on record. Excluding brokers and freight forwarders, 18,956 pending motor carrier records lacked the filing.
Those numbers provide another way to interpret the pending category. Rather than treating every pending record as equivalent to operating capacity, Borovoy's analysis separates an application from the filings required before FMCSA grants authority.
For trucking professionals, the analysis offers a reason to look beyond the headline pending count and examine what each status represents. Readers interested in following Borovoy's published work can also visit his Substack and ORCID profile.
Dmitry Borovoy is the founder of TruckerNavi and the author of the book Safety Manager.
