How we verify

Charter Bus Index is compiled from public records, not from who paid to be listed.

Sources

• FMCSA Company Census File (DOT datahub az4n-8mr2) — Every USDOT-registered motor carrier: name, address, phone, passenger fleet by vehicle type, drivers, operating-authority dockets, safety rating and MCS-150 date. Published by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
• FMCSA SAFER Company Snapshot — Live registration, authority, insurance and inspection summary for any USDOT number. Every profile links to it.

We pull the FMCSA Company Census and keep carriers whose USDOT status is active, whose classification is authorized for hire, and who list passengers as cargo.

We then require a phone number, an MCS-150 registration update within the last 24 months, and at least one motorcoach, bus, limousine or 9–15 passenger van (owned, term-leased or trip-leased). Operators that report only cars or small vans — mostly taxis and medical transport — are left out.

The Active federal authority badge requires current authority as a motor carrier of passengers in FMCSA's operating-authority records — the Motus registration file, updated daily, or for carriers not yet in Motus the legacy Licensing & Insurance file (last updated May 14, 2026). An MC docket marked active in the census is not enough on its own: about 30% of those operators read NOT AUTHORIZED on SAFER. Operators without the badge are still listed: many run trips only inside one state and are regulated by that state instead.

Safety ratings are issued by FMCSA after a compliance review and are shown with the review date; most carriers have never been rated. Order within a city: active federal authority first, then by reported fleet size (coaches weighted most), then alphabetical. Featured operators appear in a separate, labelled box and never change that order.

What a badge means

Active FMCSA authority: FMCSA operating-authority records (the Motus registration file, or the legacy Licensing & Insurance file for carriers not yet migrated) show the operator as authorized for hire as a motor carrier of passengers on the date shown, and the FMCSA Company Census shows an active USDOT registration with an MC docket. We only publish positive matches. A listing without a badge is not an accusation — most gaps are name variations between registries.

Freshness

Data was last refreshed on 2026-11-12. FMCSA updates the census continuously; we re-pull it weekly. Confirm authority on SAFER before you book.

Corrections

Email sabrsystemssoftware@gmail.com or claim your listing on the for-business page. We fix verified errors within two business days.