Jenny Lucas

The nightmare began when we applied for the interstate Operating Authority (MC number) for our logistics company. When you complete transactions with FMCSA your basic company information become public. As soon as we submitted the application, we started getting calls from companies who offered to act as our process agents. Almost all of these companies claimed to provide blanket coverage and be totally legit. Some other types of fraud calls we received were:

• agents asking to enroll in Drug and Alcohol Supervisor training
• General FMCSA regulatory and compliance support
• Apply for Unified Carrier Registration Compliance
• Check our Biennial Update or Unified Registration System compliance

To say the least, it was extremely annoying, as we needed a process agent for the company but all these scammers made us keep our guard way up as Process agent scams are a common thing. It felt like we could not trust any company and one simply cannot start the logistics business without a process agent to file BOC 3 with FMCSA.

What is a process agent?

A process agent is a company of an individual agent that Logistics Company officially assigns to file and receive legal papers in all states they operate. Process agents file BOC-3 form with federal motor carrier safety administration. After filing, they become an official party that represents the logistics company in all 50 states and takes care of prompt & discreet handling of important legal and tax documents.

BOC 3:

BOC 3 form needs to file just once and the process agent must charge you a fee just once. It cost around $30 to $40 to file BOC 3 and a legit process agent will never charge anything more than this i.e. no hidden fees.

How to check if a process agent is legit.

We selected our process agent very carefully and there are some steps that you can take to avoid falling victim to any fraud.

• Must be registered and licensed: go to the website of FMCSA and select a registered process agent from there. Ask for their license number and proof of registration (required in some states e.g. Washington DC)
• Electronic filing: almost all legit process agents do the electronic filing of BOC 3 and they should send you a copy of the form as soon as they file it with FMCSA. When they file BOC 3 it should be available on the website of FMCSA within 24 hours.
• Email link: they should send you an email link from where you can handle and keep an eye on all the online forms and transactions. Some companies HD scan the legal documents for you and email it to you.
• No hidden or recurrent charges: they shouldn’t charge you anything above $40 for filing the form. Rest they may charge you an annual handling fee.
• A process agent Must have a physical address (not a post office box) in all states of designation
• Process agents must be available at that address during normal business hours.

We followed all the above steps and got ourselves a highly reliable and efficient process agent company that offered a blanket of coverage. A+ Agents of Process Inc. is a trustworthy company and we faced no issues after we got them as our process agent. They have wide experience in the industry and are extremely professional.