Freight fraud has become one of the most persistent operational problems in transportation, and at the Descartes Innovation Forum, Descartes outlined a series of updates that bring more carrier-vetting, tracking, and fraud-detection data together across MyCarrierPortal and MacroPoint.
The bigger takeaway is that fraud prevention is moving earlier in the process and continuing further into execution. Rather than relying primarily on checks after a load has been tendered, Descartes is bringing carrier identity, insurance, equipment, tracking history, lane history, and real-time location data together to give users more context before a load moves and while it is in transit.
Tracking History Becomes Part of Carrier Vetting
Within MyCarrierPortal, users can see risk assessments, insurance information, recent carrier activity, and MacroPoint tracking intelligence. That includes the number of orders a carrier has tracked, tracking compliance, and how the carrier is connected, whether through mobile, ELD, or a TMS. Descartes also displays historical operating patterns, allowing users to see where carriers have actually picked up and delivered freight rather than relying solely on what a carrier says it can do.
That adds a useful behavioral dimension to carrier qualification. A carrier may claim broad geographic coverage or experience on a particular lane, but historical tracking data can provide additional context on where that carrier has actually operated. Users can also search carriers based on equipment type, certifications, and lanes, with lane information supported by MacroPoint intelligence rather than carrier-entered data.
For brokers and shippers, this starts to bring carrier discovery and carrier risk management closer together. Instead of treating sourcing and vetting as separate activities, the same operating history that helps identify a carrier can also help determine whether that carrier looks appropriate for the load.
Identity and Equipment Validation Add Another Layer
Descartes also demonstrated additional identity controls intended to give users more confidence that they are dealing with the carrier they expect. The platform can validate users through two-factor authentication and establish whether an individual is associated with the carrier.
On the equipment side, Descartes can compare scheduled equipment against inspection, crash, and MacroPoint ELD data and, when sufficient evidence exists, identify whether equipment appears to belong to the carrier. Users can also validate a bid using a driver’s cell phone number and see driver-level tracking statistics, including tracked orders, tracking compliance, spoofed orders, and FraudGuard alerts.
The practical value is that carrier vetting is no longer dependent on only a small number of static data points. Descartes is bringing identity, equipment, tracking history, and live transportation data together to give users more context during carrier vetting.
Notification Center Focuses Attention on Exceptions
Once a load has been tendered, the focus shifts from qualification to monitoring. Descartes’ Notification Center is designed to surface exceptions rather than requiring users to manually watch every shipment.
Users can configure alerts for conditions such as route deviations and other shipment events, and notifications can be delivered by email, text message, or API. The objective is to reduce the amount of raw tracking information users have to monitor and focus attention on events that may require action.
The underlying tracking data can also be examined at a more detailed level. Descartes showed how users can see whether a location ping originated from a telematics device or mobile application, the distance and time between pings, and associated device information such as IP address. That gives users more information when something does not look right and needs further investigation.
ELD Plus Adds Dual-Source Tracking
ELD Plus was one of the more interesting capabilities demonstrated during the session. Historically, a shipment might be tracked using either a driver’s mobile device or the truck’s telematics connection. With ELD Plus, Descartes can use both tracking sources during the same tracking session.
That allows a driver to retain mobile-app capabilities such as stop check-ins, proof-of-delivery uploads, and two-way messaging while the shipment is also being tracked through an ELD connection. From a fraud-prevention standpoint, comparing the two tracking sources gives users another way to identify inconsistencies that may warrant investigation.
If the mobile-device location and telematics location begin to diverge, the discrepancy can trigger follow-up and can also generate a Notification Center alert. Users can then see at the individual-ping level whether the location came from the mobile application or the telematics source.
Carrier Lookup Extends the Intelligence Beyond MyCarrierPortal
Descartes also showed a carrier lookup capability within MacroPoint for customers that may not use MyCarrierPortal. Users can search by DOT number or phone number and see information drawn from FMCSA data along with MacroPoint tracking history.
The lookup can show fleet size, active MacroPoint orders, previous tracking activity, spoofing flags, tracking methods, and recent lane history. One example discussed during the session was the relationship between reported fleet size and current shipment activity. If a carrier has 100 power units but appears to be active on 600 loads, that does not establish fraud, but it gives the user a reason to take a closer look.
That is probably the right way to think about many of these signals. An individual data point may not tell you much by itself. The value comes from combining multiple indicators and identifying situations where the operating data does not match the pattern you would expect.
Freight Fraud Prevention Becomes More Continuous
The broader takeaway from the session is that freight fraud prevention is becoming less about checking a carrier once and more about using multiple data sources across the lifecycle of the shipment. Before tender, that can include carrier identity, insurance, equipment, operating history, lane history, and tracking behavior. After tender, the focus shifts toward location integrity, route deviations, device behavior, dual-source tracking, and other exceptions.
What Descartes showed suggests a broader shift away from isolated carrier checks toward a more continuously updated view of risk. Human judgment still matters, but users now have more context available when deciding whether a carrier looks appropriate before tender and whether the shipment continues to look legitimate after it starts moving.
For transportation organizations dealing with carrier impersonation, double brokering, spoofed locations, and other forms of fraud, that is an important change. The objective is not to treat every anomaly as proof of fraud, but to identify the situations that deserve attention earlier and give users better information when they investigate them.
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