Knight-Swift Cut Its Broker Carrier Pool 70 Percent. Here Is Who Gets Left Out

What Knight-Swift said on Tuesday

On Tuesday, October 27, 2026, Knight-Swift Transportation CEO Adam Miller gave the keynote at the second annual WEX OTR Summit in Jacksonville, Florida. As FreightWaves reported, Miller told the room that the company's approved brokerage carrier pool is down about 70 percent from roughly two years ago. Carriers now need at least a year of operating history before they can haul for its brokerage network.

Miller tied the cut to three pressures. Carrier vetting, cargo theft that he said has gone from a handful of bad actors to organized crime, and broker liability after the Supreme Court's decision in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, which left negligent hiring claims against brokers on the table. In his words, brokers now have "skin in the game" when they hire a carrier carelessly.

Why a big broker shrinking its list matters to a one truck operation

When a broker can be sued for picking the wrong carrier, every load it tenders becomes a liability decision. The easy way to manage that risk is to approve fewer carriers and set the bar higher. Miller said as much, arguing that tighter vetting will push out the cheapest, least compliant capacity.

That is good news if you run clean and have been in business a while, because rates firm up when cheap capacity leaves. It is hard news if you are a new authority. A one year minimum shuts out first year carriers no matter how safe they are. If you are still in that window, plan on leaning harder on direct shippers, contract work, or brokers with different rules, and read our guide to new trucking authority insurance requirements so nothing in your file gives a broker an extra reason to say no.

Broker insurance costs are about to roll downhill

Miller also warned that brokers will have to pay multiples of what they pay today just to keep the same insurance limits. He did not give dollar figures, and we will not guess at any. But the direction is clear. When a broker's own coverage gets more expensive, it protects that coverage by asking more of the carriers it books.

In practice that usually shows up as higher required limits on commercial auto liability, firmer cargo requirements on motor truck cargo coverage, longer indemnity clauses in broker carrier agreements, and more requests to be named on your certificate. None of that is new on its own. What is new is how many brokers are tightening at the same time.

CSA scores are moving from a dashboard number to courtroom evidence

The part of Miller's talk that should get every small carrier's attention was about safety scores. He said CSA scores are not a definitive measure of safety, but that brokers who use carriers over the alert thresholds are taking a risk, and that those scores could become a significant factor in litigation.

Think about what that means after a serious crash. A plaintiff attorney pulls your public scores and asks the broker why it loaded a carrier that was flagged. A broker that sees that coming filters you out before you ever get the load. So your scores now affect two things at once, whether brokers will book you and how your underwriter prices you at renewal.

What to do this week

Pull your SMS profile and look at every BASIC, not just the ones in alert. Challenge inspections that were recorded wrong through DataQs while the evidence is fresh. Keep your insurance filings current so your authority never shows a lapse, since a gap is one of the fastest ways to get dropped from an approved list. Ask your agent for certificates that match what your main brokers require before a load is on the line.

Then check your limits against the broker agreements you actually sign. If a broker you depend on raises its minimums, you want to know the cost of meeting them before it becomes a condition of the next load. Our page on how much commercial truck insurance costs walks through what moves your premium.

Get ahead of the vetting

Brokers are getting pickier, and the carriers who stay on their lists will be the ones whose paperwork, scores and coverage are in order before anyone asks. If you want a second look at your limits, cargo coverage or certificates, get a truck insurance quote in under a minute at our quote form, or call or text 423-264-4255 and talk to a real person about what your brokers are asking for.