ClearLane (getclearlane.com), a freight back-office operations provider, today announced dedicated certificate of insurance (COI) tracking and carrier insurance monitoring for freight brokerages and 3PLs. The service is designed to maintain current insurance documentation across a broker’s entire carrier network by tracking expiration dates, coverage amounts, and policy changes.

“Nobody notices an expired COI until there’s a claim. Then it’s the broker’s problem. Continuous tracking is the only way to stay ahead of it.” — Alexander Kochas, Founder & Head of Operations, ClearLane

A COI is only accurate on the day it is issued. Policies can be cancelled mid-term for non-payment, coverage amounts can change at renewal, and certificates can expire while the carrier is still hauling freight. When a broker dispatches a load to a carrier whose auto liability or cargo coverage has lapsed, the broker faces exposure it may not know it has. In many cases, the gap becomes visible only after a claim is filed.

ClearLane’s compliance team collects COIs at carrier onboarding, monitors expiration dates across the full carrier network, requests updated certificates ahead of renewal, verifies auto liability and cargo coverage amounts against broker requirements, and flags carriers whose coverage has lapsed or fallen below threshold. The service is part of ClearLane’s broader freight back-office offering, which also includes FMCSA authority monitoring and safety rating tracking.

For a brokerage working with 200 or more active carriers, COI tracking alone can be a continuous workload. Certificates expire on a rolling basis throughout the year, carriers change insurers, and agents send updated documents that must be verified and filed. When handled manually, the work can be deprioritized during busy periods, which is often when loads are moving and exposure is highest. ClearLane says its dedicated team keeps the tracking process continuous regardless of load volume. For teams that prefer to keep verification in-house, ClearLane also offers a free carrier compliance tracking template.

The financial exposure from a single lapsed policy can outweigh years of COI tracking costs. A cargo claim on a $50,000 load, where the carrier’s coverage lapsed two weeks before the incident, can leave the broker holding liability it assumed was covered. An auto liability gap on an accident claim can reach six or seven figures. ClearLane said these are not hypothetical scenarios, but the reason FMCSA compliance and insurance verification exist as requirements. The difference between brokerages that catch lapses and those that do not is whether the tracking runs continuously or only at onboarding, according to the company.

ClearLane’s services include POD and document retrieval, verification, and TMS upload; carrier invoice verification and AP processing, including rate confirmation matching, accessorial review, and duplicate detection; carrier compliance monitoring, including FMCSA authority status, COI tracking, and insurance verification; shipper billing and customer invoicing, including invoice preparation, POD attachment, and portal and EDI submission; accounts receivable management and collections, including aging monitoring, payment reminders, and dispute resolution; pre-billing revenue recovery audit, including missed detention, layover, TONU, and lumper fees before invoicing; and outsourced bookkeeping, including bank reconciliation, transaction categorization, AP/AR recording, credit card reconciliation, and month-end close.