Glossary · Operating Authority & Compliance
SCAC.
Standard Carrier Alpha Code — 2-4 letter unique identifier assigned by NMFTA to motor carriers, brokers, and freight forwarders for EDI and intermodal use.
What it is
A SCAC — Standard Carrier Alpha Code — is a 2-to-4-character alphabetic identifier assigned by the National Motor Freight Traffic Association (NMFTA) to motor carriers, brokers, and freight forwarders. Originally created for railroad billing identification, the SCAC is now ubiquitous across trucking EDI, intermodal bookings, port operations, and government contract systems.
SCACs are required for: customs filings under the Automated Commercial Environment, intermodal rail bookings, military and government freight, automotive industry EDI, and contract carrier work with major retailers like Walmart. The annual fee in 2026 is $103, and registration runs through nmfta.org. A single carrier can hold multiple SCACs for different operating divisions, which large fleets commonly use to segment freight by service line.
The code itself follows convention — most carrier-issued SCACs end in a non-reserved letter, with reserved endings ("U" for intermodal containers, "X" for privately owned rail cars, "Z" for truck chassis) used for equipment identification rather than carriers.
Why it matters for trucking finance
For owner-operators staying domestic OTR with broker-only freight, a SCAC may not be required. For any carrier running intermodal, customs, government, or major-retailer freight, the SCAC is mandatory — missing it disqualifies the carrier from those loads entirely.
SCACs are often required during contract carrier onboarding with Walmart, Amazon, the big-three automotive shippers, and similar accounts. Lenders rarely care about SCAC directly, but factoring companies sometimes ask for it during broker setup for EDI-billed contracts.
Related terms
- MC Number (MC#) — Federal operating authority number issued by FMCSA that identifies for-hire interstate motor carriers and brokers.
- DOT Number (USDOT) — USDOT-issued registration number identifying any vehicle subject to federal safety oversight, including private and for-hire carriers.
- Intermodal — Freight that travels in containers or trailers across multiple modes (truck + rail + ocean) without the freight itself being unloaded between modes.
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