How to Request Transparency Professionally

A transparency request is simply asking to review the record of the transaction for a load you hauled, as provided under 49 CFR 371.3.

The goal is a clean, factual, professional record of the request. Not a confrontation.

• Put the request in writing, by email where possible, so there is a timestamp and a paper trail.
• Identify the load clearly: load or pro number, pickup date, origin and destination, and your MC or DOT number.
• Cite the regulation plainly and without hostility. State that you are requesting the record of the transaction under 49 CFR 371.3.
• Ask for a specific response window that is reasonable, and thank them for their time. Under 49 CFR 371.3(c), each party to a brokered transaction has the right to review the record required by the regulation. The current rule does not establish a specific response deadline, so a requested period should not be described as a current statutory deadline.
• Keep every copy. Save your sent message and any reply exactly as received.

Members have access to a ready-to-use Transparency Request Letter in the member toolkit. Fill in the load details and send. It is written to keep the request routine and professional.

A refusal is not the end of the process. It is documentation. Move to gathering your records and filing a complaint.