SAFER stands for Safety and Fitness Electronic Records and is effectively the public-facing option of FMCSA. In SAFER you can research anyone’s DOT records.
The most useful tool within SAFER is the Company Snapshot. You can search by DOT, MC, or by the business name. From there it will open up a page with all of the info for that DOT. It will show the MC/ MX/ or FF number, address, phone number, operation classification, carrier operation, cargo carried, DOT inspections, and insurance.
When a new DOT starts they often receive dozens, if not hundreds, of phone calls, and it is because the phone number on the account is now public and people can pay to receive your information.
If someone has their DOT number, or business name displayed on their Facebook profile, anyone can instantly have their business address (often also the home address) and phone number. This is private information that you may want to keep private.
At the same time, if someone has a DOT compliance program, or something is missing, a DOT processing agent or anyone trained with DOT compliance can review their Company Snapshot similar to a Doctor reviewing X-Rays and instantly see what is missing, or incorrect.
You can view the Company Snapshot search tool here.
