Amazon Relay for New Carriers: Requirements and How to Qualify

For a new carrier, Amazon Relay can look like a shortcut to steady freight. It is not a shortcut. It is a large, rules-driven freight network run by one of the biggest shippers in the country, and it only opens its load board to carriers that already meet a clear set of authority, insurance, equipment, and safety standards. If you understand those standards before you apply, you can plan your first months in business around them. If you apply too early, you will simply be turned away and have to wait until you qualify.

This guide explains what Amazon Relay actually is, who can apply, what insurance and equipment it requires, how the application works, and how to decide whether Relay should be part of your freight mix in 2027. It is written for new owner-operators and small fleets, not for drivers looking for package-delivery gig work. That distinction matters, and it is where the guide begins.

What Amazon Relay Is, and What It Is Not

Amazon Relay is Amazon's freight marketplace for motor carriers. Approved carriers book loads through the Relay load board and app, haul freight between Amazon facilities such as fulfillment centers, sort centers, and delivery stations, and get paid on Amazon's weekly cycle. There are spot loads you can book a few hours ahead, and there are longer blocks and dedicated opportunities that become available as your tenure and performance grow.

Relay is not Amazon Flex. Flex is a program for individuals using personal vehicles to deliver packages. Relay is for trucking businesses with their own operating authority, commercial insurance, and qualifying trucks. You apply as a company, not as an individual driver, and Amazon checks your company against federal safety and insurance records before you haul a single load.

Relay is also not a broker in the usual sense. Amazon is the shipper: it sets the posted rate, and the rate you see is an all-in figure including base rate, fuel surcharge, and tolls. That transparency is one of the reasons carriers like the platform: there is no phone negotiation and no separate fuel bill to reconcile after the fact. The trade-off is that you take Amazon's terms, including facility procedures, appointment discipline, and performance expectations, exactly as written.

Think of Relay as a demanding anchor customer: it can fill gaps with predictable facility-to-facility freight, but it will not carry a business still sorting out authority, insurance, or safety. Get those foundations right first, as described in How to Start a Trucking Company, and Relay becomes a realistic second step.

The Eligibility Checklist: Can You Apply Yet?

Amazon publishes its carrier requirements plainly, and the first test is the one that stops most brand-new carriers. Your interstate operating authority must have been active for a minimum of 180 days. A carrier that received authority last month cannot qualify this month, no matter how good its truck or insurance looks. The clock runs from active authority, not from the day you formed your company or bought your truck.

Beyond that waiting period, Amazon requires a valid USDOT number and a valid MC number, with your entity type registered as a carrier authorized for property and for hire. If you are still unclear about the difference between those two numbers, read MC Number vs DOT Number before you start the Relay application, because a mismatch between your FMCSA record and your Relay application is a common source of delay.

Your Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration safety rating must be Satisfactory, None, or Not Rated. That last point is good news for new carriers: you do not need a long inspection history to pass this particular test. A new carrier that has not yet been rated is not automatically disqualified on rating alone. What Amazon does look at closely is your safety performance data, covered in a later section, and every driver you put on Relay loads must meet standardized background check requirements before hauling.

There is no fleet-size requirement to apply. A one-truck owner-operator and a small fleet go through the same qualification process. Amazon also states that there are no fleet size requirements for applying, and that you can update your equipment inventory after approval as your fleet changes. That means a new carrier should not buy extra trucks just to impress Relay. Qualify with the equipment you can actually run well, and grow from there.

If you are still inside your first 180 days, use that time deliberately: run clean, keep inspections and paperwork in order, and line up insurance to Relay's minimums so nothing is left to fix when the waiting period ends.

Insurance: The Requirement That Causes Most Delays

Insurance is where most Relay applications slow down or stall, and Amazon's own guidance says the same thing: delays in approval are most often caused by validation of insurance information. The lesson is simple. Do not submit a Relay application and then discover that your policy is short in one coverage. Get the policy right first, confirm that the certificate matches Amazon's format, and keep your agent in the loop while the application is pending.

Amazon's published minimum insurance requirements for carriers are as follows: Auto liability must be not less than $1,000,000 per occurrence, including trailer replacement coverage of $50,000. Cargo coverage must be at least $100,000. Commercial general liability must be not less than $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 in aggregate. Employer liability must be not less than $100,000 per occurrence. Workers' compensation insurance is required in all areas where your company operates.

Read that list against your current policy line by line. Many new carriers already carry $1,000,000 in auto liability because brokers demand it, but fewer carry a separate commercial general liability policy at the $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate level, and some cargo policies sit below $100,000. Each gap is a reason for Amazon to hold your application. If you run tractors and pull Amazon trailers, the $50,000 trailer replacement element deserves its own check, because it is easy to overlook when you are focused on the headline liability limit.

Cost is the next honest question. A fully compliant Relay policy for a single truck is commonly quoted in the low five figures per year, and the exact premium depends on your driving record, your operating radius, your cargo, your credit and insurance history, and your state. Do not budget from a single online quote. Get competing quotes, ask each agent to confirm in writing that the policy meets every Relay minimum above, and ask who sends the certificate to Amazon and in what format. A certificate that shows the right limits in the wrong format can still cost you weeks.

Once you are approved, insurance is not a file-and-forget item. A lapse, a downgrade below a minimum, or a renewal certificate that never reaches Amazon can suspend your ability to book loads. Treat your insurance renewal date as a Relay compliance date: confirm the new certificate is delivered and accepted before the old policy expires, not after.

Equipment That Qualifies, and Equipment That Does Not

Amazon accepts a defined set of equipment, and it is stricter than a general load board. For tractors, Relay accepts day cabs and sleeper cabs. For trailers, it accepts 48-foot trailers, 53-foot dry vans, and 53-foot refrigerated trailers, along with 20-foot, 40-foot, and 45-foot high-cube containers that are compliant with the Uniform Intermodal Interchange Agreement. For box trucks, it accepts a 26-foot box truck with a functional tuck-under liftgate and a 16-foot box truck with a functional tuck-under liftgate. It also offers 28-foot trailers and both trailer-provided and trailer-required loads, including power-only work where you bring the tractor and Amazon provides the trailer.

Two exclusions catch new carriers out. Cargo vans and sprinter vans do not qualify for Relay freight, and a box truck without a working tuck-under liftgate does not meet the box-truck standard even if it is the right length. The liftgate is not a nice-to-have accessory for Amazon's dock operations. It is part of the qualification, because Relay freight is built around palletized loading and unloading at facilities designed for that equipment.

Before you buy or lease equipment with Relay in mind, check the specific load types you intend to run. A 26-foot box truck with a liftgate opens one set of opportunities, a tractor with a 53-foot dry van opens another, and power-only work suits a carrier that wants to avoid trailer ownership and maintenance but still run Amazon freight. There is no single right answer, only the answer that fits your license, your freight lanes, and your maintenance capacity. A reefer adds temperature-controlled freight and reefer maintenance, fuel, and monitoring costs. A dry van is simpler but faces more competition. A box truck keeps you closer to regional and local work but limits the size of the loads you can take.

Document your equipment honestly, and keep it in the condition Amazon's facilities expect. A liftgate that fails at a dock door costs far more than the repair would have, in a missed appointment and a performance hit.

Safety Scores and Performance Expectations

Amazon states that carriers must maintain compliance with safety, DOT, and insurance requirements, deliver on time, accept tenders consistently, and execute loads using Amazon Relay technology. That is a performance contract, not a slogan. Relay tracks how you perform, and your access to more types of booking can grow as your performance score and tenure grow. The reverse is also true: poor performance narrows your options.

On the federal safety side, carriers commonly report that Amazon applies thresholds to the FMCSA Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories, with lower scores required for unsafe driving and hours-of-service compliance than for vehicle maintenance, controlled substances and alcohol, and driver fitness. Do not guess your scores. Check your company's safety record in FMCSA's system before you apply, fix what you can fix, and understand that a carrier with recent serious violations may need time and clean inspections before Relay becomes realistic.

On the operational side, the habits that protect a Relay account are unglamorous and entirely within your control. Arrive on time for appointments. Do not accept a load you cannot run. Use the Relay app and portal as Amazon requires, including location tracking while in transit. Communicate problems early through the proper channel rather than going silent. Keep your driver roster, equipment list, and insurance current. None of this requires a large fleet. It requires discipline, and small carriers often do it better than large ones because the owner is the dispatcher, the safety manager, and the driver.

Drivers matter too: all drivers onboarding to Relay must meet standardized background check requirements, so start those checks as soon as a hire is real, not on the driver's first dispatch day.

How to Apply, Step by Step

The application itself is straightforward once the prerequisites are met. The work is in the preparation, and the order below reflects that.

First, confirm your authority age. Count 180 days of active interstate authority from your FMCSA record, not from a guess. If you are short, set a calendar reminder for the qualifying date and spend the remaining time on the steps that follow.

Second, audit your insurance against every minimum in the insurance section above, and ask your agent to prepare a certificate in Amazon's required format. Keep a copy of exactly what was sent, and note the date it was sent. If Amazon asks for a correction, you want to be able to answer the same day.

Third, confirm your equipment list. Make sure each truck and trailer you list is equipment Amazon accepts, that box trucks have functional tuck-under liftgates, and that your inventory matches what you actually own or lease. Do not list equipment you hope to acquire.

Fourth, check your safety record and your driver roster. Confirm your safety rating category, review your safety scores, and start background checks for any driver who will haul Relay loads.

Fifth, create your Relay carrier account and submit the completed application with accurate company, authority, insurance, and equipment details. Amazon states that once it receives a completed application, approval or rejection typically follows within one to three weeks, with insurance validation the most common cause of delay. Keep your insurance agent available during that window so a validation question does not sit unanswered.

Sixth, if approved, complete the digital courses in Relay's Learning Center before you book. These courses explain how Amazon's facilities, appointments, and app workflows operate, and skipping them to grab the first available load is a false economy. A carrier that understands the facility process on day one protects its performance score from avoidable early mistakes.

Seventh, book your first loads conservatively, choosing lanes and times you can comfortably make. Early performance is the foundation for the better booking options that come with tenure.

What Life Looks Like After Approval

Once approved, you book through the Relay load board and manage trips through the Relay portal and app. The app is not optional decoration: Amazon tracks driver location in transit as part of its performance system, so drivers need to understand that tracking is a condition of hauling Relay freight, not a surprise to discover on the first load.

Payment runs on a weekly cycle from Sunday through Saturday. Loads completed before the Saturday cutoff are paid out the following week on Friday, according to Amazon's published payment guidance. That weekly rhythm is attractive for cash flow compared with broker payment terms that can stretch much longer, but it still means you need working capital for fuel, tolls, and payroll in the first weeks. Relay also offers opportunities to name your own price on some loads, and carriers may be eligible for industry discounts on items such as fuel, tires, preventative maintenance, and toll management.

The freight itself is facility-to-facility work, with appointment windows, check-in procedures, and dock discipline. Carriers who arrive prepared, with the right equipment and paperwork and time built in for check-in, tend to do well, and strong performance over time can open dedicated and contracted opportunities beyond spot loads.

Is Relay Right for a New Carrier in 2027?

Relay is a good fit for a new carrier that already has active authority past the 180-day mark, compliant insurance, qualifying equipment, a clean safety profile, and the discipline to run appointments precisely. It is a poor fit for a carrier that needs freight tomorrow, is still waiting on authority, or is hoping Amazon will overlook an insurance gap. Amazon's system is designed to say no quickly to incomplete applications, and that is a feature, not a flaw, from the shipper's point of view.

Be honest about rate expectations too. Relay posts all-in rates, which makes comparison easier, but it does not guarantee that every posted load beats every broker load on the same lane. Compare each rate against your true cost per mile, including fuel, maintenance reserves, insurance, and your own pay, before you book.

For most new carriers, the sensible 2027 plan is a mixed freight strategy. Use Relay as one leg of your business once you qualify, alongside broker freight and any direct shipper work you develop. That mix protects you if one source slows down, and it lets you compare Relay's consistency and weekly pay against the rest of the market with real numbers from your own operation. Revisit the mix quarterly. If Relay loads are consistently profitable and clean to run, grow that share. If they are not, shrink it without drama. The goal is a profitable carrier, not a carrier that hauls for a famous name at a loss.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does my authority need to be active before I can join Amazon Relay?

Your DOT number with interstate authority must have been active for a minimum of 180 days, and you must hold a valid MC number as a carrier authorized for property and for hire. New carriers should plan their first months around that waiting period rather than applying early and being rejected.

What insurance does Amazon Relay require?

At minimum, Amazon Relay requires $1,000,000 in auto liability per occurrence including $50,000 in trailer replacement coverage, $100,000 in cargo coverage, $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate in commercial general liability, at least $100,000 per occurrence in employer liability, and workers' compensation in every jurisdiction where you operate.

Can I join Amazon Relay with a cargo van or sprinter van?

No. Relay accepts tractors, qualifying trailers, and 26-foot or 16-foot box trucks with functional tuck-under liftgates, among other listed equipment. Cargo vans and sprinter vans do not meet Relay's equipment standards.

How long does Amazon Relay approval take?

Amazon states that a completed application is typically approved or rejected within one to three weeks, with insurance validation the most common cause of delay. Having your insurance certificate ready in the correct format before you apply is the best way to avoid a longer wait.

Does Amazon Relay pay weekly?

Yes. The payment cycle runs weekly from Sunday through Saturday, and loads completed before the Saturday cutoff are paid out the following week on Friday, according to Amazon's published guidance.

Do I need a large fleet to qualify for Amazon Relay?

No. Amazon states there are no fleet size requirements to apply, and you can update your equipment inventory after approval. One-truck owner-operators qualify on the same authority, insurance, equipment, and safety standards as larger fleets.

This guide was prepared in good faith from official sources, including FMCSA and state agency publications, and was checked at the time of writing. Fees, rules and procedures change, and errors and omissions are excepted. Please confirm current requirements with the relevant agency before filing or travelling. If you spot anything that needs correcting, email us at contact@truckingmind.com — we will verify it and update this page.