Tell Me Everything | Season 1 Episode 13: The One With the Godfather of MCP

Meet the founder behind one of freight’s most influential carrier-onboarding platforms. Host Danielle Spinelli sits down with Jay Pelkey (founder of MyCarrierPortal / MCP) to unpack how he helped invent modern carrier onboarding, scale insurance certificate monitoring, and build a culture that blends scrappy innovation with real brokerage know-how. From turning around legacy processes at RMIS to partnering with SaferWatch and launching MCP’s onboarding + monitoring stack, Jay shares the origin story, the hard lessons, and why simple, carrier-friendly, fraud fighting wins. We also dig into fraud controls (FMCSA change data, network-effect alerts, and rules you actually have to turn on), plus how MCP keeps pricing accessible without sacrificing capability. If you run a freight brokerage, operations, or risk team, this episode is a masterclass in building onboarding that speeds up coverage, reduces bottlenecks, and cuts fraud, without alienating good carriers. What you’ll learn The real history of carrier onboarding—and how MCP was built for brokers and carriers Why insurance certificate monitoring is the linchpin for risk management Fraud prevention in practice: rules, reviews, FMCSA change signals, and network alerts Product philosophy: easy for carriers, powerful for ops; customizable without tickets Culture matters: empowering smart builders (shout-outs to Tom, Paul, Christian & team)