A2P 10DLC: What Trucking Companies Need to Know Before Texting Drivers

Since 2023, US carriers (T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T) have required all businesses sending SMS to US mobile numbers to register through a compliance framework called A2P 10DLC (Application-to-Person 10-Digit Long Code).

If you don't register, you can still buy a phone number — but your messages will be silently throttled or blocked at the carrier level. And you won't know until your drivers start missing dispatch texts.

Who needs to register?

You need A2P 10DLC if all three are true:

• You send SMS to US mobile numbers
• You use a 10-digit US phone number (not a short code like 12345)
• The messages are business-to-person, not person-to-person

Texting your driver 'pickup confirmed for 8am' from a business number? That's A2P 10DLC territory.

The two-part registration

Registration has two stages: (1) Brand and (2) Campaign.

1. Brand registration ($4 one-time)

You verify your business exists. You need your Legal Business Name, EIN, business address, and website. If you're a sole proprietor with no EIN, there's a lower-throughput path using SSN — capped at 75 SMS/day.

2. Campaign registration ($10/month)

You describe what you'll be texting about. For trucking, the right use case is 'Account Notification' or 'Delivery Notification'.

You'll submit 3 sample messages. Each MUST include an opt-out line like 'Reply STOP to opt out.' Carriers reject any campaign that doesn't.

"The #1 reason A2P campaigns get rejected: skipping the STOP opt-out language in sample messages. Carriers auto-reject in seconds if it's missing."

What to say for opt-in method

For fleet dispatch use cases, the opt-in flow is: 'Drivers provide their phone number during hire onboarding, employer collects verbal or written consent for dispatch SMS.' That satisfies carrier requirements — you don't need every driver to click a link.

Timeline: 3-14 days

• Brand approval: usually within 24 hours (Twilio auto-approves clean submissions)
• Campaign approval: 1-7 business days depending on the carrier — T-Mobile is the slowest
• In-flight messages: SMS still works during pending, but throttled

What happens if I skip it?

Carriers escalate: at first they'll throttle you. Then they'll silently filter your messages so drivers never see them. Eventually they'll blacklist your business phone number entirely.

The correct path is: register the Brand first (starts the approval clock), buy your phone number in parallel, submit the Campaign with the number attached, then wait.