We’re Modernizing FMCSA Registration

Motus: USDOT Registration System is the start of a safer journey with FMCSA.

FMCSA’s new registration system streamlines processes, enhances fraud prevention, and provides a more intuitive, user-friendly experience for supporting companies, motor carriers, brokers, and other registrants. It’s a major step forward in our efforts to strengthen oversight, reduce fraud, improve efficiency, and better serve America’s trucking industry.

Motus is designed to improve the customer experience while enhancing FMCSA’s ability to identify high-risk operators, prevent fraud, and ensure that only qualified entities are authorized to operate in interstate commerce.

To learn more about the system, who should use it, and how to get started, visit our Move into Motus page.

A Smarter, Safer Way to Register

Motus includes several major enhancements designed to improve service, strengthen oversight, and support industry compliance:

Enhanced Fraud Prevention and Identity Verification:
Improved validation and verification tools strengthening your identity security. By modernizing our validation process, we’re providing a more secure registration environment that proactively defends your business against fraud and identity theft.
Streamlined User Experience:
Applicants and registrants can complete registration activities through a single, simplified online platform designed to reduce confusion, improve transparency, and shorten processing times.
Improved Data Quality and System Reliability:
Modernized infrastructure improves the accuracy, consistency, and accessibility of registration data.
Scalable, Modern Technology:
The updated system positions FMCSA to adapt more effectively to future operational, enforcement, and customer service needs.

Registration Reimagined

Motus offers new features and functionalities that were not possible in FMCSA’s older systems, such as:

Mobile-Friendly Access: Motus features a secure, smartphone-friendly interface, allowing you to easily update registrations, upload documents, and verify your identity on the go.
Upgraded System Features: Auto-population, real-time data validation, smart logic, edit checks, and notifications make the process easier than ever.
Account Centralization: One company account to apply for and manage all your registrations in a single place. All regulated entities have access to their own customer account page to view registration statuses, manage users, make changes, submit biennial updates, request new registrations, suspend or revoke authority, and more.
Emailed Agency Letters: In addition to receiving letters by mail, Motus emails copies of the most requested Agency letters (such as certificates, permits, or licenses, and confirmations of new applications for registration) directly to company account owners.
Note: The ability to search for letters in Motus will be available in a future release.
Access Regardless of Status: Your company account will remain accessible regardless of your registration status. You’ll have the ability to view your registration information even if your USDOT Number is inactive and will be able to request reactivation directly in the system.
Voluntary Suspension: Voluntarily suspend operating authority in Motus if you are a seasonal carrier or want to temporarily lease onto another carrier. You can reinstate the authority in Motus up to one year after the suspension date.
Document Uploads: Upload documents for FMCSA review and store them for easy access.

Changes to FMCSA Registrations

Motus introduces updates to how registrations are issued and identified:

USDOT Number and Docket Number Randomization: To help prevent fraud, Motus will randomize all newly issued USDOT Numbers and operating authority docket numbers. Existing USDOT and docket numbers will not change.
One Docket Number per New Authority: Motus will assign one unique docket number for each newly granted authority, even if you request multiple authorities in the same application.
Note: Docket numbers for existing authorities will not change. Multiple existing authorities will continue to share the same docket number.
Individual History Tracking: Each new operating authority granted in Motus will have its own distinct history in the system, making it easier to track its specific lifecycle.
Operating Authority Statuses: Motus provides more detailed explanations for each operating authority status. While the status names themselves haven’t changed, Motus adds the specific reason behind a status.
USDOT Number Suffixes: Motus displays suffixes at the end of new USDOT Numbers to help users identify the regulated entity type and the specific registrations granted by FMCSA. Companies registering for the first time in Motus will see suffixes next to their USDOT Number in their company account; registrants with existing USDOT Numbers will not. Suffixes are not a vehicle marking requirement.

motorcoach on a road in front of trees and bushes

Staying the Same:
Already have a USDOT Number or docket number? Existing numbers will not change. Motus will continue to issue docket numbers and prefixes (MC/MX/FF) will remain the same. Multiple existing authorities will continue to share the same docket number.

Under Consideration:
Safety Registration, the future elimination of docket numbers, and changes to the BOC-3 form filing process are still under consideration and will be open for public comment in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. To stay up to date on registration modernization efforts, subscribe to email updates.

The Road Ahead

The launch of Motus is only the beginning. We’ll keep improving Motus by releasing additional functionalities and collecting feedback to make it even better. We aren't just building a new system; we are establishing a foundation for agile modernization that keeps the industry moving safely and efficiently.