How to Apply for a USDOT Number Online in 2026: Motus Step by Step

New USDOT numbers and operating authority are now applied for online in Motus, FMCSA’s registration system, not in the old Unified Registration System (URS). FMCSA’s notice of April 29, 2026 says Motus becomes the unified registration system and the current URS will be disabled. Here is what to have ready, the application steps in order, and what happens between submitting and running your first load.

Do you need a USDOT number only, or authority too?

Settle this before you open an account, because it decides which application you fill in. A USDOT number identifies your company to FMCSA. Operating authority, still issued with an MC number, is the permission to haul regulated freight for hire across state lines. A for-hire interstate carrier usually needs both, and applies for both in the same registration.

If you are not sure, FMCSA’s USDOT Wizard asks a short set of questions and tells you whether you need a USDOT number only or a USDOT number and operating authority. FMCSA says new registrations in Motus follow a similar flow, so the Wizard is a fair preview of what Motus will ask. The longer comparison is in USDOT number vs MC number.

What to have ready before you start

• A Login.gov account. Motus signs you in through Login.gov, which asks for an email address and a second factor, such as a code sent to your phone. FMCSA recommends not using your public business email for your Motus user profile, because your business contact details are public by law.
• A device with a camera. A smartphone, a tablet, or a computer with a webcam, for the identity check.
• A valid government-issued ID. An identity card, driver’s license, passport, or resident card. Your name in Motus is filled in exactly as it appears on this ID.
• Your company details, exactly as registered. FMCSA’s notice says Motus checks a company’s legal name, principal place of business, ownership structure and company officials. Have them in front of you, spelled the way your formation documents spell them.
• A way to pay. Where a registration carries a fee, Motus records the payment through Pay.gov.

Insurance and the BOC-3 process agent filing come after the application, not inside it, but they have a deadline (more on that below). The full list of what a new authority needs is in requirements for new trucking authority.

How to apply in Motus, step by step

The order below follows FMCSA’s Motus quick-start guide for a first login and its Move into Motus page for new registrants.

1. Sign in through Login.gov. On the Motus homepage (motus.dot.gov), choose the Login.gov sign-in for regulated entities and supporting companies. Log in, or create a Login.gov account if you do not have one, and complete the second factor.
2. Accept the Rules of Behavior. Motus shows FMCSA’s IT system rules once you are signed in. Read them and agree to continue.
3. Verify your identity. On a computer, scan the QR code on screen with your phone or tablet. On a mobile device, use the link under the QR code to use that device’s camera. Choose a language, the country that issued your document and the document type, take a photo of the ID, then take a photo of your face. Return to Motus and continue. If you have no device with a camera, FMCSA lists enrollment centers where this step can be done in person.
4. Complete your user profile. Your name comes in from your ID. Add your address and phone number. The profile belongs to you as a person, not to the company.
5. Choose “Start a New Registration”. The workflow dashboard offers three paths: link an existing USDOT number, start a new registration, or register as a supporting company. As a new applicant you start a new registration and create a new company account.
6. Answer the registration questions. Motus replaces the separate application forms with fields you fill in on screen; FMCSA’s notice names the MCS-150 and the OP-1 series among the forms being folded in. Enter your company details exactly as they appear on your formation documents.
7. Pay and submit. Record any fee through Pay.gov and submit. You can track the status of your registration actions from your Motus account.

If you already have a USDOT number from before Motus, this is not your path: the company official claims the existing number instead, using the same Login.gov email that was used in the FMCSA Portal.

What happens after you submit

For operating authority, the federal rules set out the sequence (49 CFR 365.109T and 365.115):

• FMCSA reviews the application. Staff check it for correctness and completeness. Minor errors are corrected without notice to you; materially incomplete applications are rejected.
• A summary is published in the FMCSA Register. That publication gives the public notice of your application.
• Anyone may protest for 10 days. If no one opposes it, the grant becomes effective when FMCSA issues the certificate.
• Insurance and BOC-3 are due within 20 days of publication. Your insurer files proof of financial responsibility, and your process agent designation (Form BOC-3) has to be filed as well. Authority does not activate without them.

Phase II of Motus did not change the BOC-3 filing process and did not eliminate MC numbers; FMCSA said it would take those up in later releases. Once your authority is granted, what to do after MC number approval covers the steps before your first load, and do I need a BOC-3 after MC approval covers the process agent filing.

How long does it take to get a USDOT number online?

FMCSA has not published a standard processing time for Motus applications. What is fixed is the part after the review: the 10-day protest period and the 20-day window for insurance and the BOC-3. FMCSA’s notice also says that applications flagged for further investigation or vetting take additional time, and that paper forms sent instead of using Motus should expect at least eight business days for the initial review alone.

So the time you control is the time before you submit: having the ID, the device and the exact company details ready, and lining up insurance and the BOC-3 so they are filed as soon as your application is published. How long MC number activation takes walks through that second half.

Mistakes that slow a new application

• Starting before you know what you need. Applying for a USDOT number only when the operation needs authority too means applying again for authority later.
• Company details that do not match. Motus validates the legal name, address, ownership and officials. Use one spelling and one address everywhere.
• Waiting on insurance until after the grant. The 20-day clock starts at publication, not at approval, and authority stays inactive until the filings are in.
• Using the old system’s instructions. Guides that walk through URS screens describe a system FMCSA is retiring for new applications.

More of the common ones are in MC application mistakes that delay or kill your authority.

If you would rather hand the paperwork off, our USDOT and MC number registration service files both numbers directly with FMCSA, handles the BOC-3 and insurance filings that authority will not activate without, and includes support for UCR registration.

Related reading

If you are still working out whether you need authority at all, start with what is trucking authority, and the full cost of going independent is in getting your own authority as an owner-operator. While the application is in review, what to do while waiting for your MC lists the work you can do in parallel.

Sources

• FMCSA, Availability of Motus, FMCSA’s New Registration System, notice of policy, 91 FR 23144, April 29, 2026 (docket corrected May 6, 2026, 91 FR 24643).
• FMCSA Office of Registration, Motus Quick-Start: A Guide to Your First Login (job aid, May 2026).
• FMCSA, Move into Motus, registration page (last updated May 18, 2026).
• Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 49 CFR Part 365, sections 365.109T and 365.115.