How to Get an MC Number

You need operating authority, in addition to a USDOT number, if for pay you:

• Haul federally regulated goods owned by others across state lines, or arrange that transport as a broker.
• Carry passengers across state lines.

You don’t need it if you are a private carrier hauling your own cargo, a for-hire carrier hauling only exempt commodities, or a carrier working only inside an exempt commercial zone. FMCSA’s USDOT Wizard (opens in a new tab) helps you work out which registration you need. Its result pages still mention URS, which is offline; apply in Motus.

FMCSA identifies authority by a docket number starting with MC, FF or MX, depending on the type. Motus kept those numbers, and each authority you are granted gets its own, even when you apply for several at once.

• Your USDOT number or, if you don’t have one yet, everything on the USDOT number checklist.
• A Login.gov account, plus a phone or tablet with a camera and your government-issued ID for Motus’s identity check. Carriers who registered before Motus pass it too, the first time they sign in.
• The type of authority you need, such as motor carrier of property, motor carrier of passengers, or broker.
• A debit or credit card for FMCSA’s fee: $300 for each type of authority.
• An insurance agent who can file your proof of coverage with FMCSA as soon as your MC number is assigned.
• A process agent, or a blanket company that covers every state, for your BOC-3.
• Your exact legal name and address, matching your state filings, for every form.

Apply in Motus

FMCSA moved registration to Motus in May 2026, and the old Unified Registration System (URS) is permanently offline. You sign in with Login.gov and pass Motus’s identity check, as the USDOT number guide explains. With no USDOT number yet, you apply for the number and authority in one registration; with one, you add authority in Motus.

Choose each type of authority you need and pay FMCSA’s fee of $300 for each type, by debit or credit card. It is a one-time fee for each authority.

Motus then shows each authority as pending, and can show what it is waiting for: FMCSA’s review, your BOC-3 filing, or your insurance filing.

Get your insurance on file

FMCSA won’t grant authority until your minimum insurance is on file with it. Your insurance company files the proof online, usually on Form BMC-91X; ask for it as soon as your docket number is assigned. Don’t send FMCSA an insurance certificate yourself.

For general freight (not hazardous materials) hauled for hire, the federal minimum is $750,000 in liability coverage if your fleet includes any vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,001 pounds or more, and $300,000 if every vehicle is under 10,001 pounds. FMCSA does not require cargo insurance for general freight.

Brokers file a $75,000 surety bond or trust fund agreement (Form BMC-84 or BMC-85) instead of liability insurance.

Get your BOC-3 filed

A process agent can accept court papers for your company. Form BOC-3 names one for each state where you are authorized to operate and each state you drive through. Brokers name one for each state where they have an office or write contracts. A blanket company covers every state and the District of Columbia at once; FMCSA’s process agents page (opens in a new tab) lists the registered ones.

As a motor carrier, you can’t file your own BOC-3; your process agent, usually a blanket company, files it for you. A broker or freight forwarder that operates no commercial motor vehicles can file its own. A new BOC-3 replaces the one on file, so it must list every state you need.

File both within 20 days

FMCSA publishes a summary of your application in the FMCSA Register as a preliminary grant of authority. Your insurance filing and BOC-3 are due within 20 days of that date. If they are late, FMCSA sends a decision saying your application will be dismissed unless you comply.

The 10-day protest period

Publication also gives the public 10 days to protest your application. If no one opposes it, the grant takes effect when FMCSA issues your certificate.

Applying is not enough. You can’t haul regulated freight for hire across state lines until your certificate is issued, and operating without the required authority can get you ordered out of service and bring penalties. Once FMCSA’s Licensing and Insurance (L&I) system shows the certificate as issued, you may start.

To check, search your MC or USDOT number on L&I (opens in a new tab), open the HTML details, and read the Authority Status column; a pending application is under the Application Pending link. On SAFER (opens in a new tab), active authority reads “AUTHORIZED FOR” and the type.

While you wait, you can lease your services to a carrier that has authority, under a written lease that meets the federal leasing rules in 49 CFR 376.11 (opens in a new tab).

We haven’t found an official total processing time for Motus, and the day counts in many older guides were written for URS. The fixed parts come from the rules:

• A new application can take 24 hours to show up in L&I.
• Your insurance filing and BOC-3 are due within 20 days of your application’s publication in the FMCSA Register.
• The protest period runs 10 days from publication.

The rest depends on FMCSA’s review and on how quickly your insurer and process agent file, which is the part you control.

• Treating the MC number as permission. Your MC number is assigned before your authority is active. Check L&I before your first load.
• Buying a policy and stopping there. FMCSA needs your insurer’s filing on record, not a certificate from you.
• Names that don’t match. FMCSA says the name and address in your application must match your state filings exactly, and any difference delays your authority.
• A fake Motus site or caller. Look-alike “MOTUS” sites and emails exist; the real address is motus.dot.gov. FMCSA will not call you right after you apply.
• Buying, renting or leasing someone’s MC number. FMCSA moves to inactivate the USDOT number and revoke all related registrations. Leasing your equipment to a carrier under the leasing rules is different, and allowed.

• Keep your insurance and BOC-3 on file. If either lapses after your authority is granted, FMCSA starts revocation proceedings.
• Register for UCR. Unified Carrier Registration is a separate yearly fee, not run by FMCSA and not part of Motus. Interstate carriers (private carriers of property included), brokers, freight forwarders and leasing companies pay it at ucr.gov (opens in a new tab) before January 1 of each registration year. The 2027 fee for 0 to 2 vehicles is $55, with registration from October 1, 2026.
• Finish the New Entrant program. A motor carrier’s authority does not become permanent until you complete it: 18 months of monitoring, with a safety audit within your first 12 months of operating, or your first 120 days if you carry passengers. See our New Entrant Safety Audit Checklist.