How to get operating authority (and why there is no MC number any more)

What is operating authority?

Federal permission to move regulated freight or passengers in interstate commerce for compensation. A USDOT number identifies your company; operating authority is what says you may legally haul for hire across state lines. They are two different things, and you need both.

You need authority if you transport regulated commodities for hire across state lines, or arrange that transport as a broker or freight forwarder. You generally do not need it if you only haul your own goods, or operate purely intrastate.

So what happened to the MC number?

For decades, authority came with a docket number — MC for motor carriers, FF for freight forwarders, MX for Mexican carriers. It became the number the industry actually used: brokers asked for it, load boards indexed it, factoring companies checked it.

The FMCSA has consolidated onto a single identifier. New applicants get a USDOT number and their authority is recorded against it, with no docket number issued. This is part of the same modernisation that replaced the old registration system with Motus, which became the FMCSA's registration front door during 2026.

If you already hold an MC number, it does not vanish — existing numbers still appear on records and are still widely quoted in the industry. What has stopped is the issuing of new ones. If you need to know exactly how your own authority is recorded, check it directly with the FMCSA rather than relying on any third party, ourselves included.

What does it cost?

The FMCSA charges $300 per type of operating authority requested. If you apply as both a motor carrier and a broker, that is two authorities and two fees.

What order does it happen in?

1. Get a USDOT number. 2. Apply for operating authority and pay the fee. 3. Your application is published in the FMCSA Register. 4. Your insurer files proof of insurance. 5. A process agent files your BOC-3. 6. The FMCSA grants authority once both are on record and the review period has passed.

Steps 4 and 5 can happen in either order, and both can be started as soon as you have applied. There is no reason to wait — they are the long pole.

Registration now runs through Motus, which requires an identity-verified login before you can apply. Set that up first: it is the step most likely to stall you on a Friday afternoon, and nothing else can start until it is done.

What gets applications dismissed?

Missing insurance or a missing BOC-3. The FMCSA dismisses an application when evidence of financial responsibility and a process agent designation have not been filed roughly 90 days after the application. There is also a shorter clock: once your application is published in the Register, failing to comply within 20 days triggers a notice, after which you get 60 days to fix it before dismissal.

Neither deadline is announced with a reminder you can rely on. Plenty of applicants assume silence means the application is progressing, when in fact the clock is running.

Who can file the BOC-3?

This surprises people: a motor carrier cannot file its own BOC-3. Only a process agent can file it on the carrier's behalf. Brokers and freight forwarders that operate no commercial motor vehicles are the exception — they may file for themselves.

A designation is needed for every state you operate in or through, and each designated agent must actually reside in the state they are designated for. That is why nearly every carrier uses a blanket process agent covering all 50 states in one filing, rather than arranging designations state by state.

We file BOC-3 designations — one flat fee, all 50 states, filed the same day.

What about insurance?

The FMCSA will not grant authority until minimum financial responsibility is on file. Your insurer files it directly with the FMCSA on your behalf — you cannot file it yourself, and a certificate emailed to you is not the same thing as a filing.

The minimum levels depend on what you haul and what you drive: entity type, authority type, cargo and vehicle class all change the number. Confirm the applicable figure with your insurer against the FMCSA's current requirements rather than a number you read somewhere.

What comes after authority is granted?

Two recurring obligations begin. UCR registration is annual and due before 1 January each year. Your MCS-150 biennial update is due every two years, and letting it lapse can deactivate your USDOT number.

Your BOC-3, by contrast, is filed once and stays on record until it is replaced — but if you change process agents, the new filing supersedes the old one from the day the FMCSA records it. It also has to be re-filed if your legal name changes, which is the one case where a filing already on record stops being valid.