MCS-150 biennial update: when yours is due
Every carrier with a USDOT number must file an MCS-150 update every two years, and your own USDOT number tells you exactly when: the last digit sets the month, the next-to-last digit sets whether it falls in odd or even years. Miss it and the FMCSA deactivates your USDOT number.
Last reviewed 3 August 2026
What is the MCS-150?
Form MCS-150 is the Motor Carrier Identification Report — the record behind your USDOT number, covering things like your operating details, fleet size and mileage. The biennial update is the requirement to refresh that record every two years.
When is mine due?
Your USDOT number decides it, and the rule has two halves:
The last digit gives the month. The FMCSA publishes a table mapping each final digit to a month, and the update is due by the last day of that month.
The next-to-last digit gives the year. If it is odd, you file in odd-numbered years. If it is even, you file in even-numbered years.
We have deliberately not reproduced the full month table here, because a table copied into a third-party page is exactly the kind of thing that goes stale without anyone noticing. Check the current one on the FMCSA's registration pages against your own number.
What if nothing has changed?
You still file. The requirement is every two years regardless — including when none of your information has changed, when you have stopped interstate operations since the last update, and even when you are no longer in business and never told the FMCSA.
That last case surprises people. Ceasing to trade does not quietly end the obligation; you have to tell the FMCSA, and until you do the clock keeps running.
What happens if I miss it?
Two things. Your USDOT number is deactivated, which stops you operating legally. And you may face civil penalties of up to $1,000 per day, capped at $10,000.
Deactivation is the part that bites first. A deactivated number tends to surface at the worst possible moment — at a roadside inspection, or when a broker runs your authority before tendering a load.
How does this relate to my other filings?
These get conflated constantly, so to be explicit. The MCS-150 update is every two years, on a schedule set by your USDOT number. UCR is annual and due before 1 January. Your BOC-3 is filed once and never renews.
Three obligations, three completely different cycles — which is precisely why carriers miss them.
Enter your USDOT number and we prefill the rest from the FMCSA registry — one flat fee, all 50 states, filed the same day.