MC & USDOT Reinstatement
Which case am I in?
First, the letter, if FMCSA sent one: if it says new entrant safety audit, out of service or civil penalty, there is no reinstatement request for you — see the question on that below. Otherwise look at two public FMCSA pages, or send us your USDOT number and we look for you. SAFER, the Company Snapshot, shows the USDOT number: if the status line says inactive and names the biennial update, the MCS-150, that is case one — a free update, and insurance has nothing to do with it. L&I, the Licensing & Insurance record, shows the MC authority: the Insurance line and the BOC-3 line each read OK or Not OK, and the revocation section names the reason and the date. Insurance Not OK is case two and the commonest, BOC-3 Not OK is case three, and a revocation you asked for yourself is case four. Those three are reinstatements: the reinstatement request, with FMCSA's fee, is the last and shortest step, and the wait is the missing filing coming back on record.
My USDOT number reads inactive — what happened, and what fixes it?
Almost always a missed biennial update, and SAFER says so in the status line itself. Every USDOT number must be updated every 24 months, even when nothing has changed; the month and year it falls due are written in the last two digits of the number, and we read them for you. Miss it and FMCSA deactivates the number. The fix is the update itself: a new MCS-150, which we file in Motus as your registered Transportation Service Provider — FMCSA's name for a company that files on your behalf. FMCSA charges nothing for a biennial update, so if anyone quotes you a government fee for this step, that is not FMCSA's fee. How fast the status flips back is up to FMCSA, not to us: we watch the record and call you the moment it reads active, and until then the number is inactive and the truck stays where it is. If your MC authority was revoked at the same time, the reinstatement is filed next, because FMCSA's system will not take a reinstatement request while the USDOT number is inactive.
My MC authority was revoked — how does it come back?
Three things have to be on record before FMCSA will act, and two of them are filed by other people. Insurance: your insurer files the proof of insurance with FMCSA, Form BMC-91 or BMC-91X. The commonest story is a change of insurer — the old one sent FMCSA a cancellation notice, Form BMC-35, the cancellation took effect 30 days after FMCSA received it, and the new policy never reached FMCSA because nobody filed it. Call your new agent first and ask two things: did the BMC-91 for my MC number go to FMCSA, and does your company file them at all. A no is not the end — call us with it. FMCSA describes the revocation as a 33-day process: a warning letter three days after the cancellation notice arrives, 30 days to get the replacement filing on record, then a final decision. BOC-3: the designation of a process agent who receives legal papers for you in every state. If the BOC-3 line reads OK there is nothing to do; if it reads Not OK — the agent went out of business, or FMCSA sent an order to show cause — we arrange a new designation through a blanket process agent and confirm it posts. The agent files it; we cannot. If you revoked the authority yourself, to park the truck or lease on, check both lines: the insurance filing almost always lapsed with your own policy, the BOC-3 may still be on file, and the insurance is the slow step — if you have no policy of your own right now, get the quote today. Then we file the reinstatement request in Motus with FMCSA's reinstatement fee — we tell you the current amount on the call, and it is FMCSA's, not ours — and it is your MC number that comes back, not a new one. FMCSA's own estimate, on its reinstatement FAQ, is that the authority is typically active within a week of receiving the request and the payment — and that clock starts only once the insurance and the BOC-3 are on record, which is why we check both before we file, not after. Until the record reads active the truck stays where it is: running on a revoked authority is what fines and out-of-service orders are for. Tell the broker that the authority is being reinstated and that you will name the date after the first call.
When is it not a reinstatement?
When FMCSA shut you down, rather than a filing lapsing. FMCSA will not take a reinstatement request from a carrier placed out of service as an imminent hazard or under a final Unsatisfactory safety rating; its own instruction there is to arrange a review of your safety compliance with the FMCSA Division Office before seeking reinstatement at all — corrective action and a rating-change request under 49 CFR 385.17, which is audit work, not a form. A new entrant whose registration was revoked after a failed safety audit is a different case again, and that letter also says out of service: there is no reinstatement request to file. You fix what the audit found and reapply, no sooner than 30 days after the date of the revocation, with proof the deficiencies are corrected. We do both halves — the corrective action on our audits page, the reapplication the way we file any registration. Whether you come back under your old USDOT and MC numbers or new ones is FMCSA's call, and we read it off your record once the reapplication posts rather than promise it here. An unpaid civil penalty suspends a for-hire carrier's registration on the 91st day after the payment date FMCSA set; that one is settled by paying, and we are not a law firm, so we do not argue the amount. If your case is one of these, we tell you so on the first call and point you to the right page.
What do you need from me, and what does it cost?
Your USDOT number — and your MC number, if you have one. That is enough to read the record and name the case. Then: the name and phone of your insurance agent, so we can chase the filing; the FMCSA letter, if you received one; and access in Motus — you add us as your Transportation Service Provider, the role that lets a company file on your behalf, and we walk you through it on the call whether you have logged in before or not. If your address, fleet size or company name changed since the last filing, tell us now: FMCSA wants the USDOT record current before it reinstates anything. The money: FMCSA's own fee for a reinstatement request — we tell you the current amount on the call — nothing for the biennial update, the process agent's own charge if a new BOC-3 is needed, the liability policy itself — the big number, and between you and your insurer — and our own fee, which we tell you on that first call, before anything is filed or paid.
Is a reinstatement what you need?
It is, if
- Your L&I record shows the MC authority inactive or revoked, the Insurance line or the BOC-3 line reads Not OK — and no letter from FMCSA names a safety audit, an out-of-service order or a civil penalty.
- Your SAFER snapshot shows the USDOT number inactive for a missed biennial update — with or without an MC number. That case is the free USDOT update, not the reinstatement request, and this is still your page.
- You revoked or suspended the authority yourself — off season, leased on — and want it back.
It is not, if
- FMCSA shut you down as an imminent hazard, or gave you a final Unsatisfactory safety rating. That is a safety-compliance review and a rating-change request under 49 CFR 385.17, and it starts on our audits page.
- Your new entrant registration was revoked after a failed safety audit. The letter says out of service too. The route is corrective action first, then a reapplication no sooner than 30 days after the revocation — we do both; start on the audits page.
- You never held MC authority and need it now. That is a new application with FMCSA's $300 fee per authority type, not a reinstatement — an inactive USDOT number on its own is still this page.
Not sure which one you are in? Give us your USDOT number — by phone, or in the form at the bottom of this page. We read the record before anything is filed or paid.
Failed audit, or given a safety rating? Start on the audits pageMC authority reinstatement
In the order FMCSA wants it. We read the L&I record and name the reason. We get the insurance filing moving with your insurer — Form BMC-91 or BMC-91X comes from them, never from us. If the BOC-3 line reads Not OK, we arrange a new designation with a blanket process agent and confirm it posts. If the USDOT number is inactive, we bring it back first with the biennial update, because the system will not take the request otherwise. Then we file the reinstatement request in Motus with FMCSA's fee and watch the record until it reads active — we call you the day it does. FMCSA's own estimate once it has everything: typically within a week.
USDOT number reactivation
We file the biennial update you missed, and nothing else — FMCSA's own answer to an inactive number is a new MCS-150, at no charge. We check which month your number was due, file it in Motus under the filing access you grant us, and confirm the SAFER snapshot flips back to active. If your MC authority went with it, the reinstatement request follows as soon as the number is active again.
When it is not a reinstatement
An out-of-service order, an Unsatisfactory rating, a failed new entrant audit, an unpaid civil penalty: each has its own procedure, and none of them is fixed by a reinstatement request. We tell you which one you are in on the first call. The safety-compliance review, the corrective action plan and the rating-change request under 49 CFR 385.17 are audit work we already do; that is our audits page. If your new entrant registration was revoked, we file the reapplication for you the same way we file any registration. Civil penalties are yours to pay; we are not a law firm, so we do not litigate them.
Who does what
The whole job in one list, so you can see which part is yours, which is ours, and which belongs to someone else:
- USDOT and MC numbers: Yours. That is enough for us to read the record and name the case.
- Liability policy: Yours to have, if you hold MC authority. The MC reinstatement is not filed until your insurer's BMC-91 / BMC-91X posts — if you have no policy of your own right now, that is the first call to make. The USDOT biennial update does not depend on insurance.
- Insurance filing (BMC-91 / BMC-91X): Your insurer's. We chase it and confirm it posts; the filing itself can only come from the licensed agency.
- BOC-3: The process agent's, and only if your BOC-3 line reads Not OK: we arrange it with a blanket agent and confirm it lands on your FMCSA record.
- Motus access: Yours to grant — you add us as your Transportation Service Provider. We walk you through it on the call.
- MCS-150 biennial update: Ours, filed in Motus. No FMCSA fee.
- Reinstatement request: Ours to prepare and file in Motus. The fee that goes with it is FMCSA's — we tell you the current amount on the call.
- Our fee: Told to you on the first call, before anything is filed or paid — separate from FMCSA's fee.
- Tracking to active: Ours. We watch the record until it reads active and tell you the day it does.
- Civil penalties: Yours to pay. We do not litigate them.
Request a callback
Tell us what you need and we'll call you back — usually the same business day.