FMCSA's Motus Rollout Creates Headaches for US Motor Carriers

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration launched Motus in May 2026 as its new unified registration platform, designed to replace decades-old legacy systems and consolidate USDOT, operating authority, and biennial update management into one secure portal. On paper, it sounds like a much-needed modernization effort. In practice, the rollout has been rocky enough that FMCSA suspended USDOT number deactivations in June to give carriers breathing room while dealing with system failures. The agency is facing a perfect storm: roughly 1.8 million trucking companies are trying to migrate simultaneously, and the system is not handling the volume well.

The specific problems range from lockouts that prevent carriers from accessing their accounts to incorrect data being migrated from the old system. Some carriers have been unable to claim their existing USDOT numbers and instead had duplicates created. Others see their insurance showing as inactive when coverage is actually current, while their operating authority appears offline. Phone hold times are running long, and FMCSA says case fixes are taking days or weeks to resolve. One of the tougher changes is that Motus now requires a company owner or officer to personally complete identity verification and business checks, which means your dispatcher or process agent can no longer do it on your behalf. For small owner-operators and husband-and-wife teams, this is a significant shift in how your business relationship with FMCSA works.

The real teeth in this story is the enforcement angle. If a roadside officer runs your carrier profile and finds incomplete or outdated information in Motus, your truck gets placed out of service on the spot. Even though FMCSA has paused deactivations tied to Motus errors, the biennial update requirement itself remains active, and missing that deadline has always meant automatic USDOT number inactivation. You could lose operating authority through no fault of your own if the system has your information wrong or if you cannot access Motus to file your MCS-150 update. This makes it critical to reach the FMCSA Registration Customer Service Center at 1-800-832-5660 if you are having trouble, rather than waiting for the system to sort itself out.

If you are trying to migrate now, expect friction. FMCSA has published some guidance for specific issues like being accidentally registered as a Transportation Service Provider, but the underlying system instability remains. If your account is currently in good standing and you do not have an urgent compliance deadline approaching, some industry consultants suggest holding off for a few weeks to let the early fixes roll out. However, if you need to file a biennial update, make a change to your authority, or claim a new USDOT number, prepare your documents in advance, contact the help line early, keep detailed notes of your every attempt, and be ready for a long wait.