Applying for freight authority in 2026 means using a new system called Motus. FMCSA took its old pile of registration tools and replaced them with one site.
Here is what it is and what changed for you.
Motus is FMCSA's one registration system
Motus is FMCSA's new USDOT Registration System. It is where you apply for your federal registration, and where you manage it after.
It replaces the old Unified Registration System (URS) and the old Licensing & Insurance site. Your USDOT application, your operating authority and the filings around them all live in one place now.
If you register today, you register in Motus
It came out in stages. The companies that file for other people went first, back in December 2025. That is BOC-3 filers, insurance and surety companies, and service providers like us.
Carriers and brokers came next, through 2026. Since mid-May 2026 the old systems have been handing new applications over. A new registration goes through motus.dot.gov.
FMCSA built it to stop fraud
The old systems made it easy to file a fake registration and pretend to be somebody else's trucking company. Motus checks who you are, and that your business is real, before it lets you file.
For an honest operator that is a few extra steps. For the rest of us it is fewer scammers running around behind fake authority.
Your MC number and your requirements are not changing
Your MC number is not going anywhere, and what you have to carry has not changed. Operating authority. A BOC-3. Insurance. UCR.
Motus changed how you file and where you manage it. It did not change what the law wants from you.
Starting out, expect more steps, not fewer
A tighter system means more places to trip. You verify your own identity, and nobody can do that part for you. Then your business gets verified, the accounts get linked, and the filings have to go in the right order.
None of that got simpler. Only the front door changed.
How Foundation Freight helps
We file through Motus as a registered service provider. Your MC and DOT authority, your BOC-3 and your UCR, handled end to end, for a fraction of what the big filing services charge.
Veteran-owned, one flat price, federal fees included. Tell us about your operation once and we take it from there.
Foundation Freight is an independent filing and compliance service. We are not part of FMCSA, USDOT, or any government agency. Check your own registration status in the official FMCSA systems.