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Motus Replaced the Old FMCSA Registration Systems: What That Means

This site is not affiliated with FMCSA, the U.S. Department of Transportation, Login.gov, or any government agency. It is an independent help site. The official Motus system is motus.dot.gov.

If search results send you to the old FMCSA Portal or the Unified Registration System, you are seeing older pages. Here is what changed and what stayed the same.

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Last reviewed November 15, 2026, against FMCSA's public pages.

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Motus is the current USDOT registration system

FMCSA's Resources Hub says that starting May 14, 2026, FMCSA's legacy registration systems yielded to Motus, and FMCSA says Motus launched on May 19. You reach it at motus.dot.gov.

What you do in Motus now

FMCSA lists these registrant actions in Motus:

  • Apply for a new USDOT number, operating authority, or other registration.
  • Submit a biennial update.
  • Update business information, including company name and address.
  • Apply for more types of operating authority or registrations.
  • Reinstate a suspended operating authority, or reapply after revocation.
  • Inactivate or reactivate a USDOT number.
  • Track the status of registration actions.

Why some FMCSA pages still mention the old systems

Some older FMCSA FAQs have not been rewritten. For example, FMCSA's FAQ "How do I register for a USDOT number?" (last updated May 20, 2023) still says to apply through the Unified Registration System. When an older page and a Motus page disagree, go with the Motus page, and check the date at the bottom of each FMCSA page.

What carried over

  • Your USDOT number. FMCSA says existing registrants keep their current USDOT number.
  • Your company record, which you claim in Motus. See how to claim your USDOT number.
  • Your Portal email. FMCSA says the company official should claim with the same Login.gov email used in the FMCSA Portal.

What did not change in the first release

FMCSA has proposed using the USDOT number as the only identifier, with suffixes, and no longer assigning MC numbers. FMCSA says that change would go through a proposed rulemaking and will not take effect with the first release of the new system. See USDOT suffixes in Motus.

What did change

You sign in with Login.gov, complete an identity check, and the company completes business verification. FMCSA also says a USDOT PIN is no longer needed. See signing in to Motus.

What this part of the process involves

  • A Login.gov account that uses your old Portal email
  • Claiming your existing USDOT number in Motus
  • Identity and business verification
  • Updates, biennial updates and reactivations, now done in Motus

Rather not work through every step yourself? A Personal Compliance Specialist can prepare and file the parts that can be handed off.

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Do it yourself, or hand it off

Do it yourself in Motus

  • No FMCSA charge for a USDOT number or for updates. Government fees still apply to things like operating authority.
  • You handle every screen, form and certification.
  • You track recurring deadlines, such as the biennial update, yourself.

Have a Personal Compliance Specialist handle it

  • A paid, optional service. The fee is quoted before work starts and is separate from government fees.
  • Once you designate them in Motus as a service provider, they can prepare filings and do data entry for you.
  • You still complete your own identity check and the final certification. No one can speed up FMCSA's review.

Related guides

Where this information comes from

We write these guides from FMCSA's public pages and update them when FMCSA changes its guidance. Check the source before you act:

Questions people ask

Is the Unified Registration System still the way to apply?

No. New registrations are done in Motus at motus.dot.gov. Older FMCSA FAQs that still mention the old system have not been updated.

Do I still need an FMCSA Portal account?

Motus is now the registration system. Your Portal email still matters, because the company official should claim with the same Login.gov email used in the Portal.

Did my USDOT number change when Motus launched?

No. FMCSA says existing registrants keep their current USDOT number.

Are MC numbers going away?

Not in the first Motus release. FMCSA has proposed it, and says the change would go through rulemaking first. FMCSA says existing MC numbers would not be replaced by USDOT numbers.

Where is the Motus system?

At motus.dot.gov. This site is not that system and is not FMCSA.

Rather not work through every step yourself? A Personal Compliance Specialist can prepare and file the parts that can be handed off.

Consult with a Compliance Specialist
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