What is Motus and when did it replace the FMCSA Portal?

Motus is FMCSA's new registration system. It replaced the Unified Registration System, the FMCSA Portal's registration functions and USDOT-PIN sign-in at 8:00 PM Eastern on 14 May 2026, and opened to all registrants on 19 May 2026. MCS-150 biennial updates, new registrations and authority applications now run through Motus using an identity-verified Login.gov account.

Why can I not claim my USDOT number in Motus?

The most common reason is that the Company Official email FMCSA holds for your business is not yours. Under the old Portal a filing service or a former employee could be listed as Company Official, and Motus requires your Login.gov email to match that record. If it does not match, you cannot claim your own number until FMCSA updates the record.

Will FMCSA deactivate my number if I cannot get into Motus?

FMCSA has temporarily suspended enforcement of biennial updates and the inactivation of USDOT numbers during the transition, and has said registrants should not worry about inactivation caused by Motus access problems. There is no published end date and the requirement itself has not changed.

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Locked out of Motus?

Q: Can a filing service claim my USDOT number for me?

No. FMCSA requires the company official to create the Login.gov account, pass identity verification and claim the USDOT number personally. Its own guidance tells transportation service providers not to claim a USDOT number. After you have claimed it, you can designate a service provider by filer number to prepare filings on your behalf, but you still sign them.

Reviewed by Ray Sandhu DOT compliance, 14 years. Former safety director, 40-truck fleet. Last reviewed September 2026

Quick answer

FMCSA switched off the old Portal on 14 May 2026 and replaced it with Motus. If you cannot claim your own USDOT number, it is almost always because the Company Official email FMCSA holds is not yours — it belongs to a filing service you used years ago, or somebody who has left. Your Login.gov email has to match that record. Until FMCSA changes it, you cannot get in, and no service can claim the number for you.

What actually changed

On 14 May 2026 at 8:00 PM Eastern, FMCSA turned off the registration parts of the old Portal, the Unified Registration System, and USDOT-PIN sign-in. Motus opened to everybody on 19 May.

Before	Now
Username and password	Login.gov with two-factor
USDOT PIN by post	Identity check with your licence and a photo of your face
A filing service could be the Company Official	The owner claims the record, then adds a service by filer number
Three systems	One dashboard

The rules themselves did not change. Your USDOT number is the same, your MC number is the same, and the biennial update is still due on the same schedule. What changed is the front door.

Why you cannot claim your number

Source: FMCSA announced Motus in the Federal Register and switched off the legacy Portal registration functions on 14 May 2026. FMCSA’s own job aid tells transportation service providers not to claim a USDOT number on a carrier’s behalf.

Motus matches your Login.gov email against the Company Official on your FMCSA record. If they do not match, it will not let you claim the number, and there is no override on the screen.

Under the old Portal it was normal for a filing service to put itself down as Company Official. Thousands of carriers are now discovering that the person FMCSA thinks runs their company is a company they paid $150 four years ago.

The three ways this goes wrong

An old filing service is on the record. The most common one. You never knew, because it never mattered until now.
The email belongs to somebody who left. A dispatcher, a partner, a relative who set the company up.
The address is an old one. If FMCSA cannot reach you at the address on file, verifying you gets harder.

How to get your record back

The order matters. Doing step four before step two is what leaves people stuck.

Look up what FMCSA currently holdsCheck your own record first, so you know whether the email is yours before you start. If it is yours, skip to step three.
Ask FMCSA to change the Company OfficialThis is the part that takes time. You will need proof that you own the company — your operating authority, your EIN letter, your driver licence. Open a ticket with FMCSA and expect it to take days rather than minutes.
Set up Login.gov and verify who you areYour driver licence, a photo of your face, and a phone that will take a code. Only the owner can do this — not your dispatcher, not a filing service, not us. When it works it is quick. When it does not, there is no counter to go to.
Claim your USDOT numberOnly possible once the email on the record is yours. If step two is not finished, this fails.
Add a filing service, if you want oneBy filer number, after you hold the record. You can remove them again yourself in about a minute.

You will not lose your number while this is going on. FMCSA has temporarily suspended deactivating USDOT numbers for missed biennial updates during the transition, and has said carriers should not worry about inactivation caused by Motus access problems.

To help reduce service disruptions during the registration system transition, FMCSA has temporarily suspended enforcement of biennial updates and the inactivation of USDOT Numbers for entities that have not completed the required biennial update. — FMCSA, June 2026

There is no published end date, and the requirement has not gone away. When FMCSA starts again it has said it will give notice first.

What a filing service can and cannot do

Be careful here, because some services are advertising more than they are allowed to deliver.

They cannot	They can
Create your Login.gov account	Stay on the phone while you create it
Pass your identity check	Tell you what you need before you start
Claim your USDOT number	Help you open the FMCSA ticket to fix the email
Sign your filings	Prepare every field, so you only approve

Never give anybody your Login.gov password. Not us, not anybody. It is tied to your identity, not to your company, and sharing it breaks Login.gov's own rules. Any service that asks for it is putting your company at risk.

Not sure whether you are locked out?

Put in your USDOT number. We read your official FMCSA record and tell you what it says about your company — including whether your number is still active and when your next filing is due. Free, and you do not need an account.

If you are locked out, we will walk you through getting it back, in English, Spanish, Punjabi or Russian.

When is my MCS-150 due? Work your date out from your own USDOT number. Interstate registration (UCR) Due every year before you run. Annual truck tax (IRS Form 2290) Due 31 August. No stamped form, no plate renewal.