415 Safety

MOTUS Registration Issue – June 25, 2026

Today I encountered two separate carriers from different states who were unable to complete MOTUS registration. After signing in with Login.gov, MOTUS displayed "Your account is locked or suspended."

Clearing browser cache and trying different browsers did not resolve the issue.

Login.gov confirmed the problem is not with the Login.gov accounts and referred us to the FMCSA MOTUS Technical Support team.

If you're seeing the same message while registering or claiming your USDOT number, it may be a MOTUS system issue rather than something wrong with your Login.gov account.

If you've experienced this error recently, I'd be interested to know when it occurred and whether FMCSA provided a resolution.

FMCSA has provided guidance for carriers that did not have an active and verified FMCSA Portal Company Official account prior to the MOTUS transition.
If you are unable to claim your USDOT Number in MOTUS, you may be required to complete a manual ownership verification process.
You may be asked to provide:
• USDOT Number
• Login.gov email address
• EIN Letter from the IRS
• Articles of Incorporation or Organization
• State registration documents
• Government issued ID
• Selfie with a government issued ID

Before contacting FMCSA:
✓ Complete your Login.gov registration
✓ Complete identity verification in MOTUS
✓ Gather your ownership documents
From what we are seeing, many carriers are currently being placed into manual review queues as FMCSA continues processing account verifications following the MOTUS transition.
If you are unable to claim your USDOT Number, do not panic. Follow FMCSA instructions and submit the requested documentation.
Share this information with other motor carriers who may be affected.

Within the last few weeks, I have been approached by multiple motor carriers who trusted random filing services or inexperienced consultants to apply for their operating authority.
Unfortunately, many of those applications were submitted incorrectly, resulting in:

• Applying for the wrong authority type
• Paying for unnecessary or duplicate authorities
• Incorrect operation classifications
• Higher insurance costs
• Incorrect insurance requirements
• Delays and costly corrections later

Starting a trucking company is not just about submitting forms — the way your authority is structured from the beginning can directly affect your operations, insurance, compliance requirements, and long-term costs.

Start your authority the right way.

Book a Transportation Safety & Compliance Consultation before applying for operating authority.