MCS-150 biennial update: when it’s due and how to file

Who has to file

Every motor carrier that operates in interstate commerce files Form MCS-150, the Motor Carrier Identification Report (49 CFR 390.19T). Intrastate carriers that need a hazardous materials safety permit file the MCS-150B, and intermodal equipment providers file the MCS-150C. Each one files:

1. before it begins operations; and
2. every 24 months after that, on the schedule below.

FMCSA stresses that the update is due “even if your company has not changed its information, has ceased interstate operations since the last update, or is no longer in business and you did not notify FMCSA” (FMCSA, updating your registration).

Apart from the two-year cycle, you should update your record whenever your legal name, address or other details change. Only your legal name or a single trade name may go on the form (390.19T(f)).

Find your month and year

Two digits of your USDOT number set your deadline (390.19T(b)):

• The last digit gives the month. You file by the last day of that month.
• The next-to-last digit gives the year. Odd means you file in odd-numbered years (2027, 2029); even means even-numbered years (2026, 2028).

There are no November or December deadlines. Three worked examples:

• A USDOT number ending in …67: 7 means July, and 6 is even, so you file by July 31 in 2026, 2028 and so on.
• Ending in …39: 9 means September, and 3 is odd, so your next update is due by September 30, 2027.
• Ending in …80: 0 means October, and 8 is even, so the update was due by October 31, 2026. That is inside the 2026 pause below, but don’t wait for it to end.

Not sure what FMCSA has on file? Search your USDOT number in Motus’s public search or on SAFER’s Company Snapshot (FMCSA, FMCSA).

The 2026 enforcement pause

FMCSA launched Motus, its new USDOT registration system, on May 19, 2026. To reduce disruption during the switch, it has temporarily stopped enforcing biennial updates and inactivating USDOT numbers (FMCSA temporary suspension):

Registrants whose biennial update was due on or after June 1, 2026 will receive additional time to complete any required biennial updates and will not have their USDOT Number inactivated for failing to submit a biennial update.

That page was last updated on September 10, 2026, and FMCSA says it will share more guidance as Motus “recovery and stabilization efforts continue.” Three things follow:

• The requirement hasn’t gone away. 390.19T still requires the update; only enforcement is paused.
• The pause covers updates due from June 1, 2026. If yours was due earlier and you missed it, it doesn’t protect you.
• File as soon as Motus lets you. Then you won’t be caught out when FMCSA announces an end date.

How to file in Motus

Motus replaces the old Unified Registration System and the FMCSA Portal. FMCSA’s notice said that with the full release, the registration forms would be built into Motus as online screens: you fill in fields instead of sending a form (Federal Register, April 29, 2026). FMCSA’s Move into Motus page sets out three steps:

1. Create your user profile at motus.dot.gov. You sign in with Login.gov and complete identity verification the first time.
2. Claim your company account. The company official links the existing USDOT number, using the same Login.gov email they used as company official in the FMCSA Portal. Your company data is imported, so you only review and correct it.
3. Submit the biennial update. Review, update and certify your information from the company account page. You can also change your address, inactivate or reactivate your USDOT number, and track the status there (FMCSA registration changes).

If Motus won’t let you claim your number, check whether your email was signed up by mistake as a “Transportation Service Provider” account. FMCSA explains how to close that account and then claim your USDOT number (Registration Alerts).

FMCSA’s older pages also describe uploading a completed MCS-150 through Ask FMCSA, or mailing it so it arrives by the due date (updating your registration, Form MCS-150 page). Motus is now the main route.

Getting help: FMCSA’s Registration Customer Service Center is at 1-800-832-5660 and ask.fmcsa.dot.gov. Its alerts page (updated October 6, 2026) says the phone line has technical difficulties and suggests the online chat or a ticket instead.

What to check before you submit

The update is your chance to make your public record match your operation. FMCSA’s form page lists the kinds of changes you can make online: mailing and physical address, driver and vehicle information, cargo classification and more (FMCSA).

The vehicle count matters beyond FMCSA. Your UCR fee bracket can be based on the number of vehicles on your last MCS-150 (UCR Handbook), so a stale count can put you in the wrong bracket. See our UCR registration guide.

If you miss it

• Your USDOT number is deactivated. 390.19T(b)(4) says a carrier that fails to complete the biennial update faces penalties and deactivation of its USDOT number. During the 2026 pause, FMCSA isn’t inactivating numbers for updates due from June 1, 2026.
• Civil penalties. FMCSA’s page warns of “civil penalties of up to $1,000 per day, not to exceed $10,000” (FMCSA). Those are the statutory amounts in 49 U.S.C. 521(b)(2)(B). FMCSA’s inflation-adjusted schedule now lists the recordkeeping maximum at $1,584 a day, up to $15,846 (49 CFR Part 386, Appendix B).
• False information is penalized too. Misleading information or false statements on the form fall under the same statute (390.19T(g)).

If your number has been inactivated, you can see your record and request reactivation in Motus (FMCSA registration changes).

Quick answers

I’m leased on to a carrier. Do I still file?

If you hold a USDOT number of your own, yes. The update goes with the number, and FMCSA says it is due even if you have stopped interstate operations (FMCSA). If you run only under the carrier’s USDOT number, the carrier files its own update.

I’ve stopped trucking. Do I need to do anything?

Yes. FMCSA says the update is due even if you are out of business and haven’t told it. Close the record properly instead: FMCSA’s March 2026 bulletin says to deactivate a USDOT number on the MCS-150 with the reason “out-of-business” (FMCSA bulletin). In Motus you can inactivate your USDOT number from your company account (Move into Motus).

Is this the same as renewing UCR or IFTA?

No, they are three separate filings. The MCS-150 goes to FMCSA every two years in your assigned month. UCR is paid to the UCR Plan every year before January 1 (UCR guide). Your IFTA license is renewed with your base jurisdiction before the end of each year (IFTA, Inc.).

My USDOT number is new. Does the schedule still apply?

Yes. Motus now issues new USDOT numbers in random order to prevent fraud, and existing numbers don’t change (FMCSA). Either way, the last two digits of your number set your month and year (390.19T).

The update is free. FMCSA says “Updating your information is free” and doesn’t charge for its forms. A letter or call demanding a fee for your biennial update isn’t from FMCSA. A private company may offer to file it for you, but the government charges nothing.

The biennial update sits alongside your quarterly IFTA returns, your yearly UCR and, for new carriers, the new entrant safety audit. Our DOT compliance services keep them on one calendar, alongside the rest of our trucking services.

Sources

Every rule, date, fee and rate on this page comes from the official sources below. We opened and checked each one on October 9, 2026. Rules change: if a source says something different from this page, the source wins.

1. 49 CFR 390.19T, Motor carrier identification reports (filing schedule and penalties) (eCFR, National Archives), text current to October 5, 2026.
2. Updating Your Registration or Authority (FMCSA), page updated October 22, 2025.
3. Temporary Suspension of the Biennial Update Requirement (FMCSA), page updated September 10, 2026.
4. Move into Motus (FMCSA), page updated May 18, 2026.
5. About FMCSA Registration Changes (FMCSA).
6. Registration Alerts (FMCSA), page updated October 6, 2026.
7. Form MCS-150 and Instructions (FMCSA), page updated February 25, 2026.
8. Availability of Motus, FMCSA’s New Registration System, notice of April 29, 2026 (Federal Register).
9. 49 CFR Part 386, Appendix B, penalty schedule (eCFR, National Archives).
10. UCR Handbook (vehicle counts from the MCS-150) (UCR Board of Directors).
11. DO NOT Sell, Purchase, or Lease a USDOT or MC Number, bulletin of March 19, 2026 (out-of-business deactivation) (FMCSA).
12. IFTA Credential Grace Period memorandum, October 1, 2026 (IFTA, Inc.).

This guide is general information for owner-operators and small fleets, not legal or tax advice. Your base state or province, FMCSA and the official program sites have the final word on your filings.