New authority startup cost calculator

How the estimate works

• One-time costs are what you pay once to get started: the FMCSA fee for each type of authority, the 2026 UCR fee if you start before January 1, 2027, and every cost you mark as one-time.
• The first-year total is the one-time costs plus a year of running costs: UCR for 2027, the Form 2290 tax and every cost you mark as yearly or monthly. Monthly amounts count 12 times.
• Per month is the first-year total ÷ 12. Underneath, the running costs alone ÷ 12 show roughly what the years after cost.
• Empty boxes count as $0, so the total only covers what you have entered.

Example: one truck, one type of authority and an 80,000-pound taxable gross weight. That is $300 one-time, and a first year of $300 + $55 + $550 = $905 in federal fees, before insurance and everything else.

The federal fees we fill in

Operating authority

You apply in Motus, FMCSA’s registration system, after creating a user profile and verifying your identity (Move into Motus). Each type of authority is a separate $300 fee, and FMCSA gives no refunds for mistaken applications (FMCSA filing fees). So pick only the types you need: they also decide the insurance you must file. A motor carrier of property files proof of liability insurance, and cargo insurance is not required (Types of Operating Authority).

UCR

The fee depends on how many commercial motor vehicles you own or operate. It is never pro-rated: a business that starts interstate work even late in the year owes that year’s full fee (UCR Handbook). The 2027 fees took effect on October 1, 2026 (Federal Register, UCR Plan). Our UCR registration guide explains how to count your trucks.

Form 2290

You file Form 2290 when a truck with a taxable gross weight of 55,000 pounds or more is registered in your name. The current tax period runs from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027 (IRS instructions). Taxable gross weight is the empty truck, plus the empty trailers you usually pull with it, plus the heaviest load you usually carry.

The calculator uses the full-year tax for a truck that isn’t a logging vehicle. Three cases differ (IRS instructions):

• First used after July: the first return covers only the months left in the period. An 80,000-pound truck first used in November pays $366.67 (Table I). Then you pay the full year each July.
• 5,000 miles or less in the period (7,500 for agricultural vehicles): you can claim a suspension of the tax.
• Logging vehicles pay lower rates (Table II).

The costs you fill in

These change with your state, your vendors and your insurer, so the calculator has no figure for them. Each box says where to get yours:

• Insurance is priced on your truck, cargo, experience and record, so only a quote can tell you. FMCSA requires at least $750,000 of liability cover for general freight in trucks of 10,001 pounds or more (49 CFR 387.9). Enter the down payment too, to see what you pay when the policy starts.
• BOC-3: blanket companies file your process agent designation. FMCSA lists the registered blanket companies, and each sets its own price.
• IRP plates and IFTA come from your base state. Our IFTA filing guide covers who needs a license.
• Drug and alcohol testing: a consortium’s price list covers membership and your pre-employment test. Clearinghouse queries cost $1.25 each (FMCSA). See our drug and alcohol consortium guide.
• ELD and dash cam: the vendor’s price, for the device and any monthly plan.

Your first year also includes FMCSA’s new entrant safety audit. Our new entrant safety audit checklist lists what to have ready.

Not ready for all of it?

You don’t have to carry every filing yourself from day one. Leasing on puts your truck under an established carrier’s authority and insurance, in return for a share of each load. Our lease-on vs own authority guide compares the two paths, and our lease-on authority program lets you haul under a partner carrier’s authority while your own MC ages.

Once your own authority is active, our dispatch service for new authorities finds brokers that will set you up and books loads you approve. Our DOT compliance services keep the yearly filings on schedule. More carrier services are in trucking services.

Sources

The federal fees and rules on this page come from the official sources below. We opened and checked each one on October 10, 2026. Fees change: if a source says something different from this page, the source wins.

1. Get Operating Authority (Docket Number): filing fees (FMCSA), page updated April 20, 2026.
2. 49 CFR 360.3T, filing fees (paragraphs (d)(1) and (f)(1)) (eCFR, National Archives), text current to October 5, 2026.
3. Types of Operating Authority (FMCSA).
4. Move into Motus (FMCSA), page updated May 18, 2026.
5. 49 CFR 367.50 (2027 fees) and 367.40 (2025–2026 fees) (eCFR, National Archives), text current to October 5, 2026.
6. Fees for the Unified Carrier Registration Plan and Agreement, final rule, 91 FR 56063, September 1, 2026 (Federal Register).
7. Fee Brackets (2027 and 2026 fees) (Unified Carrier Registration Plan).
8. UCR Handbook, “No Pro-rated Fees”, effective February 29, 2024 (UCR Board of Directors).
9. Form 2290 (Rev. July 2026), page 2: Tax Computation (Internal Revenue Service).
10. Instructions for Form 2290 (July 2026) (Internal Revenue Service).
11. 49 CFR 387.9, minimum levels of financial responsibility (eCFR, National Archives), text current to October 5, 2026.
12. Designation of Agents for Service of Process (BOC-3): registered blanket companies (FMCSA).
13. Clearinghouse Query Plans (FMCSA Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse).

This calculator is general information for owner-operators, not legal, tax or insurance advice. FMCSA, the IRS, the UCR Plan and your base state have the final word on your fees.