Issues With FMCSA’s MOTUS? Here’s What We Know
The FMCSA switched on its new registration system, Motus, in mid-May 2026. In the last month, DOT number holders across the country have been reporting issue after issue. People are getting locked out, watching their insurance show as inactive when it is not, and spending hours on the phone trying to fix it. If Motus has you stuck, this guide walks through what is going wrong, how long fixes are taking, and the steps that are helping carriers get unstuck.
Quick Summary: Motus is the FMCSA's new USDOT Registration System, and it replaced the old FMCSA Portal and URS in mid-May 2026. The rollout has caused login lockouts, failed DOT number linking, identity verification errors, and insurance and authority status that shows wrong. Carriers report long phone holds and case fixes that can take days to weeks. FMCSA has paused USDOT deactivations tied to these issues and is prioritizing insurance and authority fixes.
What Is Motus?
Motus is the FMCSA's new USDOT Registration System. It is meant to be one secure account where you apply for and manage your FMCSA registrations instead of logging into several older tools.
Motus replaces two systems carriers have used for years: the FMCSA Portal and the Unified Registration System (URS). Over time it becomes the single home for your USDOT number, your operating authority, your biennial update (MCS-150), and more. To log in, you use a Login.gov account and complete an identity check.
FMCSA rolled out Motus in phases. Phase 1 opened in December 2025 for supporting companies. That group includes insurance and surety filers, BOC-3 blanket companies, and transportation service providers like TIPS. Phase 2 opened the system to everyone else, including motor carriers, brokers, and freight forwarders, and it went live in mid-May 2026. Hundreds of thousands of active carriers will move onto the system over time.
Why Are Carriers Having Problems With Motus?
The short answer is that this is a brand-new system handling decades of old data and a huge wave of users at once. In its first week, FMCSA said the system took in 120,000 new user applications and helped more than 13,000 carriers claim their USDOT numbers (although this numbers are debatable, considering new DOT number applications are consistently going under manual review). That kind of volume on a new platform, the seemingly was not vetted thoroughly, has produced a lot of breakage.
Here are the issues carriers are running into most.
Login and Account Lockouts
Many carriers cannot get in at all. A common cause is a mismatch between the email tied to your old FMCSA Portal account and the email you use to set up Motus. Motus expects the same Login.gov email that was listed as the company official. If those do not match, you can end up "logged in" but unable to see your own carrier record.
DOT Number Linking Errors
After logging into Motus and completing the identity verification step, the majority of companies we work with say the button to link their USDOT number is grayed out. In these situations, it leaves companies unable to manage or update their profiles with the FMCSA. This is particularly detrimental for anyone who needs urgent changes to their information to acquire new insurance policies, complete safety audits, travel in interstate commerce, and more.
Insurance That Shows As Inactive
Carriers are seeing their insurance listed as not active even when their agent has filed the correct forms. During a system switch, one part of the process can update while another lags behind. So a missing update in Motus does not always mean a filing actually failed. It can mean the record has not caught up yet.
Authority and Payment Glitches
Owner-operators trying to reactivate authority have hit errors at the payment screen. In one reported case, the amount due dropped from $80 to $0, no payment was ever taken, and no confirmation came through, leaving the authority stuck in limbo.
MCS-150 Update Failures
Carriers who cannot access their Motus record or encounter other bugs in the platform cannot complete their MCS-150 biennial update. This matters because a missed update can normally lead to your DOT number being deactivated.
Manual DOT Number Application Reviews
Most of the USDOT numbers we’ve assisted with filing over the last month have resulted in a manual review process with the FMCSA. That means the DOT and MC are not being generated immediately. Some reviews are completed within a few days, some have been pending for weeks and are still sitting.
How Long Is FMCSA Taking to Respond?
When submitting a ticket to the FMCSA, the body of their response says that a response can take up to 8 business days. In reality, tickets being submitted today will likely not receive a response for a minimum of 3 weeks.
What we are hearing from carriers, and what we’ve experienced ourselves paints the picture. Phone holds of two hours or more are common, and some calls drop without getting anyone on the phone. Help tickets and supervisor callbacks have run from days into weeks. One owner-operator said he was told a supervisor would call him back, then waited 19 business days with no call. His authority issue took close to a month to fully resolve. Several carries we work with have submitted tickets more than 30 days ago and have yet to receive a response.
Two patterns are worth knowing. First, simpler issues tied to insurance filings and operating authority status are being treated as the top priority, so those may move faster than the rest. Second, FMCSA has warned that fixing Motus may slow down other agency work, including the normal schedule for posting CSA safety scores.
If you open a support case, write down the date, what you did, what happened, and the incident number that is provided to you in the confirmation email you receive from the FMCSA. Keep your own filing confirmations. During a transition, your records matter just as much as what the screen shows.
What Has FMCSA Said About the Problems?
FMCSA has put out more than one statement about the rollout. One memo took a standard tone, saying the agency is aware of the issues, that fixing them is a top priority, and that work is focused first on insurance filings and operating authority status. The agency also said it had already corrected parts of the identity verification and first-time login process.
A second note from the FMCSA administrator was more upbeat. It described the launch as a major milestone, called the remaining problems "minor technical issues," and said engineering teams were working around the clock to fix them. While we appreciate the enthusiasm on display, the fact of the matter is, this will go down as one of the messiest blunders in the agency’s history.
The most useful action for stuck carriers came separately. FMCSA temporarily paused the deactivation of USDOT numbers for carriers that could not complete their biennial update on time because of Motus. The pause covers carriers who have not finished the required update since June 1, 2026. FMCSA says those carriers get extra time and should not worry about losing their number over Motus access or system problems.
Workarounds That Are Helping Carriers
There is no magic fix for a system-side bug. But several practical steps are helping carriers either get in or avoid making things worse.
Use the right email. Log in with the same Login.gov email that was the company official on your old FMCSA Portal account. An email mismatch is one of the most common reasons people get stuck.
For identity verification issues, some basic troubleshooting. Clear out old browser sessions, try using another device, and ensure your camera lens is clear when attempting to scan your ID / face.
Can’t link your DOT? Submit a ticket, with documentation. While wait times are egregious, the best resolution we’ve found when the button is greyed out is to submit a ticket. Explain that you completed the identify verification, but you are unable to link your USDOT. Upload your Articles of Organization/Incorporation (if applicable) as proof of ownership. They will request that you provide this if you fail to do so when submitting the ticket.
Use the new public Motus system to see the most up-to-date information. For now, you can’t rely on your SAFER Company Snapshot or the old Licensing & Insurance page. You can access the public Motus profile, without being logged in or having to link your DOT number, by using the following link and inserting your DOT number.
https://motus.dot.gov/customer/YOUR DOT NUMBER HERE/account
Should You Log Into Motus Right Now?
For a lot of carriers, the best move is to wait a few weeks.
The FMCSA, us, and other industry insiders have the same advice: if your account is in good standing and you do not need to make a change right now, hold off and let the early fixes roll out. A big share of the support calls have come from carriers trying to do something that did not actually need to be done that day.
You do need to act if any of these are true:
Your insurance is about to expire or needs a new filing
Your operating authority is inactive and you need it reactivated
Your biennial update is due and tied to your USDOT number's filing month
You are a brand-new applicant who needs a USDOT number or authority to start operating
You need to make operation-critical edits to your company recorr
If you are in one of those situations, gather your records before you log in, expect significant delays, and keep notes on every step.
How TIPS Can Help
As a transportation service provider, TIPS has worked inside Motus since Phase 1 access opened in December 2025. That means we have spent months learning the new system, although, even we were blindsided by the issues Motus introduced.
We can help you with the filings and updates that run through Motus, including your USDOT number, your operating authority, and your biennial update. If your records are mismatched, your authority is stuck, or you are simply not sure what you need to do during the transition, we’ll see what we can do to help.
The problems in Motus are mostly on FMCSA's side, and no provider can flip a switch and fix the agency's backend. What we can do is make sure your filings are correct, your records are clean, and you are not wasting hours guessing at a system that is getting to full functionality.
We know companies are struggling with the new system, and we’d like to do whatever we can to help you through it. Contact us or give us a call at (208) 278-6722.