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Published: May 28, 2026 | Reading time: 4 minutes
Eight days into MOTUS — FMCSA's new registration system replacing the old Portal and URS — the picture is getting sharper. Here's what we learned today.
This is the question we've heard most since MOTUS went live: "I didn't have my FMCSA Portal account up to date before May 15. Now what?"
Until today, there was no clear answer. Now there is. FMCSA published these steps for carriers whose portal account was inactive or whose Company Official wasn't verified before the cutoff:
- Go to motus.dot.gov and click "Sign in Login.gov" under the "Regulated Entities & Supporting Companies" section.
- Create a Login.gov account, or sign in with your existing one.
- Complete identity verification and create a user profile inside MOTUS.
- Once your profile is set up, contact the FMCSA Contact Center and provide your USDOT number, your Login.gov email address, and supporting documentation to prove ownership of the company — an IRS letter, articles of incorporation, or state registration documents will work.
- You can submit that documentation by responding to any FMCSA email or by opening a ticket at ask.fmcsa.dot.gov/app/ticket.
One detail that's tripping people up: the email address on your Login.gov account must match the email on your old FMCSA Portal account. If they don't match, MOTUS won't link your DOT number. Check this before you start.
MOTUS didn't kill paper registration forms. FMCSA confirmed today it will keep accepting the forms at fmcsa.dot.gov/registration/registration-forms.
The tradeoff: expect at least a two-week processing time. Before MOTUS, some of these forms turned around in days. If you're filing on paper going forward, build that delay into your plans.
FMCSA hasn't pushed updated data to the data hub since the May 19 launch. That's over a week of stale information on L&I and SAFER.
We asked FMCSA directly whether this is a bug or a permanent change. We're still waiting on a definitive answer. What we can tell you right now:
MOTUS has a new public search engine that combines what used to live on SAFER and L&I. Go to motus.dot.gov, click "Search" in the middle of the page, and enter a USDOT number. MC number search doesn't work yet. From the carrier's profile you can see operating authority status, insurance details, and BOC-3 information — though there's no history yet, just current status.
This matters for anyone who relies on L&I for insurance verification. States like North Carolina verify carrier insurance through L&I. If L&I stops updating permanently, that's a real problem.
We'll update this as soon as we hear back from FMCSA.
Eight days in, the pattern is clear. New carrier applications are processing. New USDOT numbers are being issued — semi-random now, but working.
The pain is on the existing-carrier side. Carriers trying to claim their DOT number, link a third-party filer, or manage authorized users are running into broken links, error screens, and an overwhelmed contact center. We've seen chat queues get canceled because there aren't enough agents to handle the volume.
FMCSA's IT team is working from a prioritized bug list. They know about the broken links and the third-party linking issues.
We're keeping our own list too. We just launched motusbugs.com — a public board where we're logging every MOTUS bug we find, with status (open, in progress, resolved) and what we know about each one. It's fresh, so the board is light. If you've hit something MOTUS won't do, report it there. We'll add it to the board, track the fix, and tell carriers when it's resolved.
If you're an existing carrier who hasn't started the process yet: don't wait. Get your Login.gov account set up, verify your identity, and claim your DOT. The backlog is only going to grow.
Call Don Norman Associates at 703-821-0000. DNA is our sister company and handles FMCSA authority work nationwide. We'll tell you whether your situation can move today or has to wait, and act the moment it can.
For background on the full MOTUS rollout, see our earlier posts: FMCSA's pre-launch warning to carriers, our MOTUS preparation guide, our take on the messy launch, and how to claim your USDOT number in MOTUS.
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