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Published: April 07, 2026 | Reading time: 3 minutes
FMCSA just sent an urgent message to motor carriers, brokers, and registered entities. The bottom line: if you don't update your FMCSA Portal account now, you could be locked out of claiming your USDOT number when MOTUS (FMCSA's new replacement registration system) goes live.
In a recent email to industry partners, FMCSA was direct:
"It is critical that motor carriers, brokers, and other registered entities log in to the FMCSA Portal now to ensure their Portal accounts are up to date. Failure to take these steps may result in existing registrants being unable to claim their USDOT Number in MOTUS once the system goes live."
What does "claim your USDOT Number" mean? When MOTUS replaces the current FMCSA Portal, you'll need to connect your existing USDOT number to a new MOTUS account. FMCSA is calling this "claiming" your number. If your current portal profile is outdated — wrong company official, stale contact info, inactive account — you may not be able to complete that step, leaving you unable to manage your own registration until it's sorted out.
Bottom line: ignore this and you risk being locked out of the system your business depends on — meaning calls to FMCSA, operational delays, and headaches you don't need. FMCSA has not announced a launch date, which is exactly why acting now matters — you won't get advance warning.
FMCSA is asking carriers to take three specific actions. If you've done them, you're good. If not, act now.
Go to the FMCSA Portal and sign in. Make sure your account is active and you can access it. If you've forgotten your password or can't get in, fix that now while you have time.
Once you're logged in, check who's listed as your Company Official. This is the person FMCSA recognizes as authorized to manage your registration account.
Often the listed person left the company years ago, or it's an old compliance service that no longer represents you. These permissions carry over when MOTUS launches — fix them now.
Go to the Registration tab in the Portal and submit your MCS-150 update if you haven't recently. Make sure your company information — address, contact info, vehicle count, operation type — is current and accurate. Outdated MCS-150 data can trigger compliance flags, and those problems migrate into MOTUS with you.
We've written a step-by-step guide to preparing for MOTUS that walks you through all three tasks. It covers account activation, USDOT PIN retrieval, and Login.gov setup.
You can also check if your biennial update is due at ismybiennialupdatedue.com.
Don't want to deal with the portal yourself? We offer a MOTUS Readiness Check — we log into the FMCSA Portal on your behalf, verify your Company Official, confirm your MCS-150 is current, and flag anything that needs fixing before MOTUS goes live.
We do this work every day for carriers across the country. We know the common problems and fix them fast.
Call us at 651-482-1124 or request your free readiness check online. We'll take it from there.
Don't wait until MOTUS launches and you're calling FMCSA trying to prove you own your own USDOT number.
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