Who can file

Who Can File or Certify a USDOT Number Application?

Motus treats the first registration as a certified statement by a person who can speak for the company. Getting that wrong can stall a filing or create a record that is hard to claim later.

Certification is limited

FMCSA's Motus claim instructions require the person to certify that they are the owner, a partner, or an authorized corporate officer. Do not stretch that to "any dispatcher" or "whoever has the password." If you are preparing a filing with help, the person who can make that certification should complete it or stay in control of it. The language appears in the Claim a USDOT Number in Motus job aid.

You have to get the owner, a partner, or an authorized corporate officer to complete or closely control the first registration. Handing it to whoever is free that day can stall the filing later.

User profiles belong to one person

A Motus user profile is tied to one person. After the company account exists, the company can manage access and permissions for other users. That comes after the first certification, not instead of it. See Move into Motus.

Setting up later users is a separate permissions step after the company account exists, not a shortcut around the first certification.

Why that person's Login.gov email matters

To claim an existing USDOT number, FMCSA tells the company officer to use the same Login.gov email that was used as the company contact in the legacy FMCSA Portal. Using a different email can make a claim harder. Do not open a second company record to work around an email mismatch. See USDOT application sign-in.

Using a different email than the one on the legacy company contact can make a later claim harder to finish, and it is not fixed by opening a second record.

Designating a filing service is different from letting someone apply in your place

In Motus, a transportation service provider is supposed to be designated by the registrant and must accept that designation before accessing the company account. That is not the same as handing a helper your Login.gov login, and it is not the same as having an employee certify the first application. FMCSA describes designation in the Registration Modernization FAQs. For how designation works in Motus, see fmcsamotus.help.

A designation has to be made and accepted in Motus before a transportation service provider can access the account. That is extra coordination, not a shared password.

If the wrong person already started the application

Do not start a second company record. Find out what was created in Motus and, if a second USDOT number may exist, get help sorting the records rather than filing again. See common application mistakes.

Finding what was created and fixing access on the existing record takes longer than starting over, but starting over is how a second number appears.

Rather not deal with this? Hand it to a Personal Compliance Specialist.

Talk to a Personal Compliance Specialist

Frequently asked questions

Can my office manager apply for the USDOT number?

The certification language is owner, partner, or authorized corporate officer. An employee can be given access later if designated and approved.

Can a filing service apply without my involvement?

In Motus, a transportation service provider is supposed to be designated by the registrant and must accept that designation before accessing the company account.

Does the name on the ID have to match the person who is certifying?

Identity verification checks the person who is logging in. That person should use their own government-issued ID.

What if the person who used to handle the account is gone?

Do not invent a workaround or file a new application. Use FMCSA's Motus contact paths, or see fmcsamotus.help, to sort out access to the existing record.

Is there a fee to add a company officer or user?

There is no FMCSA fee for the USDOT number itself. Do not assume there is a separate user fee.

Still have questions? A Personal Compliance Specialist can take the filing from here.