How to Fill Out and Submit Form MCS-150: Deadlines, Penalties, and Reactivation

To fill out Form MCS-150, the Motor Carrier Identification Report, gather your business, fleet, and mileage records, complete the roughly 30 numbered fields on the current version of the form, sign the certification, and file it either through the FMCSA Portal at portal.fmcsa.dot.gov or by mail to FMCSA in Washington, DC. There is no filing fee.¹

A quick boundary before you start: carriers that haul hazardous materials requiring a safety permit file Form MCS-150B instead, and intermodal equipment providers file Form MCS-150C.²³ Everyone else operating a commercial motor vehicle in interstate commerce uses the standard MCS-150.⁴

What to Have Ready Before You Open the Form

Mismatched or missing information is the most common reason a filing gets delayed, so pull your records first. The form is organized around four kinds of information: who you are, what you do, what you run, and how far you ran it.⁵

For identification, have your legal business name exactly as registered with the IRS, any DBA name, your IRS/Tax ID (EIN or SSN), and your existing USDOT number. Include your MC or MX number if you hold operating authority. Your principal place of business must be a physical street address where safety records are kept. A P.O. box alone does not satisfy that field.

For operations, know how you will classify the company (interstate carrier, intrastate hazmat, intrastate non-hazmat, hazmat shipper, and so on) and the operation type that fits you, such as authorized for-hire, exempt for-hire, private property, or government. You will also mark every cargo type you haul. If you carry hazardous materials, a separate section asks which categories.

For fleet counts, tally your commercial motor vehicles by type (straight trucks, truck tractors, trailers, motorcoaches, buses, passenger vans, limousines) and split each type into owned, term-leased, and trip-leased. A separate line covers non-commercial vehicles. For drivers, you report interstate and intrastate totals, how many hold a CDL, and how many operate within or beyond a 100-mile radius.

Field 21 asks for total carrier mileage over the previous 12 months, rounded to the nearest 10,000 miles. FMCSA uses this in safety ratings and risk calculations, so estimate from trip records or ELD data rather than guessing.

Working Through the Form

Start at the top by checking the reason for filing: biennial update or changes, out-of-business notification, reapplication after a new-entrant revocation, or reactivation of a previously deactivated number.⁵ Most filers are doing a biennial update.

A few fields catch people out:

Fields 3–7 (principal place of business) and 8–12 (mailing address) are separate. Fill in both even if they are the same.
Field 22, Company Operations, allows more than one box. An interstate carrier that also moves hazmat intrastate checks both A and B.
Field 23, Operation Classification, is also check-all-that-apply. A carrier hauling its own goods checks Private Property; a for-hire carrier with FMCSA authority checks Authorized For-Hire.
Field 26 asks for vehicles you will operate in the U.S., not only those on the road today. Include trip-leased vehicles you expect to use.

Field 30 lists the names and titles of all sole proprietors, partners, or corporate officers. Field 31 is the certification. Sign it, date it, and include your title. An unsigned form is rejected.

Submitting the Form

The fastest route is the FMCSA Portal at portal.fmcsa.dot.gov. Log in or create a free account, locate your USDOT record, and update your information directly. Changes take effect almost immediately and you get electronic confirmation.¹

To file on paper, download the current MCS-150 from fmcsa.dot.gov. FMCSA warns against forms from third-party sites, because expired versions are rejected.⁶ Mail the completed form to:

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
Attention: USDOT Number Application
1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Room W65-206
Washington, DC 20590⁵

Mailed forms take four to six weeks to process on average.⁵ If a deadline is close, file online.

When Your Update Is Due

Every motor carrier and intermodal equipment provider updates MCS-150 information once every 24 months, even if nothing has changed, operations have stopped, or the business has closed without notifying FMCSA.⁷ Your deadline is set by the last two digits of your USDOT number.

The next-to-last digit sets the year. Odd means you file in every odd-numbered calendar year; even means every even-numbered year.⁸ The last digit sets the month:

1 — January
2 — February
3 — March
4 — April
5 — May
6 — June
7 — July
8 — August
9 — September
0 — October

A USDOT number ending in 53, for example, files in odd years by the last day of March.⁴

What Happens If You Miss the Deadline

Two things happen when a biennial update lapses. FMCSA deactivates the USDOT number, which legally prohibits operating any commercial motor vehicle in interstate commerce.⁴ Civil penalties can reach $1,000 per day, up to $10,000 per violation. For-hire carriers of passengers and freight, freight forwarders, and brokers may face additional civil penalties under 49 U.S.C. 14901(a).⁹

Knowingly filing false information carries penalties up to $10,000 per violation.¹⁰ Shippers and brokers check USDOT status before booking loads, so an inactive number tends to shut a business down until it is corrected.

Reactivating a Deactivated USDOT Number

If FMCSA deactivated your USDOT number for a missed biennial update, you reactivate it by filing a complete MCS-150 with “Reactivate” checked as the reason for filing.⁶ You do not apply for a new number. Download the current form, fill it out with updated information, and submit through the portal or by mail.

Two situations are handled differently. If your number was revoked through the New Entrant Safety Assurance Program rather than deactivated for a missed update, FMCSA has separate reapplication instructions.⁶ Reinstating operating authority (your MC or MX number) is a separate step with an $80 fee.¹

1
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Form MCS-150 and Instructions – Motor Carrier Identification Report
2
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Form MCS-150B and Instructions – Combined Motor Carrier Identification Report and Hazardous Materials Safety Permit Application
3
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Form MCS-150C and Instructions – Intermodal Equipment Provider Identification Report
4
eCFR. 49 CFR 390.19 – Motor Carrier Identification Reports
5
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Instructions for Form MCS-150
6
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. How Do I Reactivate My USDOT Number?
7
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Updating Your Registration or Authority
8
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. When Am I Required to File a Biennial Update?
9
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. What Are the Penalties for Failure to Submit My Biennial Update?
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 49 USC 521 – Civil Penalties