How to Complete Your Biennial Update in Motus

The short version: go to motus.dot.gov, sign in with Login.gov, verify your identity with a photo ID and your phone camera, claim your USDOT number, then open the Biennial Update Information section on your company account page and click Start. It is free. FMCSA does not charge for a biennial update, and neither does anyone else who is telling you the truth. Budget about 20 minutes if your Login.gov email already matches your old FMCSA Portal record, and longer if it does not.

Accurate as of August 26, 2026. Motus is new and FMCSA is still changing it, so if a screen does not match what you see here, trust the screen.

What changed, and why nothing looks familiar

FMCSA replaced the old system. Motus went live to all carriers in mid-May 2026 and it replaced both the Unified Registration System and the FMCSA Portal. If you filed your last MCS-150 through the Portal, that path is gone. See FMCSA's Move into Motus page for the official announcement.

Two things follow from that:

• You cannot just log in with your old Portal credentials. Motus runs on Login.gov with identity verification, which means a government photo ID and a camera.
• Your first visit is a one-time setup, not a filing. You claim your USDOT number first. The biennial update itself is the easy part once your number is linked.

The paper MCS-150 form still exists and FMCSA still accepts it, but expect a minimum of eight business days just for initial review, versus minutes online.

Before you start, get these three things

1. A Login.gov account using the email address on your FMCSA Portal record as the Company Official. This is the single most common failure point. If those two emails do not match, Motus will not let you claim your number, and the button will simply be greyed out with no useful explanation.
2. A government-issued photo ID. Driver's license, passport, resident card, or state ID card.
3. A phone or tablet with a working camera. You will photograph your face and your ID. If you have no camera at all, FMCSA lists in-person enrollment centers as an alternative.

If you do not know which email is on your Portal record, call FMCSA at 1-800-832-5660 before you start. It is much faster than guessing.

Step 1: Sign in

Go to motus.dot.gov. That is the only real address. There are active scam sites using names like motusdatadesk.com, so type it rather than clicking a link in an email.

In the Regulated Entities & Supporting Companies section, click Sign In Login.gov. Sign in or create an account, then complete two-factor authentication with a code sent to your phone or email.

Step 2: Accept the Rules of Behavior

Motus shows you FMCSA's IT system Rules of Behavior. Read it, then click the button at the bottom to agree.

Step 3: Verify your identity

This is the part people get stuck on. Motus hands you off to an identity verification tool that needs a photo of your face and a photo of your government ID.

• On a computer: a QR code appears. Scan it with your phone's camera and finish there.
• On a phone or tablet: click the blue link that says "Or click here to use the camera on this device."

Then click Next. If verification fails, the usual culprits are glare on the ID, an expired ID, or a name that does not match. Try a different device and better light before you call anyone.

Step 4: Complete your user profile

Your name auto-fills from your ID and your Login.gov email pre-populates. Add your address and phone number.

Step 5: Choose "Link existing USDOT Number"

Motus asks what you want to do. Pick Link existing USDOT Number.

Do not pick "Register as supporting company." That option is for insurance agencies, BOC-3 filers, and compliance consultants. Carriers who choose it by mistake end up locked out of their own carrier account and needing FMCSA to unwind it.

Step 6: Claim your number

A notification appears. Click Link USDOT Number. Review the USDOT numbers shown, select the one you are claiming, and click Continue.

Step 7: Enter the verification code

Check the inbox for your Login.gov email. Enter the code in the Verify Your Identity window and click Submit.

Step 8: Accept the first certification

Read the Certification Statement, confirm your authority status, type your name as an E-Signature, and click Accept. A Pending Certification Notice appears. Click Close to reach your company account page.

Step 9: Review your business information

You are now on the company account page. The top shows your USDOT number and status. Below it are accordion sections, in this order:

1. Business Information
2. Biennial Update Information
3. Operation Details
4. Operating Authority Registration(s)
5. Cargo Tank Facility Registration(s)
6. Hazardous Material Safety Permit
7. Applications

Open Business Information and click UPDATE if the legal name, addresses, or phone number are wrong. Fix this before you certify, because whatever you certify is what underwriters, brokers, and roadside inspectors will see.

Step 10: Certify to finish claiming

Click Certify in the orange banner at the top. Review the final certification statement, check the confirmation box, and click Accept. Your number is now linked. You only do steps 1 through 10 once.

Step 11: File the biennial update

Open the Biennial Update Information section and click Start. Work through the fields. The ones that matter most, and that people most often get wrong, are covered in the next section. When you are done, submit and save the confirmation.

The five fields worth slowing down for

You are certifying this. It also becomes the public record that brokers check and underwriters rate you on.

Power units. Trucks and tractors you operate, including owned, leased, and term-leased. Not trailers. If this is stale, every quote you get is built on the wrong number.

Total drivers and CDL drivers. Count everyone who drove for you in the reporting period, including part-time drivers and owner-operators under lease.

Mileage and mileage year. This is the most-asked question in the whole form. Report the total miles your operation ran, for the most recent full year you have records for, and report the year alongside it. Estimating is normal and expected. Leaving it at a number from four years ago is what causes trouble.

Operation classification and carrier operation. Interstate versus intrastate, for-hire versus private. Getting this wrong changes which rules apply to you and which insurance limits you are required to carry.

Cargo classifications. Check what you actually haul. Carriers routinely leave boxes checked from a business they exited years ago, and then wonder why their premium does not match their operation.

When is my biennial update due?

Your due date is set by your USDOT number, not by when you last filed. Per 49 CFR 390.19T, the last digit sets the month (1 = January through 9 = September, 0 = October) and the second-to-last digit sets the year: an odd digit means odd-numbered years, an even digit means even-numbered years. It is due the last day of that month, and filing does not reset the clock.

Check your exact due date here. It is free and does not ask for your email.

Am I going to be deactivated?

As of August 26, 2026: not right now. FMCSA has temporarily suspended deactivating USDOT numbers for carriers who have not completed the biennial update, to reduce disruption during the Motus transition. There is no announced end date.

That is a pause, not a repeal. The rule still says failure to complete a biennial update results in deactivation of your USDOT number and civil penalties of up to $1,000 per day, capped at $10,000. When the pause lifts, the backlog is going to be very large and you do not want to be in it.

We keep a dated page on this: Is FMCSA deactivating USDOT numbers right now?

Can someone else do this for me?

Partly, and less than they will tell you.

A transportation service provider can be designated in Motus and can do the data entry. But you have to create your own Login.gov account and pass identity verification yourself, because that is tied to your government ID and nobody can do it for you. For a new registration application, FMCSA states plainly that the company official must review the provider's entries and submit the final oaths and certifications. FMCSA has not published the same explicit language for biennial updates, so treat that part as the likely pattern rather than a settled rule. FMCSA's Registration Modernization FAQs describe the Company Official as the company owner or an individual authorized to sign documents on behalf of the company. That is a narrower role than a filing service typically occupies, but FMCSA does not word it as an outright ban on third parties.

So anyone selling you a hands-off "we will handle your MCS-150 forever" service in 2026 is selling something Motus does not allow.