Authority Guide
Motus Shows Your Authority Inactive: Record Error or Real Lapse?
Before you call it a glitch, prove it. An authority that reads inactive is either a records problem inside FMCSA or a real gap: a filing, a process agent or an update that is missing. The two look the same on screen, and they are fixed by different people.
Motus has been FMCSA's registration system since May 19, 2026. This guide shows how to read your record across its screens, the order to work in on the first day, every common cause of an inactive status with who corrects it, and how to keep brokers and your insurer informed while it is fixed.
Record error or real lapse: how to tell
Your company carries two separate statuses. The USDOT number is your safety registration; operating authority (your MC docket) is the permission to haul for hire across state lines. Either one can read inactive while the other stays active, so first note which one changed. Our motor carrier authority entry explains the difference.
Then compare the same company across four places. A real lapse leaves a trace in at least one of them. A record error is what is left when all four say you are in good standing and the status still disagrees.
| Where to look | What it shows | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Your Motus account | Your registration as FMCSA holds it: legal name, USDOT number, docket, operation type, the date of your last MCS-150 update and any open tasks or notices. | Whether FMCSA is waiting on something from you, such as an update, a fee or a verification step. |
| The public company snapshot | USDOT status, operating authority status, power units and drivers as the public sees them. | What a broker, a shipper or a roadside officer sees when they look you up. |
| The insurance and filing history | Each liability filing, BOC-3 and cancellation notice, with the insurer or process agent and the dates. | Whether a required filing is missing, cancelled, pending or replaced. |
| Your own papers | The policy declarations page, the insurer's filing confirmation, your BOC-3 receipt and the grant decision for your authority. | What should be on the record, so you can point to the exact difference. |
Why the newest system is the last suspect
A new system makes a sync or display error easy to believe, and with one as young as Motus it can happen. Rule out the ordinary causes first: an insurer cancelling for non-payment, a filing written to a slightly different legal name, a process agent subscription that ran out. Blaming the system first costs days, because the request goes to FMCSA while the real fix waits on your insurer or agent.
What to do on the first day, in order
Each step either finds the cause or rules one out. Do them in this order and the right person is working on it by the end of the day.
- 1.Capture the screen before anything changes. Take a dated screenshot of the inactive status in Motus and on the public snapshot, with your USDOT number visible. If the status later corrects itself, this is still your proof of why a load was missed.
- 2.Open the filing history and read it from the newest line down. A cancellation notice from your insurer or process agent, a filing listed as pending, or no liability filing at all ends the mystery: the status is real and the fix runs through that company, not through FMCSA.
- 3.Check your Motus account for open items. A missed biennial update, an unpaid fee, an identity or business verification step left half done, or a notice from FMCSA will each show up there before they show up anywhere else.
- 4.If every filing is in place and nothing is open, treat it as a record error. Contact FMCSA through the help channel listed in Motus, give your USDOT and docket numbers, describe the mismatch in one paragraph and attach your screenshots. Write down the ticket or reference number and the date.
- 5.Call your insurance agent the same day either way. Ask them to confirm the liability filing is accepted on your docket and to send you a copy of the confirmation. Your agent can also tell you whether the insurer received any notice from FMCSA about your status.
For a quick read of how the public sees your company, enter your USDOT number in our free FMCSA carrier lookup and set it beside your policy declarations page.
What can turn an authority inactive, and who fixes it
The usual causes are six. Only the first is a true record error. For the other five, a help request to FMCSA changes nothing until the missing piece is filed.
| Cause | How to spot it | Who fixes it |
|---|---|---|
| Record or display error | Every filing is accepted and current, no notice or open task sits in your Motus account, and two FMCSA screens disagree about your status. | FMCSA. Send the help request with screenshots and keep checking until both screens agree. |
| Liability filing missing or cancelled | The filing history shows a cancellation that has taken effect, a replacement filing still pending, or no BMC-91 or BMC-91X on the docket. | Your insurer, through your agent. A new or corrected filing has to be accepted before the authority can go active again. |
| BOC-3 gone from the record | The process agent designation is missing or shows cancelled, often after a lapsed subscription with a blanket agent company. | Your process agent company. It refiles the BOC-3; FMCSA does not accept one from the carrier for a for-hire authority. |
| Biennial update overdue | Your Motus account shows the last MCS-150 update more than two years ago, or an update reminder you did not act on. A missed update can deactivate the USDOT number itself. | You. File the update in Motus with current mileage, equipment and driver counts. |
| Application not finished | A new registration that never completed a verification step, a fee or the filings due after publication, so the authority never went active at all. | You, plus your insurer and process agent for the filings. If FMCSA dismissed the application, a new one may be needed. |
| FMCSA order or out-of-service action | A written notice, an order on your record, or an out-of-service status tied to a safety or compliance action. | You, often with a compliance professional or attorney. Follow the steps in the notice; this is not a record error. |
A filing that was sent but bounced belongs in the second row, and it has its own fix list. Our guide to an FMCSA insurance filing rejected walks through the name, number and limit mismatches that cause it.
Here is how the fifth row tends to play out. A one-truck carrier finishes the application, pays the fee and assumes the rest is automatic. The insurer files, but the process agent was never hired, so the BOC-3 never arrives. Weeks later the authority still is not active, and it looks like the system lost the application. Nothing was lost; one filing never came.
Keeping loads moving while it is fixed
Brokers and onboarding platforms check the public record automatically, many of them every day. When your status flips, you may be paused before anyone calls you. The way back is a short, factual message with proof attached, sent as soon as you know, so the broker is ready to dispatch you again the day the record shows active.
The proof packet
- Your certificate of insurance, freshly issued by your agent with the broker as certificate holder.
- The insurer's confirmation that the liability filing is accepted on your docket, with the date.
- Screenshots showing the status mismatch, with dates.
- Your FMCSA help request reference number and the date you sent it.
- Your BOC-3 receipt and the decision granting your authority, if you have them.
What not to do
- Do not file a second application or apply for a new docket to get around the status. A duplicate registration creates a second problem and can look like an attempt to start over under a new number.
- Do not ask a new insurer to file over the old one unless you mean to switch. Two filings colliding on one docket can make a status go wrong.
- Do not assume it fixed itself. When the status turns active again, look at the filing history to confirm why, then send brokers an updated certificate so their files match the record.
The broker carrier setup guide lists what each broker checks once you are back in good standing.
What an inactive status does to your insurance
Your policy and your federal status are two different records, and they influence each other in one direction more than the other. A cancelled policy turns the authority inactive once the insurer's cancellation takes effect. An inactive authority does not cancel the policy, but it changes how underwriters read you.
- At renewal. Underwriters look at the public record when they price a renewal. An unexplained inactive period reads like a coverage gap. Your screenshots and FMCSA reference number let your agent show it was a records issue.
- On a new quote. If the authority went inactive because the insurance filing lapsed, a new policy and its accepted filing are the fix, so a quote is the first step back. A revoked or dismissed authority is different: reinstatement or a new application comes first, and the filing follows once the docket is open again.
- On a claim. Coverage is decided by the policy terms, not by the status screen. But a load hauled while your authority was not active was hauled without authority, and that exposure sits with the carrier.
If you are still putting a new authority together, the new authority toolkit lists each filing in the order FMCSA needs it, and the guide to FMCSA filings explains the forms your insurer sends.
Frequently asked questions
Is an inactive authority in Motus always a glitch?
No. A records error is possible, but the more common causes are a cancelled or missing insurance filing, a lapsed BOC-3 or an overdue biennial update. Read the filing history and your Motus account first. Treat the status as an error only once every required filing and update checks out.
Can I keep hauling while FMCSA corrects a record error?
Not interstate for-hire loads under your own authority. Until the record shows active, hauling those loads counts as operating without authority, which can bring federal civil penalties and an out-of-service order, whatever the cause of the status. Use the proof packet to keep your broker relationships informed, not to take loads before the record is fixed.
Does an inactive status cancel my insurance policy?
Not by itself. The policy stays in force with the insurer under its own terms. The reverse is the danger: an insurer cancellation or a filing that never got accepted is one of the main reasons an authority goes inactive in the first place.
Who should I call first, FMCSA or my insurance agent?
Your agent, because one call answers the most likely cause. If the agent confirms the filing is accepted and current, the problem is on the registration side, and FMCSA is the next contact.
How long does it take to get the status corrected?
It depends on the cause. A new insurance filing usually shows within a few business days of being accepted. A biennial update you file yourself is processed by FMCSA on its own timeline. A record error with no missing filing depends on how fast the help request is worked, so follow up with the reference number rather than waiting.
Will an inactive status affect my next insurance quote?
It can. Underwriters read the same public record, and a gap or an inactive period raises questions about continuous coverage. Keep your screenshots and the FMCSA reference number so your agent can explain a record error to underwriters with evidence.
Have us check the insurance side of your record
Send us your USDOT number. We read your filing history, tell you whether the inactive status traces to an insurance filing, and if it does, place a policy and watch the filing until it shows as accepted.