How do I get a USDOT number, and is it free?

Chapter 01

Do I need a USDOT number?

You need one if you haul across State lines and your truck is rated at 10,001 pounds or more. The same holds for a truck and trailer with a combined weight rating of at least 10,001 pounds. FMCSA takes whichever figure is greater: the weight rating or the actual weight (FMCSA’s page on who needs one). You also need one to carry more than 8 people for pay. The same goes for hazardous materials in amounts that need a federal safety permit, even inside one State. And many States require a number even for trucks that never leave the State.

Here is how that looks in real life. Say you have been a company driver for six years. Now you want your own hotshot business. You buy a pickup in the one ton class and a gooseneck trailer. The pickup alone is below that weight threshold, but the truck and trailer together are rated well over 10,001 pounds. Your first load will run from Texas to Oklahoma. So you ask the first question every new owner asks: do I really need a DOT number for this?

Yes. Your truck meets both conditions: its weight and the route of the freight. The first is weight, counted as the whole combination. The second is where the freight goes. FMCSA calls this interstate commerce, and it means more than crossing a border. A trip counts when it runs from one State to another. It counts when it runs between two places in one State but passes through another State on the way. Even a trip entirely within one State can count. That applies when the freight comes from, or continues to, another State or country (FMCSA’s page on who needs one). So a load you pick up at a Houston rail yard, fresh from Mexico, can be interstate even if you deliver it in Dallas.

What if you never leave Texas at all? You may still need a number under federal or State rules. FMCSA lists the States that require the number from trucks that stay inside the State. As last updated in September 2025, the list names 38 States and Puerto Rico. Among them are Texas, California, Florida, Georgia, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania (FMCSA’s page on who needs one). For those trucks, FMCSA says to check with your State agency. We did not check each State’s own rules, so do that before your first load.

There is one case where you do not need a number of your own. Before this, you drove for a company. Its name and USDOT number were on the door, and it was responsible for the truck. An owner who leases a truck on to a carrier works the same way. The truck runs under that carrier’s number. The rule on truck markings even says how the door must read then. If another name is on the truck, the carrier’s name and number follow the words “operated by” (the marking rule). You want your own loads and your own rates. So you need your own number.

Chapter 02

How do I get a USDOT number, and what does it cost?

You apply online in Motus, FMCSA’s registration website since May 2026. If you will haul for pay, the same application asks for your operating authority, and that part costs $300 (the fee rule). FMCSA lists no fee for the number itself. A company that hauls only its own goods registers for the number alone.

Start by confirming your identity. Motus checks your identity with a smartphone and a government ID, like a driver’s license or passport. It also checks that your company is real: its legal name, address and owners (FMCSA’s April 2026 notice). Then you describe the work you plan, your trucks and your drivers. You say what you will haul and whether you will be paid for hauling it. That answer decides what else you need.

In your case, you will haul other people’s freight for pay. The rules say every carrier must register and get the number before it starts work across State lines. A carrier that hauls for pay “must obtain operating authority” as well (the rule on starting interstate work). So you apply for both at once. The authority part has its own steps: the insurance filing, the process agent and 10 days for objections. We explain those steps in our guide to getting an MC number. This page focuses on the USDOT number.

Next, check the fees. Many owners ask about the DOT number cost first, because so many websites charge for it. Here is what the official sources say. FMCSA’s fee rule lists $300 for each type of operating authority. It lists no fee for the number (the fee rule). FMCSA’s page on registration forms also distinguishes between the two applications. It puts “Fee: $300” next to the authority form and no fee next to the form for the number itself (FMCSA’s page on registration forms). That page was written before Motus, and we found no newer FMCSA page that says “free” in so many words. None of the sources we read lists a fee for the number.

So why do some websites charge you to apply for a DOT number? Because they are private services, and they charge for their time. That is legal. It is not a government fee. FMCSA’s site for new carriers says you do not have to use a service provider. Its forms are free (FMCSA’s new carrier site). If a site calls its charge a “DOT fee”, read the small print.

Now consider a company hauling its own goods. Say your cousin runs a small landscaping company with two trucks and trailers. He hauls his own mowers into the next State, and nobody pays him for the hauling. FMCSA calls a company like that a private carrier. It still needs the number, because its trucks run across State lines and exceed the weight threshold. But it does not need operating authority, because it hauls nothing for pay. The rules say a new private carrier registers “to identify its operations” for safety oversight (the rule on USDOT registration). So your cousin gets a number, does not pay the $300 authority fee or file a BOC-3 process agent form. The marking and update rules below apply to him just the same.

Chapter 03

What do I have to do once I have the number?

Three things. Put your company name and number on both sides of every truck. Update your company record every 24 months (the update rule). And keep the number active, because a truck may not haul across State lines without an active USDOT number (the rule on prohibited transportation).

The marking comes first, because an officer sees it before anything else. The rule asks for your company’s legal name, or one trade name, as it appears in your FMCSA record. It also requires the letters “USDOT” followed by your number (the marking rule). It must be on both sides of the truck. The letters must “contrast sharply” with the paint behind them. They must be readable in daylight from 50 feet while the truck is parked. You may paint the marking on the truck or use a removable sign, as long as it meets the same test. For your hotshot, that means both doors of the pickup. The trailer does not carry the marking; the rule speaks of the vehicle that moves under its own power.

Motus may show letters after your number in your account. FMCSA calls them suffixes, and they show the kinds of registration you hold. You do not put them on the truck (FMCSA’s April 2026 notice).

Next comes the update. You filed your company record when you registered. The rules ask you to file it again every 24 months, in a month set by the last digit of your number (the update rule). Owners call it the MCS-150 update. If you miss the update, FMCSA can deactivate your number. During the move to Motus, FMCSA has paused that for updates due on or after June 1, 2026 (FMCSA’s notice on the pause). FMCSA has not announced an end date for the pause. Keep track of your update deadline. Find your filing month and the steps to reactivate a number in our guide to the MCS-150 update.

From the day your USDOT number is issued, FMCSA uses it to build your company’s safety record. As a new carrier with authority, you also enter FMCSA’s program for new carriers, with a safety audit in your first year. How to get ready for it is in our guide to the new entrant safety audit. A company with an MC number must also register for UCR each year, as our UCR guide explains.

Chapter 04

How do I look up or check a USDOT number?

Use FMCSA’s free public lookup, the SAFER Company Snapshot. Type a USDOT number, an MC number or a company name. FMCSA also says Motus has a public search by USDOT number, legal name or trade name (FMCSA’s notice on the pause). Check your own number the way a stranger would.

Back to your hotshot. The week your number arrives, look yourself up. Is the name spelled right? Is the address right? Does it show your one truck? Brokers often look you up the same way before they give you a load. A wrong name on the record will not match your insurance filing or the name on your doors. Correct any errors in Motus before they cause problems with a load.

You can also use public records to check a broker. Before you take a load from a broker you do not know, look the broker up too. How to read what you find is in our guide to checking a broker.

Keep one thing in mind. A number that shows up in a search is not the same as being allowed to haul. To haul freight for pay across State lines, both your USDOT number and your authority must be active. Until both are, the truck stays parked. We could not sign in to Motus, so we do not describe its screens. We also cannot say how long Motus takes to issue a new number in September 2026.

We can handle registration paperwork and monitor your records each month: here is what it costs.