Trucking authority glossary

Terms A to Z

B · F · M · N · O · P · R · U

BIPD

Bodily injury and property damage liability insurance, the public liability coverage FMCSA requires a for-hire carrier to keep on file.

BMC-34

The Household Goods Motor Carrier Cargo Liability Certificate of Insurance, which an insurer files with FMCSA for household goods carriers.

BMC-91 and BMC-91X

Certificates an insurer files with FMCSA proving a motor carrier carries the required bodily injury and property damage liability coverage.

BOC-3

The designation of process agents form, naming someone in each required state who can accept legal papers for a carrier, broker or forwarder.

Broker authority

FMCSA operating authority to arrange transportation of regulated freight by authorized carriers for compensation, without hauling it.

For-hire carrier

A motor carrier that transports goods or passengers for compensation, as opposed to a private carrier that moves its own goods.

MC number

The docket number FMCSA assigns to a motor carrier's operating authority, written MC followed by digits.

MCS-150

The Motor Carrier Identification Report carriers use to register and update their USDOT information, including fleet size and cargo.

Motus

FMCSA's USDOT Registration System, where carriers, brokers and forwarders register and apply for operating authority since May 2026.

New venture

Insurance term for a motor carrier with new operating authority and little or no history running its own trucks.

Operating authority

FMCSA's permission for a company to transport regulated freight or passengers for hire in interstate commerce, or to arrange that transport.

Power units

The trucks and tractors a carrier reports owning or leasing on its FMCSA registration; the standard measure of fleet size. Trailers don't count.

Process agent

A person or company designated on a BOC-3 to accept service of legal process for a carrier, broker or freight forwarder in a state.

Reinstatement

Making an inactive operating authority active again, usually after the missing insurance or BOC-3 filing is back on record.

Revocation

FMCSA ending a carrier's operating authority, which makes it inactive; often tied to lapsed insurance or process agent filings or a failed safety audit.

USDOT number

The registration number FMCSA assigns to companies operating commercial motor vehicles, used to track their safety record.

Numbers and identifiers

• Docket: FMCSA's name for an authority record. MC, FF (freight forwarder) and MX (Mexico-domiciled) are docket prefixes, and one company can hold more than one docket.
• Legal name and DBA: The registered company name, and the "doing business as" name the carrier may actually use on its trucks and phone.

Authority types

• Private carrier: A company that hauls its own goods in its own trucks, such as a builder moving its own materials. It needs a USDOT number but not for-hire authority.
• Interstate and intrastate: Interstate means crossing state lines or part of a trip that does; intrastate stays within one state and is mostly regulated by that state.
• Owner-operator: A driver who owns their truck. Some lease onto another carrier's authority; others get their own MC number and run as one-truck carriers.

Filings that make authority active

• BMC-35: The insurer's notice to FMCSA cancelling a liability filing. Coverage on the record ends 30 days after it's filed.

Statuses and events

• Initial Status: The status that marks a new application on the docket. The carrier has applied and is waiting.
• Granted: The event that marks authority being approved and made active. It's the date a new carrier can start hauling for hire.
• Days to grant: Calendar days from Initial Status to Granted. The median first-time carrier recently waited 25 days. See how long MC authority takes.
• Active, inactive and pending: The authority's current state. Active can haul; pending is waiting on review or filings; inactive has been revoked, suspended or voluntarily ended. See MC authority status explained.
• Revocation and involuntary suspension: FMCSA ending or pausing authority, for example when the insurance filing is cancelled and no replacement is on record.
• First-time vs returning authority: A first-time authority's docket never held active authority before; a returning one did. See first-time vs returning authority.

Systems and data

• L&I: Licensing and Insurance, FMCSA's older system for authority and insurance filings, replaced by Motus for registration in May 2026.
• FMCSA Register: The daily publication of authority decisions. See is the FMCSA Register gone.
• Cargo classes: The boxes a carrier checks on the MCS-150 for what it hauls, like General Freight or Refrigerated Food. Equipment type is usually inferred from them.