What Is a BOC-3 Filing?
Reviewed
A BOC-3 is the form that designates process agents for a motor carrier, broker or freight forwarder. Each agent can accept court papers on the company's behalf in a given state. Most carriers have a process agent company file it for them electronically. FMCSA won't make operating authority active until a BOC-3 is on record, and cancelling it without a replacement can suspend the authority.
What the form covers
The rules are in 49 CFR Part 366. A motor carrier designates agents for each state it's authorized to operate in and each state it drives through; a broker or freight forwarder designates them for each state where it has offices or writes contracts. Only one current BOC-3 can be on file, and the company keeps a copy at its principal place of business.
Companies that file designations covering every state for many clients are called blanket companies. Most new carriers use one, which is why the filing often lands within a day of the application. More on the agents themselves in process agent.
Why a BOC-3 matters after the grant
Every carrier on Rookiefeed's daily list already has its BOC-3 and liability insurance on record, because authority can't be granted without them. The full sequence is in what happens after MC authority is granted.
- Pending authority can show a reason like "waiting on BOC-3" in Motus until the filing lands.
- A cancelled BOC-3 with no replacement is one of the reasons FMCSA records for an involuntary suspension, which makes the authority inactive. See revocation.
- Getting a new BOC-3 on file is part of reinstatement when that was the missing piece.
Questions
- Who files the BOC-3?
- The process agent, or a blanket company acting for many agents, files it with FMCSA on the carrier's behalf. Brokers and forwarders can designate agents the same way. The carrier chooses the company and pays its fee; the filing then shows on the carrier's authority record.
Every newly granted carrier, by 7am
MC and USDOT numbers, owner name, phone, email, trucks, equipment and the insurer on file, for each carrier FMCSA authorized yesterday.
Go deeper
Related terms
- 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.
- Operating authority FMCSA's permission for a company to transport regulated freight or passengers for hire in interstate commerce, or to arrange that transport.
- 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.
- Reinstatement Making an inactive operating authority active again, usually after the missing insurance or BOC-3 filing is back on record.
Sources: 49 CFR Part 366, designation of process agents · FMCSA: Motus changes to FMCSA registrations (fact sheet)