What Is Operating Authority in Trucking?
Reviewed
Operating authority is FMCSA's permission for a company to transport federally regulated freight or passengers for pay in interstate commerce, or to arrange that transport as a broker or freight forwarder. People shorten it to "authority" or "MC authority" after the docket prefix. You apply through Motus, and the authority goes active only once FMCSA grants it with the required insurance and process agent filings on record.
Types of authority
FMCSA says the authority types you pick set the insurance you must keep, so carriers are told to select only the types that fit the business. Application rules are in 49 CFR Part 365.
- Motor carrier of property: hauls other people's freight for pay. Most new authorities are this type.
- Motor carrier of passengers: carries passengers for pay.
- Broker authority: arranges transport by authorized carriers without hauling it.
- Freight forwarder: takes responsibility for a shipment and uses carriers to move it.
From application to active
The application gets an MC number and sits as pending while FMCSA reviews it. The insurer files a BMC-91 or BMC-91X and a process agent files the BOC-3. When both are on record and the review is done, FMCSA grants the authority. FMCSA's guidance for a complete first-time application is 20 to 25 business days.
Grants happen every business day: 5,591 for-hire carriers in the 30 days ending October 19, 2026, about 237 per business day. Rookiefeed emails each one the next morning. Live counts are on the stats page, and measured waits are in how long MC authority takes.
Questions
- Who doesn't need operating authority?
- FMCSA's authority page lists private carriers hauling their own goods, carriers hauling only exempt commodities and carriers working only inside a commercial zone as not needing it. They may still need a USDOT number. Hauling regulated freight owned by others for pay across state lines does need active authority.
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
- MC number The docket number FMCSA assigns to a motor carrier's operating authority, written MC followed by digits.
- For-hire carrier A motor carrier that transports goods or passengers for compensation, as opposed to a private carrier that moves its own goods.
- 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.
- Broker authority FMCSA operating authority to arrange transportation of regulated freight by authorized carriers for compensation, without hauling it.
Sources: FMCSA: get operating authority (MC number) · 49 CFR Part 365, rules for operating authority applications