What Is MC Authority Reinstatement?
Reviewed
Reinstatement is FMCSA making an inactive operating authority active again. It usually follows an involuntary suspension or revocation, once whatever was missing, most often the insurance filing or the BOC-3, is back on record. FMCSA lists an $80 fee to reinstate authority. On the record, reinstated is the reason shown next to the restored Active status.
How a carrier gets reinstated
Some records were also reinstated as data corrections during the Motus transition, so a reinstatement isn't always a carrier coming back from a real lapse.
- Find the reason the authority went inactive. Motus shows it next to the status.
- Get the missing filing back on record: a new BMC-91 or BMC-91X from an insurer, or a new BOC-3.
- Request reinstatement through Motus and pay the fee.
Reinstated carriers on a lead list
A reinstated carrier is a returning authority: the same docket held active authority before. It may already have a factor, an agent or freight history, and it may carry underwriting questions about why it lapsed. A first-time authority has none of that history.
In the 30 days ending October 19, 2026, 97.9% of new grants were first-time authorities and the rest were returning. Rookiefeed marks every row first-time or returning; see first-time vs returning authority for how factoring reps rank them.
Questions
- How much does it cost to reinstate MC authority?
- FMCSA's filing fee table lists $80 to reinstate authority. You also need whatever filing was missing back on record first, usually a new insurance filing from your insurer or a new BOC-3 from a process agent company, and those come with their own costs.
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
- 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.
- Operating authority FMCSA's permission for a company to transport regulated freight or passengers for hire in interstate commerce, or to arrange that transport.
- 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.
Sources: FMCSA: get operating authority (MC number) · FMCSA: Motus changes to FMCSA registrations (fact sheet)