Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration chief Derek Barrs on Wednesday detailed progress on the rollout of the agency's new "line in the sand" registration system, Motus, in an email to trucking stakeholders.
- Motus successfully received 120,000 new user applicants since rollout last week.
- 10,000 regulated-entity applications were processed.
- More than 13,000 motor carriers, too, claimed their USDOT numbers.
- "We have launched Motus without compromise," Barrs said. "We have officially locked the door on bad actors, eliminated the loopholes they weaponized, and restored absolute integrity and security to the American supply chain."
Administrator Barrs called Motus: USDOT Registration System a "major agency milestone," thanking "users from across the commercial motor vehicle industry for your collaboration, engagement and support as we cross this important technological finish line."
Owner Tori Velez, headquartered in California, experienced some initial confusion when she first attempted to login and claim her one-truck company's profile last week. "I believe I am registered," she noted, but when she hit the Motus main page to login "there are no options to do anything besides sign out -- so kind of confusing."
Velez will ultimately need to use her Motus account to make profile changes to the business's information, though the need isn't urgent; the company's in the process of moving from California to Texas.
"Our focus is heavy haul," she said, with her son doing the driving since her husband passed in 2019. "I still have my CDL, but he gets to have all the fun and I get to handle the paperwork."
Ultimately, she realized the source of the confusion was simply that she'd taken the steps FMCSA recommended for owner-ops prior to the change, and when she successfully logged back in, there was nothing more to do. "I’m in the system -- somehow," she later added, chuckling. "I must’ve done something right."
The Motus rollout has come with some hiccups, nonetheless, Administrator Barrs admitted, and delays on support lines. When Overdrive called into FMCSA's main contact help line Wednesday, May 21, the day after Motus' launch, by midafternoon wait times exceeded an hour.
Early the morning of May 28, wait time was roughly 40 minutes.
[Related: FMCSA's Motus: Carriers can claim profile in new registration system]
FMCSA Registration Office Director Kenneth Riddle warned of those long lines ahead of the transition in this edition of Overdrive Radio a couple weeks back.
Barrs offered some advice for those needing help.
Rather than dial in -- the contact number for FMCSA is 800-832-5660 -- Barrs recommended "anyone needing direct support accessing your account in Motus and/or making updates to submit a support request ticket through our online ticketing system," he said.
There, filling out the form will queue your need for assistance via a contact from support.
As previously reported, and newly emphasized by Administrator Barrs, FMCSA has published copious information, including videos and other aids, in the Motus Resources Hub on the agency's registration website.
Barrs acknowledged "minor technical issues" resulting from the "unprecedented, massive wave of engagement we’ve seen over the last few days," he said, that agency engineers are working out. The engagement, in his view, "proves we are winning this fight."
Carriers with accounts in good standing, and like Tori Velez with no need to make immediate administrative changes, Barrs advised to beat the rush happening now simply by "waiting to log in over the coming weeks as the initial excitement levels out."
More from Barrs' email to stakeholders about the goals of Motus, and hope for the system's long-term efficacy shutting out fraudulent actors:
This is a vital tool for accountability. For too long, bad actors, scammers, and fraudulent brokers have exploited loopholes in our systems, undercutting honest American truckers and compromising safety on our highways.
Motus is our line in the sand. By modernizing our registration process, we are actively cracking down on fraud, eliminating the regulatory blind spots that criminals weaponize, and restoring integrity to the supply chain. ...
We are incredibly proud of this historic modernization effort and confident that Motus is delivering the secure, efficient, and powerhouse registration experience our industry has earned.
