Federal regulators have temporarily paused the inactivation of USDOT numbers for carriers lagging behind on their mandatory biennial updates.
The move came as a result of issues motor carriers are facing since the launch of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s new registration platform, Motus.
FMCSA announced that the suspension of USDOT number inactivations applies to trucking companies and commercial fleets that have failed to complete their required biennial updates since June 1. The pause comes as the agency continues rollout of Motus, the new U.S. Department of Transportation Registration System, which launched May 19.
"Registrants will receive additional time to complete any required biennial updates and should not worry about inactivation resulting from Motus-related access or system issues," the FMCSA said in a statement.
The rollout of the Motus registration system has caused trouble for motor carriers and drivers due to strict access lockouts, critical technical glitches, and inaccurate tracking that has hindered business operations and compliance.
[Related: 'Milestone transition': FMCSA chief details Motus progress, one week in]
Michigan-headquartered Tim Ryan, owner of small fleet Tim Ryan Trucking LLC, ran into the MCS-150 update issue even before the Motus launch in late May.
As FMCSA had advised owners ahead of the launch, Ryan attempted to update the fleet’s MCS-150 ahead of the transition, yet said he’d been trying do that “for three months with no luck” as of June 14.
Various other carriers have been hitting all manner of Motus-related snags, including Dave Rick of Wisconsin-headquartered Side-Hill Dairy LLC.
When Rick tried to claim his DOT number in Motus for the first time in late May, the system “created a new DOT number” for the company, Rick said. “I have had the old number for 24 years.”
Rick reached out to support and sent information into FMCSA, who noted “they would take care of it,” he said. “Nothing yet except for a lot of calls from insurance companies and service providers” about what they were seeing as an apparent change to his credentials. He “tried a phone call to FMCSA” with no luck after waiting for two hours, then tried to get through via an online agent again, unsuccessfully.
Reps in FMCSA’s public affairs office told Overdrive they would forward the case to the Motus team.
Owner-operator Martin Vaughn experienced a different issue, running into a roadblock at the payment step when attempting to reactivate his authority.
He’d started the reactivation process May 21, after the Motus launch, after successfully claiming his then-inactive DOT number. From there, he completed the “application for reinstatement and got all the way to the payment screen, entered my credit card details and hit submit,” he said. “The amount due changed from $80 to $0.”
That’s all he got. No confirmation screen or email communication, he said. “I called and was told that was normal, and they would take the payment and in four days I would be reinstated. No payment was ever taken out of my account.”
[Related: FMCSA's Motus: Carriers can claim profile in the new registration system]
After days of calling in attempting to explain his predicament, he was eventually told his insurance was not active, yet his insurance agent affirmed that was not so and that they’d filed the appropriate forms.
He was advised to try different login devices -- utilizing upward of five throughout the course of the process, and at least six escalations to a supervisor, who he was told “would be calling,” he said, yet “no one called back for 19 business days.”
Finally, on Wednesday, June 17, he did hear from a supervisor, yet with no resolution before this past Friday, when that supervisor emailed to note Vaughn’s issue was resolved and his authority was finally active, nearly a month later.
Asked about reinstatement and/or new authority issues, FMCSA reps noted “the Motus team is heavily engaged in operational work” and not doing interviews. Yet the rep pledged to pass along particular case information.
The agency said that it plans to release further guidance as system stabilization and recovery efforts move forward.
Federal law requires all commercial motor vehicle operators to update their registration information every 24 months. Failing to file the update normally triggers the inactivation of the carrier's USDOT number, effectively grounding its operations, along with potential civil penalties.
Motor carriers facing immediate technical issues or registration inquiries can reach the FMCSA Registration Customer Service Center at 1-800-832-5660 or submit an online request through the agency's webform.
[Related: FMCSA's new authority counts fall to zero after Motus? Not quite]
