- New registrations rose. 180,990 USDOT numbers were added in the 12 months to September 2026, up 5.4% from the prior 12 months (171,722). September 2026 alone saw 14,799, up 5.7% from September 2025.
- Authority grants in Motus started slowly, then climbed. Motus recorded grants for 1,771 USDOT numbers in June 2026, its first full month, and 4,988 in September 2026. The legacy system averaged 5,194 a month from May 2025 to April 2026. Interpretation: the low early counts may reflect the cutover itself rather than fewer applicants; the systems count differently, so this report does not compute a change across the break.
- Revocations gave way to suspensions. Before the freeze, legacy data recorded an average of 6,365 involuntary revocations a month (May 2025 to April 2026). Since the cutover, Motus records involuntary suspensions instead: 1,263 took effect in September 2026, and 6,220 USDOT numbers were served a suspension notice. A notice can be cured before it takes effect.
- Insurance cancellations are only partly visible after the cutover. Legacy InsHist showed an average of 22,234 USDOT numbers a month with a cancelled filing (May 2025 to April 2026). Motus InsHist shows 2,318 for September 2026, but it covers only authorities touched in Motus, so treat that as a floor.
- 2.3% of new registrants share contact details widely. Of 180,990 USDOT numbers added from October 2025 to September 2026, 4,206 list a phone or email that appears on at least 3 other USDOT records. 1,987 of them sit in clusters of 51 or more. Interpretation: clusters that large are more likely to be filing services or compliance agents than related carriers.
- Three states account for 30.7% of new registrations. Texas (21,340), California (19,123) and Florida (15,164) led the 12 months to September 2026.
Every figure comes from a SoQL query against FMCSA datasets on data.transportation.gov. Sentences marked “Interpretation” are our reading of the numbers, not something the data proves.
Series 1
New USDOT registrations
New USDOT numbers come from the Company Census File's add_date. Over the 24 months shown, the busiest month was March 2026 (17,494) and the quietest was November 2025 (11,210). September 2026 came in at 14,799, down 3.7% from August 2026. Registration is not the same as operating authority: many USDOT numbers belong to private or intrastate carriers that never apply for an MC number.
Source: FMCSA Company Census File, as of 2026-10-17 (az4n-8mr2).
Data table (24 rows)
| Month | New USDOT registrations |
|---|---|
| Oct 2024 | 13,865 |
| Nov 2024 | 11,776 |
| Dec 2024 | 11,248 |
| Jan 2025 | 14,741 |
| Feb 2025 | 14,681 |
| Mar 2025 | 17,080 |
| Apr 2025 | 15,783 |
| May 2025 | 14,990 |
| Jun 2025 | 14,130 |
| Jul 2025 | 15,027 |
| Aug 2025 | 14,406 |
| Sep 2025 | 13,995 |
| Oct 2025 | 13,971 |
| Nov 2025 | 11,210 |
| Dec 2025 | 11,593 |
| Jan 2026 | 14,782 |
| Feb 2026 | 14,590 |
| Mar 2026 | 17,494 |
| Apr 2026 | 16,836 |
| May 2026 | 16,938 |
| Jun 2026 | 17,212 |
| Jul 2026 | 16,200 |
| Aug 2026 | 15,365 |
| Sep 2026 | 14,799 |
Series 2
New operating authority grants
A grant is the moment FMCSA makes an operating authority (an MC, FF or MX docket) active. The legacy line is the AuthHist dataset, which averaged 5,194 a month from May 2025 to April 2026. The Motus line is Motus AuthHist after the cutover (Jun 2026: 1,771, Jul 2026: 2,987, Aug 2026: 5,577, Sep 2026: 4,988). May 2026 is partial in both and shown as hollow points.
- Legacy L&I (frozen May 14, 2026)
- Motus (from May 15, 2026)
- Partial month
- Legacy data frozen May 14, 2026
Legacy and Motus record authority actions in different systems with different record structures. Compare their levels with care and do not read the gap at the cutover as a change in applications.
Source: FMCSA AuthHist - All With History (frozen 2026-05-14) (9mw4-x3tu); FMCSA Motus AuthHist - All With History, as of 2026-10-18 (yu5v-wbh6).
Data table (24 rows)
| Month | Legacy L&I (frozen May 14, 2026) | Motus (from May 15, 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 2024 | 5,327 | – |
| Nov 2024 | 4,727 | – |
| Dec 2024 | 4,054 | – |
| Jan 2025 | 4,120 | – |
| Feb 2025 | 4,467 | – |
| Mar 2025 | 5,447 | – |
| Apr 2025 | 5,998 | – |
| May 2025 | 5,546 | – |
| Jun 2025 | 5,545 | – |
| Jul 2025 | 5,530 | – |
| Aug 2025 | 5,439 | – |
| Sep 2025 | 4,949 | – |
| Oct 2025 | 5,567 | – |
| Nov 2025 | 4,229 | – |
| Dec 2025 | 4,553 | – |
| Jan 2026 | 4,421 | – |
| Feb 2026 | 4,807 | – |
| Mar 2026 | 5,726 | – |
| Apr 2026 | 6,018 | – |
| May 2026 | 3,305(partial) | 167(partial) |
| Jun 2026 | – | 1,771 |
| Jul 2026 | – | 2,987 |
| Aug 2026 | – | 5,577 |
| Sep 2026 | – | 4,988 |
Series 3
Revocations and suspensions
Legacy revocations averaged 6,365 a month from May 2025 to April 2026. In Motus, involuntary suspensions that took effect ran Jun 2026: 122, Jul 2026: 2,484, Aug 2026: 2,905, Sep 2026: 1,263. Suspension notices served ran Jun 2026: 5,331, Jul 2026: 3,510, Aug 2026: 4,494, Sep 2026: 6,220. Interpretation: because a notice gives the carrier time to cure before the suspension takes effect, notices served in one month may show up as suspensions in a later month.
- Legacy: involuntary revocations
- Motus: involuntary suspensions
- Partial month
- Legacy data frozen May 14, 2026
This is not the same legal action as the legacy series. Since the cutover, FMCSA's public Motus data records involuntary suspensions where the legacy data recorded involuntary revocations.
Source: FMCSA Revocation - All With History (frozen 2026-05-14) (sa6p-acbp); FMCSA Motus AuthHist - All With History, as of 2026-10-18 (yu5v-wbh6).
Data table (24 rows)
| Month | Legacy: involuntary revocations | Motus: involuntary suspensions |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 2024 | 6,657 | – |
| Nov 2024 | 5,882 | – |
| Dec 2024 | 6,793 | – |
| Jan 2025 | 6,058 | – |
| Feb 2025 | 5,986 | – |
| Mar 2025 | 6,936 | – |
| Apr 2025 | 6,743 | – |
| May 2025 | 6,142 | – |
| Jun 2025 | 7,091 | – |
| Jul 2025 | 6,460 | – |
| Aug 2025 | 5,842 | – |
| Sep 2025 | 7,175 | – |
| Oct 2025 | 6,193 | – |
| Nov 2025 | 5,837 | – |
| Dec 2025 | 7,677 | – |
| Jan 2026 | 5,770 | – |
| Feb 2026 | 5,383 | – |
| Mar 2026 | 6,517 | – |
| Apr 2026 | 6,289 | – |
| May 2026 | 2,850(partial) | 0(partial) |
| Jun 2026 | – | 122 |
| Jul 2026 | – | 2,484 |
| Aug 2026 | – | 2,905 |
| Sep 2026 | – | 1,263 |
- Partial month
Source: FMCSA Motus RevokeSuspend – All With History, as of 2026-10-18 (wb4f-neki).
Data table (5 rows)
| Month | Motus: involuntary suspension notices served |
|---|---|
| May 2026 | 1,795(partial) |
| Jun 2026 | 5,331 |
| Jul 2026 | 3,510 |
| Aug 2026 | 4,494 |
| Sep 2026 | 6,220 |
Series 4
Insurance cancellations
Legacy InsHist recorded an average of 22,234 USDOT numbers a month with an insurance or bond filing cancelled (not replaced) from May 2025 to April 2026. Motus InsHist shows Jun 2026: 3,616, Jul 2026: 5,623, Aug 2026: 3,627, Sep 2026: 2,318. Motus InsHist holds a small fraction of the legacy row count, so the drop at the cutover may reflect what the public dataset covers rather than fewer cancellations.
- Legacy L&I (frozen May 14, 2026)
- Motus (from May 15, 2026)
- Partial month
- Legacy data frozen May 14, 2026
The Motus InsHist dataset is far smaller than the legacy one (63,228 rows in total when checked in October 2026) and covers only authorities touched in Motus. Its counts are a floor, not a like-for-like continuation of the legacy level.
Source: FMCSA InsHist - All With History (frozen 2026-05-14) (6sqe-dvqs); FMCSA Motus InsHist - All With History, as of 2026-10-18 (3uet-3z4i).
Data table (24 rows)
| Month | Legacy L&I (frozen May 14, 2026) | Motus (from May 15, 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 2024 | 23,303 | – |
| Nov 2024 | 20,618 | – |
| Dec 2024 | 19,766 | – |
| Jan 2025 | 20,259 | – |
| Feb 2025 | 20,113 | – |
| Mar 2025 | 22,109 | – |
| Apr 2025 | 22,130 | – |
| May 2025 | 22,353 | – |
| Jun 2025 | 22,435 | – |
| Jul 2025 | 24,193 | – |
| Aug 2025 | 22,428 | – |
| Sep 2025 | 22,043 | – |
| Oct 2025 | 23,584 | – |
| Nov 2025 | 20,680 | – |
| Dec 2025 | 21,377 | – |
| Jan 2026 | 20,780 | – |
| Feb 2026 | 20,008 | – |
| Mar 2026 | 23,796 | – |
| Apr 2026 | 23,136 | – |
| May 2026 | 14,020(partial) | 1,739(partial) |
| Jun 2026 | – | 3,616 |
| Jul 2026 | – | 5,623 |
| Aug 2026 | – | 3,627 |
| Sep 2026 | – | 2,318 |
States
Where new registrations came from
The ten states with the most new USDOT numbers from October 2025 to September 2026, with each state's share of the national total. Every state and DC has its own page.
Source: FMCSA Company Census File, as of 2026-10-17 (az4n-8mr2).
Method and limits
How this issue was built
- What each issue covers
- Issue 2026-10 covers complete months from October 2024 through September 2026 (2024-10-01 to 2026-09-30). Each series counts events by the month of the date field named in its definition. The month in which an issue is published is never included.
- The May 14, 2026 method break
- FMCSA's legacy L&I datasets (AuthHist, Revocation, InsHist and others) stopped updating on 2026-05-14. Their descriptions now say they will no longer be updated. FMCSA's Motus system replaced them, and its public datasets update daily. Legacy series stop at May 2026 and Motus series start at May 2026, and May is marked partial in both. The two are never joined into one line, because the systems record actions differently. Motus rows dated before 2026-05-15 are migrated history for authorities later touched in Motus, so they are excluded.
- Units
- Event series count distinct USDOT numbers per month, so a carrier with several authorities or filings affected in the same month counts once. Legacy rows with a USDOT of 00000000 (old dockets with no USDOT on file) are excluded. A USDOT affected in two different months counts in both.
- How states are assigned
- States come from the physical address (phy_state) in the Company Census File as of its 2026-10-17 load, not the address at the time of the event. Event datasets are joined to the census on USDOT number with a SoQL JOIN. Share of national counts that land in one of the 50 states or DC: registrations 98.4%, legacy grants 97.3%, Motus grants 97.6%, legacy revocations 97.9%, Motus suspensions 98.2%, legacy insurance cancellations 98.7%, Motus insurance cancellations 98.6%. The rest are carriers based in U.S. territories, Canada or Mexico, or USDOT numbers with no census match. National totals include them, so state shares add up to a little under 100%.
- Revocations became suspensions
- Before the cutover, the legacy Revocation dataset recorded involuntary revocations. Since the cutover, Motus AuthHist records involuntary suspensions, with reasons that cite cancelled insurance or process-agent (BOC-3) filings, and only a handful of revocations. The report shows both, labelled, as separate series. A suspension notice (Motus RevokeSuspend) is a warning that can be cured, so notices are shown separately from suspensions that took effect.
- Insurance cancellations after the cutover are a floor
- The Motus InsHist dataset holds 63,228 rows in total, against 7.4 million in legacy InsHist, and covers only authorities that have been touched in Motus. Post-cutover cancellation counts are therefore a lower bound. The gap between the legacy and Motus levels may reflect dataset coverage rather than a change in how many carriers lost coverage.
- Shared-contact registrants
- Among USDOT numbers added in the trailing 12 months, we count those whose census phone or email also appears on at least 3 other USDOT records. Shared contact details are common for ordinary reasons: filing services and compliance agents put their own phone or email on many registrations, and related fleets share an office. Interpretation: the 51+ bucket is likely to be mostly high-volume filers of that kind. A shared contact is a reason to look closer, not evidence of fraud.
- Lags and revisions
- Each dataset was queried on 2026-10-19. Socrata reload dates: Company Census File 2026-10-17; AuthHist - All With History 2026-10-18; Motus AuthHist - All With History 2026-10-18; Revocation - All With History 2026-10-18; Motus RevokeSuspend – All With History 2026-10-18; InsHist - All With History 2026-10-18; Motus InsHist - All With History 2026-10-18. FMCSA can add or correct records after the fact, so a later issue may show slightly different numbers for the same month. The census counts USDOT numbers still on file; numbers FMCSA has deleted are not counted.
Series definitions and queries
- New USDOT registrations az4n-8mr2
- USDOT numbers in the Company Census File whose add_date falls in the month, counted once each, whatever their current status (active, inactive or pending).
SoQL
SELECT substring(add_date,1,6) AS ym, count(*) AS n WHERE add_date >= '20241001' AND add_date < '20261001' GROUP BY ym ORDER BY ym Per state: SELECT phy_state AS st, substring(add_date,1,6) AS ym, count(*) AS n WHERE add_date >= '20241001' AND add_date < '20261001' GROUP BY st, ym ORDER BY st, ym
- Legacy L&I (frozen May 14, 2026) 9mw4-x3tu
- Distinct USDOT numbers with an AuthHist record whose original action is GRANTED, by the month the grant was served. All authority types (motor carrier, broker, freight forwarder). May 2026 holds only the records the legacy dataset received before it froze on 2026-05-14 (a handful are dated a few days later).
SoQL
SELECT substring(orig_served_date,7,4) || substring(orig_served_date,1,2) AS ym, count(distinct dot_number) AS n WHERE original_action_desc = 'GRANTED' AND dot_number != '00000000' AND (substring(orig_served_date,7,4) || substring(orig_served_date,1,2)) BETWEEN '202410' AND '202605' GROUP BY ym ORDER BY ym Per state: SELECT @c.phy_state AS st, substring(orig_served_date,7,4) || substring(orig_served_date,1,2) AS ym, count(distinct dot_number) AS n JOIN @az4n-8mr2 AS c ON dot_number::number = @c.dot_number WHERE original_action_desc = 'GRANTED' AND dot_number != '00000000' AND (substring(orig_served_date,7,4) || substring(orig_served_date,1,2)) BETWEEN '202410' AND '202605' GROUP BY st, ym ORDER BY st, ym
- Motus (from May 15, 2026) yu5v-wbh6
- Distinct USDOT numbers with a Motus AuthHist status change whose reason is GRANTED (any capitalization), dated 2026-05-15 or later, by month. Earlier Motus rows are migrated history and are excluded. May 2026 counts only Motus records dated 2026-05-15 or later.
SoQL
SELECT substring(status_change_date,1,6) AS ym, count(distinct usdot_number) AS n WHERE upper(reason) = 'GRANTED' AND usdot_number IS NOT NULL AND status_change_date >= '20260515' AND status_change_date < '20261001' GROUP BY ym ORDER BY ym Per state: SELECT @c.phy_state AS st, substring(status_change_date,1,6) AS ym, count(distinct usdot_number) AS n JOIN @az4n-8mr2 AS c ON usdot_number::number = @c.dot_number WHERE upper(reason) = 'GRANTED' AND usdot_number IS NOT NULL AND status_change_date >= '20260515' AND status_change_date < '20261001' GROUP BY st, ym ORDER BY st, ym
- Legacy: involuntary revocations sa6p-acbp
- Distinct USDOT numbers with a legacy Revocation record of type INVOLUNTARY REVOCATION, by the month the revocation took effect. May 2026 holds only the records the legacy dataset received before it froze on 2026-05-14 (a handful are dated a few days later).
SoQL
SELECT substring(order2_effective_date,7,4) || substring(order2_effective_date,1,2) AS ym, count(distinct dot_number) AS n WHERE order2_type_desc = 'INVOLUNTARY REVOCATION' AND dot_number != '00000000' AND (substring(order2_effective_date,7,4) || substring(order2_effective_date,1,2)) BETWEEN '202410' AND '202605' GROUP BY ym ORDER BY ym Per state: SELECT @c.phy_state AS st, substring(order2_effective_date,7,4) || substring(order2_effective_date,1,2) AS ym, count(distinct dot_number) AS n JOIN @az4n-8mr2 AS c ON dot_number::number = @c.dot_number WHERE order2_type_desc = 'INVOLUNTARY REVOCATION' AND dot_number != '00000000' AND (substring(order2_effective_date,7,4) || substring(order2_effective_date,1,2)) BETWEEN '202410' AND '202605' GROUP BY st, ym ORDER BY st, ym
- Motus: involuntary suspensions yu5v-wbh6
- Distinct USDOT numbers with a Motus AuthHist change to Inactive whose reason begins INVOLUNTARY SUSPENSION or INACTIVATED, or is REVOKED, dated 2026-05-15 or later, by month. May 2026 counts only Motus records dated 2026-05-15 or later.
SoQL
SELECT substring(status_change_date,1,6) AS ym, count(distinct usdot_number) AS n WHERE op_auth_status = 'Inactive' AND (starts_with(upper(reason), 'INVOLUNTARY SUSPENSION') OR starts_with(upper(reason), 'INACTIVATED') OR upper(reason) = 'REVOKED') AND usdot_number IS NOT NULL AND status_change_date >= '20260515' AND status_change_date < '20261001' GROUP BY ym ORDER BY ym Per state: SELECT @c.phy_state AS st, substring(status_change_date,1,6) AS ym, count(distinct usdot_number) AS n JOIN @az4n-8mr2 AS c ON usdot_number::number = @c.dot_number WHERE op_auth_status = 'Inactive' AND (starts_with(upper(reason), 'INVOLUNTARY SUSPENSION') OR starts_with(upper(reason), 'INACTIVATED') OR upper(reason) = 'REVOKED') AND usdot_number IS NOT NULL AND status_change_date >= '20260515' AND status_change_date < '20261001' GROUP BY st, ym ORDER BY st, ym
- Motus: involuntary suspension notices served wb4f-neki
- Distinct USDOT numbers served an 'Operating Authority Involuntary Suspension Notice' in Motus RevokeSuspend, dated 2026-05-15 or later, by the month served. A notice is not a completed suspension: a carrier can cure it before the effective date. May 2026 counts only Motus records dated 2026-05-15 or later.
SoQL
SELECT substring(order1_serve_date,1,6) AS ym, count(distinct usdot_number) AS n WHERE order1_type_desc = 'Operating Authority Involuntary Suspension Notice' AND usdot_number IS NOT NULL AND order1_serve_date >= '20260515' AND order1_serve_date < '20261001' GROUP BY ym ORDER BY ym
- Legacy L&I (frozen May 14, 2026) 6sqe-dvqs
- Distinct USDOT numbers with a legacy InsHist filing marked Cancelled (cancellation methods CANCEL, TERM/CANCL and CANC/CANCL; replacements and name changes excluded), by the month the cancellation took effect. All filing types (liability, cargo, bond, trust fund). May 2026 includes cancellations filed before the freeze with effective dates later in May. Cancellations effective after May are not counted from the legacy data.
SoQL
SELECT substring(cancl_effective_date,7,4) || substring(cancl_effective_date,1,2) AS ym, count(distinct dot_number) AS n WHERE mod_col_1 = 'Cancelled' AND dot_number != '00000000' AND (substring(cancl_effective_date,7,4) || substring(cancl_effective_date,1,2)) BETWEEN '202410' AND '202605' GROUP BY ym ORDER BY ym Per state: SELECT @c.phy_state AS st, substring(cancl_effective_date,7,4) || substring(cancl_effective_date,1,2) AS ym, count(distinct dot_number) AS n JOIN @az4n-8mr2 AS c ON dot_number::number = @c.dot_number WHERE mod_col_1 = 'Cancelled' AND dot_number != '00000000' AND (substring(cancl_effective_date,7,4) || substring(cancl_effective_date,1,2)) BETWEEN '202410' AND '202605' GROUP BY st, ym ORDER BY st, ym
- Motus (from May 15, 2026) 3uet-3z4i
- Distinct USDOT numbers with a Motus InsHist filing whose filing_status_reason is CANCEL (replacements and name changes excluded), effective 2026-05-15 or later, by month. BMC-35 cancellation-notice rows with no status reason are not counted. May 2026 counts only Motus records dated 2026-05-15 or later.
SoQL
SELECT substring(cancl_effective_date,1,6) AS ym, count(distinct usdot_number) AS n WHERE filing_status_reason = 'CANCEL' AND usdot_number IS NOT NULL AND cancl_effective_date >= '20260515' AND cancl_effective_date < '20261001' GROUP BY ym ORDER BY ym Per state: SELECT @c.phy_state AS st, substring(cancl_effective_date,1,6) AS ym, count(distinct usdot_number) AS n JOIN @az4n-8mr2 AS c ON usdot_number::number = @c.dot_number WHERE filing_status_reason = 'CANCEL' AND usdot_number IS NOT NULL AND cancl_effective_date >= '20260515' AND cancl_effective_date < '20261001' GROUP BY st, ym ORDER BY st, ym
Sources
- FMCSA, Company Census File (data.transportation.gov az4n-8mr2) (as of 2026-10-17)
- FMCSA, AuthHist - All With History (data.transportation.gov 9mw4-x3tu) (frozen 2026-05-14; reloaded 2026-10-18)
- FMCSA, Motus AuthHist - All With History (data.transportation.gov yu5v-wbh6) (as of 2026-10-18)
- FMCSA, Revocation - All With History (data.transportation.gov sa6p-acbp) (frozen 2026-05-14; reloaded 2026-10-18)
- FMCSA, Motus RevokeSuspend – All With History (data.transportation.gov wb4f-neki) (as of 2026-10-18)
- FMCSA, InsHist - All With History (data.transportation.gov 6sqe-dvqs) (frozen 2026-05-14; reloaded 2026-10-18)
- FMCSA, Motus InsHist - All With History (data.transportation.gov 3uet-3z4i) (as of 2026-10-18)
- Federal Register: Availability of Motus, FMCSA's New Registration System (2026-04-29)
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