How to get your trucking authority in 2026
FMCSA retired the Unified Registration System. Here is the current process through Motus, step by step.
Straight answers about the business of moving freight and people.
HaulBrief explains what it costs to run a truck, a bus, a car hauler or a van, what the federal government requires of you, how ocean and air freight really work, and what the numbers actually say — with every figure sourced, dated, and free of anyone trying to sell you a policy, a factoring line or a filing service.
Start here
What it actually costs to start
A line-by-line breakdown using current federal fees and ATRI's 2026 operating cost data.
UCR fees for 2027 are up about 20%
New rates take effect October 1, 2026. The full table by fleet size, and how to file it yourself.
Tools and reference data
Cost per mile calculator
Work out your real cost per mile, then see how each line item compares against the industry average published by ATRI. Most calculators skip that second half.
Federal fee reference
Every recurring federal fee a small carrier pays, with amounts, deadlines and the rule each one comes from. Updated when the rules change.
Break-even rate calculator
The lowest rate per loaded mile that covers your costs, and whether a load with deadhead is worth it.
Fuel surcharge calculator
Peg-and-step or fuel-economy method, using the weekly EIA diesel price.
Dimensional weight calculator
Chargeable weight for air freight, piece by piece, with the common airline divisors.
Starting out
- Hotshot trucking: the weight thresholds that decide everything26,001 pounds for a CDL, 10,001 for the federal safety rules, and why staying under one does not get you out of the other.
- Starting a box truck business without a CDLWhat applies at 26,000 pounds, the drug testing catch, and the three different businesses people call box truck work.
- Cargo van freight: what applies below 10,001 poundsWhere the federal rules stop, and the one question about authority that genuinely has no clean answer.
- Flatbed freight: what actually changesSecurement arithmetic, tarping, deck heights, and the costs that never reach the rate confirmation.
- Refrigerated freight: what the rules put on the carrierThe shipper sets the temperature in writing. You have to be able to prove you held it.
- Drayage: what it takes to pull containersThe UIIA, a TWIC, a SCAC code, chassis you do not own, and a federal billing rule a court partly vacated in 2025.
- The BOC-3 and process agentsWhy an agent is needed in every state you cross, and why almost nobody files this themselves.
- Buying a truck or taking a lease-purchaseA federal task force found these agreements lack the disclosures and default protections required in consumer auto finance.
- LLC or sole proprietorWhat the choice protects you from, and the two large holes in that protection in trucking.
- How freight factoring actually worksHow to annualise the fee so you can compare it against real credit, and the contract clauses that cause the trouble.
- Finding freight as a new authorityWhy brokers avoid an authority under six months old, and why running lanes beats chasing loads.
- Reading a rate confirmation before you sign itThe eight clauses that decide whether a load makes money, none of which is the rate.
Costs and rates
- What owner-operators actually take homeThe distance between a gross revenue figure and money in your account, laid out subtraction by subtraction.
- What drives the price of truck insuranceThe federal floor, the higher floor brokers actually require, and the factors underwriters price on.
- How a fuel surcharge worksThe EIA index most contracts reference, the peg-and-step mechanism, and how to check whether yours covers your fuel.
- Working out what rate to acceptWhy a $2.75 load with 120 miles of deadhead can be below your cost before you start.
- What maintenance costs, and how to budget itIt accrues every mile and arrives in one lump. That mismatch is what sinks small carriers.
- Detention and accessorialsWhat waiting really costs, and the documentation that decides whether you get paid for it.
Compliance
- The new entrant safety auditThe six areas examined, the sixteen violations that fail you outright, and why the audit is decided in your first month.
- Hours of service, explained properlyFive clocks running at once, with a worked sleeper berth example.
- Roadside inspection levels I through VIIIWhat each CVSA level covers, and why a clean inspection is worth having on the record.
- Out-of-service ordersVehicle orders against driver orders, and why the sticker cannot come off to reach a repair shop.
- Cargo securement: the arithmetic nobody explainsHalf the cargo weight in working load limit, and the routing rule that decides whether a strap counts once or twice.
- Federal weight limits and the bridge formulaThree numbers everyone knows, and a fourth rule that quietly overrides them.
- IRP apportioned platesOne plate, 59 jurisdictions, and a fee built from where you drove last year.
- The accident registerThe federal definition of an accident is narrow, specific, and has nothing to do with fault.
- ELD exemptions: who really qualifiesThe four situations in the regulation, and why an old engine is not one of them.
- Clearinghouse queries: full, limited and annualWhich query when, and the 24-hour rule that catches people out.
- IFTA, explained without the jargonWhy the return can bill you although you already paid tax at the pump.
- The driver qualification file, item by itemAll eight documents, the retention periods, and why an owner-operator needs one on themselves.
- Form 2290: the heavy vehicle use taxThe July-to-June tax year, the mileage suspension, and the stamped Schedule 1 you need for plates.
- CSA scores and the BASICsWhy 100 is the worst score, and why one inspection swings a small carrier so violently.
- Drug and alcohol testing: what a programme needsThe random rates, what "spread reasonably through the year" means, and how one truck complies.
- The annual vehicle inspectionEvery unit of the combination, with the documentation carried on the vehicle.
- Driver vehicle inspection reportsThe exemption for carriers running a single vehicle that almost nobody knows about.
- The MCS-150 biennial updateA free filing that deactivates your USDOT number when missed.
Cars, pickups and vans
Cars, Pickups and Vans in Commercial Transport: Which Rules Apply — start with the overview.
- Starting a Car Hauling BusinessFrom a pickup with a wedge trailer to a 9-car stinger: what each setup requires for licensing, authority, insurance and paperwork, and the federal length rules for auto transporters.
- Commercial Auto Insurance for Light VehiclesPersonal policies often stop at for-hire hauling. Here are the federal liability minimums for vans and pickups under and over 10,001 lb, and how cargo coverage differs from liability.
- DOT Medical Card: Who Needs One, How Long It Lasts, What ChangedAny interstate driver of a vehicle or combination rated 10,001 lb or more needs a DOT medical card, CDL or not. Here is how the exam works and what National Registry II changed in 2025.
- GVWR, GCWR and the Eight Truck Weight ClassesRatings, actual weight and taxable weight each trigger different rules. Here is which number counts for USDOT, CDL, IFTA, IRP and the heavy vehicle use tax.
- Pickup Truck Weight Ratings for Hotshot TruckingManufacturer ratings for current 3/4-ton and one-ton pickups, how to calculate legal payload, and why combination weight pushes most hotshot rigs into Class A CDL territory.
Buses and motorcoaches
Running a Bus or Motorcoach Company: The Federal Rules — start with the overview.
- When Bus and Van Drivers Need a CDL: P and S Endorsements and Entry-Level TrainingPassenger vehicles have two different federal thresholds: one for when a vehicle is regulated and another, higher one for when its driver needs a CDL. This guide explains both, then the endorsements and training a new bus driver has to complete.
- Starting a Charter Bus Business: What It Takes and What Drives the CostThe federal government fixes only a few of your startup costs. The rest is set by the insurance floor, the buses you choose, and the accessibility and safety systems the regulations require. This guide separates the fixed numbers from the variable ones.
- Passenger Carrier Authority: USDOT Number, Insurance and the New Entrant ProgramA for-hire passenger carrier needs more than a USDOT number before its first interstate trip. Here is each piece, in the order it has to fall into place, with the insurance minimums that decide most of your startup budget.
- Hours of Service for Bus and Motorcoach DriversPassenger drivers run on an older, simpler set of hours rules than truck drivers: 10 hours of driving, a 15-hour on-duty limit and 8 hours off. The differences are easy to get wrong if you learned the truck rules first.
- School Buses, Church Buses and Private Groups: Which Federal Rules ApplyMost federal motor carrier rules do not reach a school district's home-to-school routes, but the CDL and drug testing rules do. Churches and clubs with buses sit somewhere in between. Here is how each case works, and where state law takes over.
Ocean freight and ports
Ocean Freight and US Ports: What Truckers and Small Shippers Need to Know — start with the overview.
- Ocean Bills of Lading: Types, Fields and How They Differ From a Truck BOLThe ocean bill of lading decides who can claim the cargo, which company is liable and what number the terminal, customs and your trucker will use to find the box. Here is how to read one.
- Demurrage and Detention: The FMC Billing Rules and How to Dispute a ChargeContainer charges pile up fast when a box sits at the terminal or the empty comes back late. Since 2024 federal rules control what those invoices must say and when they must be sent, and a bad invoice may not have to be paid at all.
- How Ocean Freight Works for Small Shippers and TruckersWho actually moves your container, who is licensed to sell you the space, what the boxes really hold, and the paperwork sequence that decides when a trucker can pick up.
- The Jones Act: What It Requires and How It Affects Your FreightAny cargo moving by water between two US points has to ride a US-built, US-owned, US-crewed vessel. Here is what the law actually says and what it means if you ship or truck freight to Hawaii, Alaska or Puerto Rico.
- TWIC Card for Truck Drivers Entering Port FacilitiesIf you pull containers or deliver to a waterfront facility, the TWIC decides whether you can drive in on your own or have to wait for an escort. Here is what it costs, how long it takes and where drivers get tripped up.
Air cargo
Air Cargo in the US: How It Works and Where Trucks Fit — start with the overview.
- Air Waybill Explained: Master vs House AWB, Key Fields and e-AWBThe air waybill is the contract, receipt and tracking number for an air shipment. If you pick up, tender or recover air freight, it is the document everyone at the counter will ask about.
- Air Freight Chargeable Weight: Actual vs Dimensional WeightAirlines bill on whichever is higher: what your freight weighs or how much space it takes. The divisor used to convert size into weight is not the same at every carrier, and that difference can move a quote by hundreds of pounds.
- Shipping Hazmat and Lithium Batteries by Air in the USAir is the strictest mode for hazardous materials. Items that ride in a truck with no paperwork can be forbidden on a passenger plane, and undeclared lithium batteries are one of the most common reasons the FAA proposes penalties against shippers.
- TSA Air Cargo Security: What Truckers Need to KnowEvery piece of cargo that flies on a US passenger plane must be screened, and only approved parties can hand it to an airline. If you haul freight to an airport, those rules decide who can drive, what you can leave unattended and what the counter will refuse.
Why this site exists
Search for almost anything about running a truck and the results belong to someone with a stake in the answer. Lease-purchase is explained by lease-purchase companies. Factoring is explained by factors. Insurance requirements are explained by insurance agencies. Registration is explained by the services that charge to file it for you.
None of that is dishonest on its face, but it shapes what gets said and what gets left out. HaulBrief is written by someone with nothing to sell you. Three rules hold it together:
- Every number is sourced. Fees come from the Federal Register and FMCSA. Cost benchmarks come from ATRI. Fuel prices come from the EIA. Each page links to the original.
- Every page shows when it was last reviewed. Trucking regulation changes constantly, and an undated guide is worthless.
- When the answer depends on your state or your operation, we say so instead of giving an average that fits nobody.
The site carries display advertising. It runs no affiliate links and takes no sponsored placements, because the moment a page earns a commission on the advice it gives, the advice is worth less. Read the full editorial policy.