The MCS-150 Biennial Update: Schedule, Penalties and Why It Matters

A free filing that takes ten minutes, that almost nobody diaries, and that deactivates your USDOT number when missed.

What it is

Every entity registered with FMCSA must update its registration information every 24 months. The form is the MCS-150, and the update confirms or corrects your address, your fleet and driver counts, your operation type and your commodities.

It costs nothing. It is not a renewal, it is not a fee, and it is not the same as UCR — which is an annual payment to the participating states and an entirely separate obligation. If anyone charges you to file it, you are paying for their service, not a government fee.

The rule for interstate carriers is 49 CFR § 390.19T. It requires the form before you begin operations and then every 24 months, and it lets only your legal name or a single trade name appear on it.

2026 status check. FMCSA moved registration to a new system, Motus, which went live on May 19, 2026. During the transition FMCSA temporarily suspended the inactivation of USDOT numbers for missed biennial updates and said registrants would get additional time. As of this review no end date had been announced. The requirement itself has not gone away: file your update, and check FMCSA's registration page for the current position before relying on the suspension.

Working out your month

The schedule comes from your USDOT number, not from when you registered.

Digit	What it decides
Last digit	The month: 1 is January through to 0 for October
Next-to-last digit	The year: odd means odd-numbered years, even means even-numbered years

The deadline is the last day of that month, not the first. So USDOT 123456 would be due by June 30, and the digit before it (5, odd) puts it in odd-numbered years. Work yours out once, put it in a calendar as a repeating event, and you never think about it again.

Worked examples

USDOT number	Last digit	Next-to-last	Due by
3141573	3 → March	7 → odd years	March 31, 2027, then March 31, 2029
2468024	4 → April	2 → even years	April 30, 2026, then April 30, 2028
1000090	0 → October	9 → odd years	October 31, 2027
3005108	8 → August	0 → even years	August 31, 2026, then August 31, 2028

Zero counts as even. That last row is the one people get wrong.

Yes, even if nothing changed

FMCSA is explicit that the update is required every two years even if your company's information has not changed, even if you have ceased interstate operations since the last update, and even if you are no longer in business and did not tell FMCSA.

That last case catches people who wound a business down informally and assumed the registration lapsed on its own. It does not. If you have genuinely stopped, record that properly: update the registration to reflect it and, if you hold operating authority, use the voluntary revocation process in the registration system rather than simply walking away.

How to file in 2026

Filing is now done in Motus. The old FMCSA Portal route — logging in and choosing “Biennial Update (MCS-150)” from the Registration tab — was switched off for registration changes when Motus launched.

Get a Login.gov account. If you already used Login.gov for the FMCSA Portal, use the same email, because that is how your existing USDOT number is linked to you.
Complete identity verification. Motus requires a government-issued ID and a facial scan the first time you set up your profile. USDOT PINs are no longer used.
Claim your USDOT number as the company official. Only the person who was the company official in the Portal can claim an existing account for the first time.
Choose “Submit a Biennial Update” and work through the company details, operation classification, fleet and driver counts and cargo.
Check the result using FMCSA's public Motus search by USDOT number, and keep a screenshot or confirmation with your records.

If identity verification fails, FMCSA's contact center is 1-800-832-5660, and it may refer you to a physical location to finish the process. Leave yourself weeks, not days, before your deadline.

What missing it costs

Failing to complete the biennial update deactivates your USDOT number, and may carry civil penalties of up to $1,000 per day, to a maximum of $10,000.

Those are the statutory figures FMCSA quotes. The penalty provision the regulation points to, 49 U.S.C. 521(b)(2)(B), is adjusted for inflation in Appendix B to Part 386, where the current recordkeeping maximum is $1,584 per day, up to $15,846.

Deactivation is the part that stops your week. A deactivated number means you are not authorised to operate, and brokers checking your status see it immediately. Reinstating takes time you will not have.

Edge cases

Name or address changes between updates. You may read that changes must be reported within 30 days. That rule is in 49 CFR § 390.201, part of the unified registration rules that FMCSA suspended indefinitely in November 2023. Update promptly anyway: the details on file are what FMCSA, brokers and shippers see when they look you up.
Vehicles registered through PRISM. The regulation exempts carriers that register vehicles in a state participating in PRISM if they file all the required information with that state. Confirm with your state registration office that it actually does this for you before skipping the federal filing.
Trade names. Only the legal name or a single trade name may appear on the form. Running three DBAs does not mean three names on the registration.
Intrastate hazmat permit holders and intermodal equipment providers file variants of the form (MCS-150B and MCS-150C) on the same biennial schedule.

Common mistakes

Treating the UCR payment as the update. Paying UCR does not touch your FMCSA registration.
Reading the digits backwards. The last digit is the month; the one before it is the year.
Letting the fleet count drift. Adding a truck mid-cycle and leaving the record at one power unit is how the UCR bracket and the registration stop matching.
Leaving it to the last week of the month, now that first-time Motus setup includes identity verification that can stall.

How it connects to everything else

Your MCS-150 fleet count is what determines your UCR bracket. An out-of-date vehicle count there produces the wrong UCR fee, which is the sort of small inconsistency that surfaces at exactly the wrong moment.

Changes to your carrier record also feed the Safety Measurement System, generally appearing the following month.

Frequently asked questions

How often is the MCS-150 due?

Every 24 months, by the last day of a month set by your USDOT number: the last digit gives the month, the next-to-last digit determines whether you file in odd or even years.

Do I file if nothing has changed?

Yes. FMCSA requires the update regardless of whether information changed, whether you stopped interstate operations, or whether you are still in business.

What happens if I miss it?

Your USDOT number is deactivated, and civil penalties of up to $1,000 per day, capped at $10,000, may apply; those statutory amounts are adjusted upward for inflation in 49 CFR Part 386.

Is this the same as UCR?

No. The biennial update is a free FMCSA filing. UCR is an annual fee administered by the participating states.

Where do I file the biennial update now?

In Motus, FMCSA's USDOT registration system, which launched on May 19, 2026. You need a Login.gov account and must complete identity verification before you can claim your USDOT number and submit the update.

The MCS-150 Biennial Update