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Motus shows your authority suspended or inactive, and you know your insurance is paid. Here is how to get the record fixed.

When Motus shows your operating authority suspended, inactive or pending for financial responsibility, FMCSA's record of your insurance or process agent filing is missing, mismatched or has not posted, whatever your policy says. Under 49 CFR 387.313 the insurer files the certificate, not you, so the fix is almost always a refile or a correction by your insurance company or your BOC-3 agent, followed by a written ticket to FMCSA with the proof attached. Until the public record changes, brokers' vetting tools and roadside officers read the record, not your policy, so treat the days in between as days you may not be able to run.

A carrier shown as not authorized can be placed out of service at roadside under 49 CFR 392.9a, and brokers' authority checks pull the same record. The correction itself can take days once the right filing is in, so the clock starts the hour you notice it.

A wrong record is a filing problem, and filings can be refiled

FMCSA's own guidance says a financial responsibility provider files the insurance forms on the carrier's behalf, and that any deviation in business name or address between filings results in delay. If your policy is in force, nothing is wrong with your insurance; something is wrong with how it reached FMCSA's record. Insurers and process agents refile every day, and a replacement filing that FMCSA accepts takes effect on its own effective date under 49 CFR 387.313(e).

Why a paid-up carrier shows suspended in Motus

Motus replaced three older systems at once, including the Licensing and Insurance system that had held insurance and process agent filings since 1994 (Federal Register, April 29, 2026). The status names did not change, but Motus now shows the specific reason behind each status, such as Financial Responsibility Filings or Process Agent (Form BOC-3) Filings. That reason is the useful part: it tells you which filing FMCSA cannot see.

The filings themselves are not yours to make. Under 49 CFR 387.313(b) certificates of insurance and notices of cancellation are filed with FMCSA, and FMCSA's insurance filing page says plainly that a financial responsibility provider must file the appropriate form on behalf of the applicant. Form BOC-3 is the same: FMCSA's instructions say only a process agent can file it for a carrier. So when the record is wrong, the carrier is stuck between two companies that each say the paperwork went in.

Three things break a filing quietly. The name on the certificate must be the full, correct legal name of the carrier (49 CFR 387.313(c)), and a sole proprietor's trade name or a dropped comma can keep it from matching. The coverage must meet the minimum for what you haul (49 CFR 387.9): $750,000 for most for-hire property carriers, $1,000,000 for oil and certain hazardous materials, $5,000,000 for the most dangerous bulk hazardous materials. And a switch of insurers means two filings, a cancellation and a replacement; if the cancellation posts and the replacement does not, the record reads as a lapse even though you were never uninsured for a day.

What to do, in order

1
Read the exact status and its reason, in Motus and on the public record
Sign in to Motus with your own Login.gov account and open your company's registration. Write down the status word (Active, Pending, Suspended, Inactive) and the reason Motus shows under it, because the reason names the missing filing. Then look yourself up in FMCSA's SAFER Company Snapshot, the public lookup FMCSA points to for USDOT status, by USDOT number or legal name. That snapshot is what a broker's vetting tool and a roadside officer see. Screenshot both with the date showing, because they are two views of one record and you want proof of what each said.
2
Decide which of three problems you have, because each has a different fix
If the reason is Financial Responsibility Filings, the insurance certificate is missing, rejected or mismatched. If it is Process Agent (Form BOC-3) Filings, your BOC-3 is missing or no longer valid. If the status is Suspended with an insurance reason and you recently changed insurers, renewed or changed your legal name, the likely cause is a cancellation that posted before its replacement. A pending status on a brand-new application is a different page: see what a pending status in Motus means. A real cancellation your insurer filed on purpose is also different: that is the 30-day insurance cancellation clock.
3
Call your insurance agent first, not FMCSA, and ask four specific questions
Ask: did the company file the BMC-91 or BMC-91X for this policy, on what date, under exactly what legal name and USDOT number, and does their filing account in Motus show it as accepted. Have your Motus screenshot in front of you so you can read them what FMCSA shows. If the name, address or USDOT number on their filing differs from your registration by a single character, ask them to correct and refile it; FMCSA says any deviation results in delay. If they switched you between companies, confirm the replacement certificate was filed and accepted, not only the cancellation. FMCSA keeps an insurance inquiries desk (FMCSAInsurance@dot.gov, 800-832-5660) that filers deal with directly, so your insurer can raise the problem from its side.
4
If the reason is the BOC-3, call your process agent and get a current filing on record
Only one current BOC-3 can be on file (49 CFR 366.2T), and FMCSA's policy MC-RS-2019-0002 says a valid designation must be on file at all times for the authority to stay registered. Ask your blanket agent to confirm the filing is active in your legal name and, if there is any doubt, to refile. If you have received an order to show cause about the process agent, you have 30 days from service to file a new BOC-3 or show the one on file is valid, or FMCSA may issue a final suspension order. If you have no agent, the BOC-3 filing guide explains who can file it and what it costs.
5
Open a written ticket with FMCSA and keep the number
Once your insurer or agent confirms the filing is correct and accepted on their side, the record is FMCSA's to fix. Use the web ticket form at ask.fmcsa.dot.gov, which FMCSA lists on its contact page, and put everything in one message: your USDOT number and legal name, the status and reason Motus shows with the date, the insurer's name, policy number, filing form and filing date, and the screenshots. Insurance questions also go to FMCSAInsurance@dot.gov. The FMCSA Contact Center is 1-800-832-5660, 8:00 am to 11:00 pm Eastern on weekdays and 9:00 am to 4:00 pm Eastern on Saturdays, but as this is written FMCSA's own registration page says that line is having technical difficulties, so write first and call second. A ticket number is also what you show a broker.
6
Do not run under a record that says you are not authorized
49 CFR 392.9a says a vehicle providing transportation that requires operating authority may not be operated without it, and that a carrier found doing so must be placed out of service, with penalties possible under 49 U.S.C. 14901. An officer at a scale works from the record, and a paid policy in your glovebox does not change what the record says. If the snapshot shows you as not authorized or out of service, the honest choice is to park until it changes, and to document the loads you turned down in case you later ask FMCSA to reconsider a violation that came out of its own error.
7
Tell your brokers and customers what is happening, with documents
Send the broker your insurance certificate with the MCS-90 endorsement, which 49 CFR 387.7(d) requires you to keep at your principal place of business, the insurer's written confirmation that the filing is in, and your FMCSA ticket number. Some brokers will wait a few days for the record to clear and some will not; a plain explanation beats silence. Do not pay anyone who promises to clear a Motus status for a fee. Sending FMCSA a ticket costs nothing, and no outside company can post an insurance filing in your insurer's place.
8
Confirm the correction twice, then keep watching
When your insurer or FMCSA says it is fixed, check Motus and the SAFER snapshot both, on different days, and save a screenshot of each showing the corrected status. Ask your insurer to send you a copy of the accepted filing for your records. Then put a reminder on the policy renewal date and on any planned change of insurer, because the same switch that caused this once can cause it again, and check the public record the week after every renewal.

What this costs

Getting FMCSA's record corrected yourself

$0 plus idle days

Sending FMCSA a ticket costs nothing, and the refiling is your insurer's and your process agent's to make. The cost is every day the trucks sit while the record is wrong.

Reinstatement, if the authority was actually revoked (flat, member or not)

$595 one-time

Only after a free read of your record says you need it. We get the insurance and BOC-3 filings confirmed, prepare the reinstatement request for you to submit in your own Motus account, and watch SAFER until the line reads AUTHORIZED; FMCSA's own fee is paid to FMCSA. $199 of it is credited to an annual membership started within 60 days.

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Annual plan for one truck; $119 month to month. Each additional truck $59/month, up to two drivers per truck included, for 1 to 6 trucks; 7 or more is custom pricing. Daily monitoring of your public record and every filing deadline, with a human who reads what changed.

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You can fix this yourself, and in most cases you should start today without us

The two phone calls that matter are to your insurance agent and your process agent, and nobody can make them better than you. If your insurer confirms the filing, the ticket to FMCSA is a form and a set of screenshots. If the record is right and you really did lapse, the fix is a replacement filing by a new insurer, not a service. Where carriers lose weeks is not knowing the record was wrong until a broker said no, then spending days on hold instead of writing one complete ticket.

Compliance monitoring watches your public record every day, so a status that flips to suspended or inactive reaches you by text the morning it changes, not a week later from a broker declining a load. Members keep the insurance certificate with the MCS-90, the BOC-3 and the insurer's filing confirmations in the audit-ready vault, so the ticket and the broker email go out in minutes with the proof attached, and a person helps you word the ticket and chase it. We never ask for or hold your Login.gov or Motus credentials; you sign in, FMCSA corrects the record, and we make sure the next renewal does not do this to you again.

See how daily monitoring works

When this is not your situation: We cannot post an insurance filing, file a BOC-3 in an agent's place or change what Motus shows; only your insurer, your process agent and FMCSA can. If you have already been placed out of service, or an order to show cause has a deadline within days, say so first and we will tell you honestly whether there is anything we can add to what you must do yourself today.

Questions people ask at this point

Why does Motus show my authority suspended when my insurance is paid?

Because FMCSA's record is built from your insurer's filing, not your policy. If the certificate was never filed, was filed under a slightly different legal name or address, posted after a cancellation, or shows a coverage amount below the 49 CFR 387.9 minimum for what you haul, the record reads as a lapse. Your insurer refiles or corrects it, then FMCSA updates the record.

Who fixes a wrong insurance status in Motus, me or my insurer?

Your insurer files the BMC-91 or BMC-91X; under 49 CFR 387.313 and FMCSA's filing instructions the carrier cannot file it. You confirm the filing details with the insurer, and if their filing is correct and accepted you open a written ticket with FMCSA asking it to correct the record. The same split applies to the BOC-3 and your process agent.

Can I keep hauling while Motus shows my authority suspended?

The safe answer is no while the public record says you are not authorized. 49 CFR 392.9a requires a carrier operating without the required authority to be placed out of service, and an officer works from the record. Document the loads you decline so you have a record if a violation later comes out of FMCSA's error.

How do I check what brokers see about my authority?

Look up your USDOT number in FMCSA's SAFER Company Snapshot, the public lookup FMCSA's registration page points to for USDOT status. Brokers' vetting tools draw on the same public data. Check it as well as your own Motus account, because a broker is reading the public view, not your login.

How do I contact FMCSA about a Motus error?

In writing first: the web ticket form at ask.fmcsa.dot.gov, which FMCSA lists on its contact page, with your USDOT number, the status and reason shown, your insurer's filing details and screenshots. Insurance questions can also go to FMCSAInsurance@dot.gov. The Contact Center is 1-800-832-5660, weekdays 8:00 am to 11:00 pm Eastern and Saturdays 9:00 am to 4:00 pm Eastern; as of this writing FMCSA's registration page reports technical difficulties on that line.

I switched insurance companies and now Motus shows a lapse. What happened?

Two filings are involved: the old insurer's cancellation notice, which under 49 CFR 387.313(d) cannot take effect until 30 days after FMCSA receives it, and the new insurer's replacement certificate, which under 387.313(e) takes effect on its own date once FMCSA accepts it. If the cancellation posted and the replacement did not, or was filed under a mismatched name, the record shows a gap. Ask the new insurer to confirm acceptance and refile if needed.

What does Pending: Process Agent (Form BOC-3) Filings mean?

FMCSA does not have a valid BOC-3 on file for you. Only a process agent can file it for a carrier, only one current form can be on file (49 CFR 366.2T), and FMCSA's policy MC-RS-2019-0002 treats a valid designation as required at all times. Call your blanket agent to confirm or refile; if you were served an order to show cause, you have 30 days from service to put a valid filing on record.

Will my USDOT number be deactivated as well?

Not for a missed biennial update right now: FMCSA's notice of September 10, 2026 says it has temporarily suspended enforcement of biennial updates and the inactivation of USDOT numbers for registrants who have not completed one, with no end date announced. The update is still required and still accepted in Motus. An authority suspension for insurance or a BOC-3 is a separate matter and follows the steps on this page.

Sources

Last reviewed October 18, 2026. TenFour is a compliance service, not a law firm, and is not affiliated with FMCSA or any government agency. Regulations and enforcement postures change, verify anything time-sensitive against the sources above before you act on it.

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