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49 CFR 360.3T · UCR 2027

What getting your authority costs in federal fees

A single-truck for-hire carrier pays FMCSA $365 in federal fees to get started for 2027: $300 for the operating authority, nothing for the USDOT number, $55 UCR and $10 per insurance filing. The thousands you will read about elsewhere are insurance premiums, state plates and service-company markups — not FMCSA fees.

Itemise mine

1234
  1. 1Per authority type $300
  2. 2USDOT number $0
  3. 3UCR 2027, 0–2 trucks $55
  4. 4Insurance filing $10

Start-up fee calculator

Authority types you are applying for
Federal fees total
$365
FMCSA filing fees + UCR 2027
ItemFeeSource

Not in this total (not federal fees, vary by provider or state): .

Operating authority $300Insurance certificate or suret$10Name change$14Petition to reinstate revoked $80Transfer of operating rights$300Ministerial correction of auth$50Temporary authority in an emer$100
FMCSA filing fees under 49 CFR 360.3T up to $300, bars to scale (self-insurer qualification fees of $420 and $4,200 left off).

Every FMCSA fee in 49 CFR 360.3T

FilingFee
Operating authority (motor carrier, broker or freight forwarder), per authority type$300
USDOT number registration$0
Insurance certificate or surety filing service fee, per instrument$10
Name change$14
Petition to reinstate revoked authority$80
Transfer of operating rights$300
Ministerial correction of authority$50
Temporary authority in an emergency$100
Self-insurer qualification, bodily injury & property damage$4,200
Self-insurer qualification, cargo$420

§360.3 is suspended; §360.3T is the schedule in force. A USDOT number has no FMCSA fee. BOC-3 process-agent designation is filed by private process-agent companies, whose charges are not an FMCSA fee and are not printed here. The $300 is charged per authority type: a company applying for property-carrier authority and broker authority at the same time pays $600 in filing fees, then $55 or more for UCR and $10 for each insurance certificate its insurer files.

The order things happen in

  1. USDOT number — free. Identifies the company in FMCSA's systems and is required before any authority application.
  2. Operating authority (MC number) — $300 per type. Property, passenger, household goods, broker or freight forwarder; each is its own application and fee.
  3. BOC-3 process agent — filed by a process-agent company, not FMCSA; their charge is private and is not listed here.
  4. Insurance filings — your insurer files the BMC forms electronically; FMCSA's $10 service fee applies per instrument. The premium itself is the largest start-up cost and depends entirely on the carrier.
  5. UCR — $55 for 0–2 vehicles in 2027, through your base state.
  6. State items — IRP apportioned plates, IFTA licence and decals, intrastate authority where needed, and Form 2290 for vehicles 55,000 lb and over.

Why quoted "authority packages" cost more

Filing services bundle the federal applications with their own labour, the BOC-3, UCR and sometimes the first insurance filing, and charge a single price. The federal part of that price is fixed by rule and is what this page shows; everything above it is the service fee. Knowing the floor — $365 for a one-truck property carrier in 2027 — makes a quote easy to read.

Sources: 49 CFR 360.3T — Filing fees (eCFR); FMCSA final rule, 49 CFR 367.50 (FR Doc. 2026-17893, Docket FMCSA-2025-0655). Checked 2026-10-23.