The FMCSA monitors and ensures compliance with regulations governing both safety (all carriers) and commerce (for-hire carriers). Companies may find they are subject to both registration requirements (U.S. DOT Number and MC Number) or either one separately.
Companies that operate commercial vehicles transporting passengers or hauling cargo in inter-state commerce must be registered with the FMCSA and must have a U.S. DOT Number. Also, commercial intra-state hazardous materials carriers who haul types and quantities requiring a safety permit must register for a U.S. DOT Number.
The U.S. DOT Number serves as a unique identifier when collecting and monitoring a company's safety information acquired during audits, compliance reviews, crash investigations, and inspections.
If you have already applied, Click Here to upload the required signed documents.
According to recent developments, there are no charges or fees for your USDOT number. This is only until the URS is fully implemented. If you want to apply for your operating authority which can be your MC, FF, or docket number, you will have to pay $300 per authority. Remember that you can easily apply for an authority or USDOT number without a truck. But you will not be able to gain authority unless you have that vehicle with you.
It doesn't matter how many trucks your company or you as a legal business entity have, the USDOT number will be the same. This number is used to track vehicles that have been in investigations, audits, and inspections. It is also used to make sure that you are complying with the regulations laid down by the department of transportation. All in all, regardless of which state you operate in, you will need only one USDOT number for all your vehicles. The number is assigned to your company and not to the individual automobile.
You may be able to apply for two or multiple USDOT numbers if you are operating two separate commercial driving entities. This means that if you own two different transport companies, you will need multiple DOT numbers. You should also be aware of one special consideration here which is that you can have ONLY one DOT number per EIN/SSN. Yes, if you are a trucking company, you cannot have multiple DOT numbers under a single EIN/SSN.