Real prices
What Trucking Authority Really Costs
Updated September 2026
Search for trucking authority and the first page is packages: $300, $500, $995. Here is what the government itself actually charges, line by line, so you know what you are paying for when you pay someone else to click.
The government's price list
That is the whole federal bill: $300 once for the authority and small annual fees after. FMCSA's page puts it in capitals - the $300 filing fee is non-refundable - and it says out loud that the government does not endorse and generally does not require the use of private businesses or vendors.
The things you genuinely have to buy from somebody
- A BOC-3 process agent filing. Only a process agent can file it; a blanket agent covers all 48 states plus DC. Retail runs about $35 to $75, one time.
- A drug and alcohol testing consortium. A self-employed driver must be in a random testing pool and cannot run his own. Roughly $66 to $85 a year at the consortiums that publish prices, plus the tests.
- Insurance. The $750,000 liability minimum is the biggest cost of starting, and the premium depends on you, your truck and your record.
- An ELD, unless you qualify for the short-haul or pre-2000-engine exemptions.
What the packages are charging for
A $399 authority package that includes the $300 government fee is charging about $99 for the clicks; a $995 package is charging about $695. Since Motus, the owner has to do the phone ID check personally anyway, so 'we handle everything' has a hole in it. Monthly compliance services run from about $49.50 to $247 a month for reminders and filings you can put on a calendar yourself.
None of that is a scam; it is a convenience fee. Just know the number underneath it.
Every step, with the government price beside it.
HaulLegal shows the real fee next to every click so you never pay $500 for a free form. Start with the four free steps.
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