Work down the list. Every step shows the real government fee, where the click happens, what you need first, and the mistakes FMCSA warns about. Check each one off as you go - your progress is saved on this device.
Before you apply
Get the business, the tax ID and the insurance quote lined up first. The application asks for all of it, and a name mismatch is the number one reason authority stalls.
Set up the business and lock the exact legal name
Decide whether you will run as a sole proprietor or form an LLC, then use that exact legal name - spelled the same way - on every form that follows: the FMCSA application, your insurance policy, your process-agent filing and your state plates.
Get your EIN from the IRS (free, online, minutes)
An Employer Identification Number is your business tax ID. The IRS issues it free on its website in about ten minutes. You will need it for the heavy-vehicle tax (Form 2290 does not accept a Social Security number), your bank account and most of the filings below.
Confirm what you actually need with FMCSA's own wizard
Interstate, for-hire, hauling other people's freight in a truck over 10,000 lbs means two things: a USDOT number (free) and operating authority ($300). If you will only ever haul inside one state, you may need only the USDOT number plus your state's rules - and the $300 authority fee is non-refundable if you apply for the wrong thing.
Line up your insurance before you file
Federal law sets the minimum liability coverage for a for-hire property carrier at $750,000 (general freight, trucks over 10,000 lbs). Your insurance company - not you - files proof with FMCSA electronically, and it has 20 days from the day your application is published to do it. Get quotes now so the policy is ready the moment your application posts.
Federal registration (Motus)
The USDOT number, the operating authority, the two filings other companies make for you, and the day you become ACTIVE.
The next 19 steps are the walkthrough.
For every one of them: exactly where the click happens and the official link, the real fee, what has to be done first, the mistakes FMCSA itself warns about, the rule it comes from, and a check-off that saves your place. Federal registration on Motus, taxes and plates, and staying legal on the road. One payment, $249, plus a free first month of Stay Legal reminders.
Get the full walkthrough - $249Create a Login.gov account and sign in to Motus
Verify your identity (you, personally, on your phone)
Apply for your USDOT number (free)
Apply for operating authority and pay the $300
Your insurer files the BMC-91 or BMC-91X
A process agent files your BOC-3
Watch for ACTIVE - then you can haul for hire
Register with UCR (annual, $46 for 1-2 trucks)
Taxes, plates and fuel
The heavy-truck tax, apportioned plates, the fuel-tax license, and the four states that charge by the mile.
File IRS Form 2290 (heavy vehicle use tax)
Get apportioned plates (IRP) from your base state
Get your IFTA license and decals
Four states charge by the mile - register before you enter them
Legal on the road
Drug testing, the logbook, your paperwork file, the safety audit in your first year, and getting paid.
Join a drug and alcohol testing consortium - and test yourself first
Register in the Clearinghouse and query yourself
Put a registered ELD in the truck (unless you are exempt)
Build your paperwork file (you are your own safety department)
Know what a roadside inspection checks - including your English
Pass the New Entrant safety audit in your first year
Get your first load - and get paid
Next: the Stay Legal calendar
Once your authority is active the deadlines start - the biennial update, IFTA every quarter, UCR every year, Form 2290, your medical card, the annual inspections. Put your dates in once and the calendar works them all out.