Motus Won't Let You Claim Your DOT Number? Here's What's Actually Working Right Now

If you're trying to claim your USDOT number in Motus this week and the system keeps refusing — you're not crazy, and you're not alone. Since Motus went live on May 14, 2026, carriers have been hitting the same three walls over and over: verification codes that never arrive, identity checks that loop back to the start, and operating authority numbers that just don't show up.

We've been talking to small carriers all week. Here's what's actually working — in plain English, no compliance jargon.

The #1 issue: the verification code never arrives

This is the one we're hearing most. You enter your email or phone in Motus to link your account to your USDOT number, you hit "Send Code," and then… nothing. No email. No text. You wait. You hit resend. Still nothing.

Before you call FMCSA, try these in order:

1. Check your spam / junk folder. A surprising number of the codes are landing there. Look for sender domains ending in .gov or anything with "Motus" or "Login.gov" in the subject line.
2. Wait a full 10 minutes, then resend. The first send sometimes queues without arriving. Resending too fast (under 60 seconds) can put you in a temporary cooldown where neither code goes through.
3. Try the other channel. If you started with email, try phone. If phone didn't work, try email. The two send paths are independent — when one is backed up, the other often goes through immediately.
4. Use a different email address. Some company emails (especially with strict spam filters or no inbound from new domains) are silently rejecting the FMCSA send. A Gmail or Outlook personal address often gets through when a company address won't.
5. Try a different browser, in private/incognito mode. Old cached Motus sessions are causing some of the loops. Fresh browser window = fresh session.

If none of that works after 30 minutes, you're at the point where it's faster to call FMCSA than keep trying.

The phone call — and the trick that saves you 60 minutes

The FMCSA Registration Contact Center number is:

📞 800-832-5660

Here's the part nobody tells you. Average wait time this week is over 60 minutes. The center is slammed. If you stay on the line, you're going to be on hold for the length of a movie.

Use the callback option instead. When the IVR offers you the choice to "stay on the line" or "request a callback when an agent is available" — choose the callback. FMCSA will call you back when it's your turn. You won't lose your place in line, and you can go do something else for an hour.

The IVR shortcut

This is the trick our carriers have been passing around all week:

Press 1 five times, once after each prompt the IVR starts speaking.

The Motus IVR has a multi-layer menu. Pressing 1 repeatedly — once each time the recorded voice begins a new prompt — pushes you through the menu tree to a live agent faster than waiting for each option to finish reading. You don't have to listen to the whole menu. As soon as the IVR starts talking, hit 1. When it talks again, hit 1 again. Five presses gets most carriers through to either the callback request or the hold queue.

It feels weird. Do it anyway. It works.

Identity verification keeps failing — what to check

If you're stuck on the Login.gov / ID.me identity verification step (not the code, the actual face-match or document-upload step), the most common causes are:

• Driver's license photo is glare-y or cropped. Retake in good light, full document visible, no fingers blocking corners.
• Phone selfie doesn't match license. Glasses on for one, off for the other. Beard added or shaved. Lighting is way off. Try again with the same glasses/beard situation as your license.
• Address mismatch. The address on your driver's license doesn't match the address on your USDOT record. This one has no quick fix — you may need to update your MCS-150 first, or update your driver's license at the DMV, depending on which is current.
• Browser blocking the camera. Check browser permissions. Try Chrome if you're on Safari, or vice versa.

If ID verification fails 3 times in a row, Login.gov will often lock you out for a 24-hour cooldown. There's no workaround except waiting.

"My operating authority isn't showing in Motus"

A separate bug. Carriers with active MC numbers are seeing them either missing entirely from their Motus dashboard or displaying as "inactive" when they're actually active.

FMCSA is aware. The fix is on their side, not yours. Do not try to re-apply for authority — that's a $300 mistake. Two things to do:

1. Verify your authority is actually active by looking up your USDOT number on SAFER. SAFER reads from the same database but renders correctly. If SAFER shows your authority as active, you're fine — the Motus display is just wrong.
2. Don't make changes in Motus while your authority shows wrong. Any update you submit could lock to the incorrect display data. Wait until your authority shows correctly before doing your MCS-150 update, address change, or anything else.

The OOIDA hotline (if you want a second opinion)

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association has been fielding heavy call volume from members on Motus issues. If you're an OOIDA member, their team can sometimes give you a faster read on whether a problem is on your end or FMCSA's end:

OOIDA member services: 800-444-5791

Non-members can call too but won't get the same level of help.

What we expect this week

FMCSA is rolling fixes out daily. The verification-code issues seem to be getting better — carriers we talked to on Wednesday had different (smaller) problems than carriers we talked to on Monday. By the end of this week we'd expect the worst of the verification bugs to be cleaned up. The identity-verification (Login.gov) problems are harder because they're not entirely FMCSA's stack to fix.

If your MCS-150 update isn't due in the next 30 days, don't try to use Motus this week. Let the system settle. Come back in early June. Anything you submit during a buggy week has a higher chance of needing to be re-submitted later.

If your update IS due in the next 30 days — use the workarounds above, and call the contact center if you have to. FMCSA has confirmed they won't penalize carriers whose updates were delayed by the rollout, but you'll want documentation (a callback ticket number, an email reply, anything) showing you tried.

Once Motus is working — keep your records ready

The carriers who breeze through any FMCSA system change are the ones whose underlying paperwork is already in order. The Motus rollout doesn't change what's in your DQ files, your vehicle maintenance records, or your accident register — but every time FMCSA changes a system, audits tick up.

MyCarrierVault keeps your driver qualification files, vehicle maintenance records, drug & alcohol queries, and accident register in one place — searchable, exportable, ready for an inspector or an FMCSA portal in under a minute. Start a free trial — 30 days free, no credit card. Or read our deeper guide on what Motus actually changes.

Got a Motus error we didn't cover here? Email us at support@mycarriervault.com and we'll add it to this post. We're updating it as new fixes are confirmed.