FMCSA Motus Identity Verification: What Owners Must Complete Themselves
FMCSA Motus identity verification is a personal check for the company official, not something a filing service can complete. Sign in with your own Login.gov account and follow the official identity-proofing prompts.
The short answer
- The owner, officer, or other eligible company official completes identity verification through their own Login.gov account.
- Login.gov sign-in and identity proofing are separate steps. FMCSA identifies IDEMIA as its identity document capture and verification partner; follow the official prompts rather than sending ID to a filing company.
- Never share Login.gov credentials. After verification, authorize a Transportation Service Provider inside Motus for the work you want delegated.
- Prepare a current government-issued photo ID and make sure your personal and business records use matching legal names before you begin.
Your next step
Verified already, or still blocked?
Complete the personal identity check yourself. Paid filing assistance is a separate decision, not a way around verification.
My identity is verified
If you have not filed, review the USDOT/MC application work you can delegate through authorized access.
Authority Only: $599 one-time service fee
Review filing helpMy identity check failed
Use the official registration alerts and support instructions. Do not share your password or send identity documents to a private filing service.
Get official verification guidance (opens in a new tab)
Government and vendor fees are passed through at cost with no markup; insurance premiums and other third-party charges are separate. Approval and timing are not guaranteed. Not a law firm, insurance agency, or tax advisor. No commissions from insurance, factoring, or software vendors.
Motus is FMCSA’s registration system for motor carriers, brokers, and the service providers that assist them. It closes a long-standing security gap: a third-party filing company can no longer impersonate an owner with borrowed credentials. The person who controls the carrier must establish their own identity first, then grant access inside the system.
FMCSA registration alerts distinguish account access from the identity check and identify IDEMIA as the document capture and verification partner. Start from the official Motus portal and use the current agency instructions; this private guide cannot verify your identity or override a failed check.
What you must do yourself
- Create and control your own Login.gov account with multi-factor authentication.
- Complete the identity-proofing process reached through the official FMCSA registration flow.
- Connect yourself to the business using an eligible company-official role.
- Review any certifications that Motus requires the company official to make personally.
- Authorize or remove service providers from inside your Motus account.
What a Transportation Service Provider can do
FMCSA created the Transportation Service Provider role for companies that help registrants. Once you authorize one in Motus, it can perform the functions allowed by the permission you grant. It does not become your owner or company official, and it should use its own credentials rather than yours.
| Task | Who completes it |
|---|---|
| FMCSA identity proofing | Owner or eligible company official |
| Prepare company, fleet, cargo, and authority answers | Owner with service-provider assistance |
| Enter delegable registration data | Company official or authorized provider |
| Company-official certifications | Company official |
| BOC-3 submission | Registered process agent |
| Insurance filing | Licensed insurer or authorized insurance filer |
| Monitor application and resolve data mismatches | Company official or authorized provider |
Motus identity verification steps: prepare before you start
Prepare before opening Motus
- 1
Check your identification
Use a current government-issued photo ID accepted by the official verification flow. Confirm that your legal name and date of birth are accurate before starting.
- 2
Match the business records
Put the Secretary of State record, EIN confirmation, DBA filing, physical address, and mailing address side by side. Resolve spelling, suffix, and address differences before submission.
- 3
Secure your account
Choose a multi-factor method you control and save recovery information somewhere private. Do not use a vendor’s phone number or shared email address.
- 4
Complete verification on the official flow
Start from Motus, sign in through Login.gov, and follow the official identity-verification prompts. Confirm that each provider page was reached from the agency flow before uploading identification.
- 5
Delegate only after verification
Invite your service provider through Motus and review the requested role. Do not solve an access problem by handing over your Login.gov password.
If verification fails
- Read the exact message before retrying. Identify whether the issue is Login.gov account access, the identity-proofing step, or linking your company record; each may require a different support path.
- Check for an expired ID, an old legal name, a recent address change, glare or blur in the document image, or business records that identify a different person as the company official.
- Use the official Login.gov support path for sign-in issues, or the verification-provider and FMCSA support path shown in the registration flow for proofing or company-record issues. A filing company cannot override an identity-proofing decision.
- Keep the rest of the filing package staged. Once verification clears, the registration can move without rebuilding the company data.