The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration launched Motus on May 14, 2026, opening a new online registration dashboard meant to replace a 30-year-old patchwork of three systems used by motor carriers, brokers, freight forwarders, insurance companies and other users. The agency said the new platform will let companies apply for, update and manage operating authority from one place.

For companies already registered with the agency, the transition began with a warning to verify information in existing FMCSA portals before the data migration. The change matters because the agency is not simply shifting forms online; it is trying to move an enormous registry into one system while keeping people moving through the process without interruption.

FMCSA said Motus also gives users access to crash and inspection history data and connects with other agency systems, including the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse. Julie Otto said, “We made sure they can do everything they do today, but they can do it from their smartphone or tablet because we know they’re busy on the go.” The agency said the dashboard was designed to work on mobile devices as well as desktop systems, a detail aimed squarely at operators who do business from the road, job site or terminal rather than a desk.

The launch comes after FMCSA said in an April 29 Federal Registry notice that it had seen a significant upswing in presumed fraudulent activity involving registered entities. The agency said recent reported fraudulent activities may be perpetrated by foreign actors, and it added stronger identity verification and fraud deterrence measures to Motus for that reason. New registry applicants must now pass identity proofing and verification before they can register with FMCSA or access registration information.

That security push reflects a bigger problem behind the upgrade. FMCSA said it sent 2.2 million letters to registered users and found that 396,000 of them, or 18%, were undeliverable, a sign that the agency’s records had become unreliable enough to complicate routine communication as well as fraud prevention. The agency has also expanded its security efforts while building Motus, signaling that modernization and enforcement are being treated as the same job rather than separate ones.

FMCSA said it posted videos explaining the system and set up a contact center staffed by 450 agents, along with chat and email support, to handle the shift. On May 12, two days before launch, the agency posted on X that the transition was imminent. The unanswered question now is not whether Motus exists, but whether the new dashboard can absorb the industry’s daily registration work while closing the gaps that made the old system vulnerable in the first place.