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, and on your account once you log in.
Every step starts closed. Tap a step to open its full walkthrough; tap the title again to close it.
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.
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, $99, plus a free first month of Stay Legal reminders.
Get the full walkthrough - $99Create 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 five 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
Five 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.