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Regulation

FMCSA says don’t buy an MC number. Here’s what a buyer can buy instead.

On March 19, 2026, FMCSA told the industry not to sell, buy or lease USDOT or MC numbers. A trucking company can still be sold. Here is the difference, in plain English.

TruckBiz Team · October 6, 2026 · Last reviewed: October 6, 2026

An old semi truck left standing in a field

Key takeaways

  • FMCSA says: do not sell, purchase or lease a USDOT or MC number.
  • A company can be sold, and its USDOT number goes with the company.
  • A sole proprietor’s USDOT number never passes to a buyer.
  • After the sale, the new owner should update FMCSA records right away.

What FMCSA said

On Thursday, March 19, 2026, FMCSA published a bulletin titled “DO NOT Sell, Purchase, or Lease a USDOT or MC Number”.

The bulletin warns against buying a number from an unknown person, or outside of a legitimate corporate transaction. It says a USDOT number belongs to the same legal person forever. It may not be sold, transferred, rented or leased. It also says operating authority “is not a distinct commodity”. In simple words: the authority is not a product you can buy by itself.

FMCSA also warns about what happens if people ignore this. It can inactivate the USDOT number and revoke the related registrations.

One thing the bulletin does not cover: normal equipment leasing under FMCSA’s leasing rules. It is about the numbers, not about leasing trucks.

What you cannot buy

A bare number. If someone offers “an MC” or “a DOT” with no company behind it, that is the thing FMCSA warned about.

A rented or leased MC. Running your trucks under someone else’s number for a monthly fee is not a sale of anything. FMCSA’s bulletin says numbers may not be rented or leased. On TruckBiz, renting or leasing an MC is not a transfer — you buy the company itself.

A sole proprietor’s number. A sole proprietor is a person doing business in their own name. FMCSA says that person’s USDOT number never passes to a buyer. Buying from a sole proprietor never gets you their USDOT number.

What you can buy: the company

FMCSA says a company can be sold — a corporation or LLC (FMCSA’s words: “any legal Business Organization”) — and “the USDOT Number goes with the company”. You buy the company, and the company keeps its own registration.

So the right question is not “how much for the MC?” The right question is: “Which company am I buying, and what comes with it?”

On TruckBiz, you buy the whole trucking company — the LLC or corporation that holds its own USDOT and MC. For an LLC, that means all of its membership interest (the ownership of the LLC). For a corporation, it means its shares. Trucks and trailers do not come with the company.

What comes with a company

When you buy the company, you buy its past too. The same legal company keeps its USDOT number, its MC number and its safety history: inspections, crashes and ratings. Under ordinary company law, its obligations stay with it as well.

You can check the public record yourself, for free:

  1. SAFER Company Snapshot — registrant type, USDOT status, authority status, MCS-150 date, inspections, crashes and safety rating.
  2. L&I carrier search — authority and insurance filing history.
  3. SMS — public safety results by category. These are not a safety rating.

Our free due-diligence checklist lists every check and where to do it.

After the sale: what FMCSA expects

FMCSA says new owners should update FMCSA records immediately. Its FAQ says to file an updated MCS-150 within 30 days of the change. In a company sale, the bulletin says often only the change of owners or officers must be reported.

The new owner claims the company in Motus (FMCSA’s new registration system) with their own Login.gov identity. Never use the seller’s login. Ask FMCSA how.

You may hear that “FMCSA must approve the sale”. FMCSA’s FAQ says it discontinued its review and approval process for authority transfers in 2013. Ask FMCSA to confirm the current steps for your deal.

Insurance is separate. In a TruckBiz deal, the seller’s insurance does not carry over. The current policy is cancelled at handover, and the new owner puts their own policy and FMCSA filing in place, with no gap. No truck may run until the required insurance is in effect.

Questions to ask any seller

  • Is this a company sale, or “just the MC”?
  • Is the seller an LLC or corporation, or a sole proprietor?
  • Does the phone number in SAFER match the person you are talking to?
  • Will your money go into an Escrow.com transaction that you can see after logging in at escrow.com yourself — and never to a person?

If any answer is wrong, stop.

General information only, as of the “Last reviewed” date — not legal, tax or insurance advice. Rules change; check the official source we link. TruckBiz is a marketplace, not a law firm, insurance agency or escrow company. TruckBiz is not affiliated with or endorsed by Escrow.com, FMCSA or the U.S. DOT. Talk to your own lawyer, accountant and insurance agent about your deal.

Last reviewed: October 6, 2026

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