Motus problems lead to continued pause on biennial update requirement

Headaches started for many truckers in late June. That’s when the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced that problems with its new registration system prompted the agency to hit the pause button for carriers who need to complete a biennial update.

Months later, that pause remains.

This week, FMCSA said that the transition to the Motus registration system sparked the need for continued “temporary relief” from biennial updates.

“To help reduce service disruptions during the registration system transition, FMCSA has temporarily suspended enforcement of biennial updates and the inactivation of USDOT Numbers for entities that have not completed the required biennial update,” the agency wrote.

FMCSA requires all entities under its jurisdiction to complete an information update every two years, even if the information hasn’t changed. Failure to complete a biennial update typically results in deactivation of the USDOT number and can result in penalties up to $10,000.

For now, however, enforcement has been suspended.

The pause means that registrants whose biennial update was due on or after June 1 will receive additional time to complete any updates.

Additionally, for the time being, motor carriers and regulated entities will not have their USDOT Number inactivated for failing to submit a biennial update.

FMCSA said that the suspension will remain in effect until further notice and will provide “ample warning” before it reimplements the biennial update requirement.

The agency also noted that Motus no longer provides a biennial update option for intrastate carriers. Intrastate carriers are not subject to federal biennial update requirements, but some states require intrastate carriers to update their FMCSA records on a recurring basis.

“To support these state requirements, Motus allows intrastate carriers to update their mileage, power units and number of drivers,” the agency wrote. “FMCSA is also working to display the date of the carrier’s most recent update in Motus so states can determine when the record was last updated.”

FMCSA rolled out Motus in May. Since then, many motor carriers have reported problems, including being unable to claim their USDOT Number. LL