Federal USDOT Number

Intrastate motor carriers in Massachusetts are required to obtain and display a United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) number, per the Commercial Marking section of the Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) regulation 540 CMR 2.22. Failure to obtain and display a USDOT number on your vehicles may result in a civil fine and/or placement of the CMVs Out-of-Service until a number is obtained. 

1) If you have vehicles that meet the gross vehicle weight rating or gross combination rate of 10,001 pounds or more, then you will need to acquire a Federal USDOT number. This is an online registration form, and is free of charge.

2) You must display the USDOT number on your vehicle. The markings must be on the truck body (no window glass) at least 2" tall (needs to be seen from a distance of 50'), must clearly contrast with the background color of the vehicle, and must be marked on both sides of the vehicle.

3) One USDOT number is used for your entire farm and will be shared among all of your vehicles (including leased vehicles). You may opt to use a magnetic decal to easily move the DOT number among several vehicles.

4) The name of the farm must also be displayed HOWEVER, there are exemptions for farmers on this particular section of the regulation. You are EXEMPT from displaying the farm name on the vehicle if you fulfill the following three criteria: 

  • If the vehicle is owned or controlled by a farmer and used to transport agricultural products, farm machinery, and/or farm supplies to or from the farmer's farm; 
  • If the vehicle is not used in the operation of a common or contract carrier and; 
  • The vehicle is used within 150 air miles of the farmer's farm. 

You still must display the USDOT number even if you fulfill the criteria above.

5) A permanent USDOT number is required on any vehicle that transports hazardous materials in a quantity requiring placarding. Also, every motor vehicle designed to transport more than 15 passengers, including the driver, used in intrastate commerce in Massachusetts is required to display a permanent USDOT number.

6) To file for a USDOT number, visit https://portal.fmcsa.dot.gov/UrsRegistrationWizard/

7)Farmers that have Massachusetts farm plates will register as PRIVATE CARRIERS and there is no fee. If you register as a FOR HIRE CARRIER then you will need to apply for MC Authority and that costs $300.00. Note that Massachusetts does not allow farmers with farm plates to be "For Hire".

8)IMPORTANT: Once you have successfully obtained a USDOT number, you may be contacted by third-party companies. Because your contact information becomes public record as soon as you obtain a USDOT number, some marketing companies will immediately begin to cold-call you offering their services, or will send you letters in the mail threatening large fees for failure to comply with USDOT regulations. Some are more aggressive than others and use questionable business ethics. NONE of these businesses are directly associated with the government and you should IGNORE all of them. You can tell if a letter is from an outside party if they do not use .gov at the end of any of their listed websites. If they direct you to fmcsa.com, fmcsa.net, or other without it ending in .gov, then it is probably an attempt to scam you into their services.

9)If you have any questions, please contact CCCGA.

10) For more information, you can visit the MA DOT Markings Regulatory page or the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). 

To UPDATE your USDOT number, you must fill out an MCS-150 form. There are two options for filing the necessary forms to update a USDOT Number:

FMCSA strongly encourages applicants to use the electronic online update process since it has built-in edit checks and simple yes-and-no questions for easy, accurate completion. It is also significantly faster than applying by mail. The estimated time to complete the form online is approximately 20 minutes.