LICENSING AND PERMITS

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

1. What is the difference between interstate commerce and intrastate commerce?
Interstate commerce is trade, traffic or transportation involving the crossing of a State boundary.
Intrastate commerce is trade, traffic or transportation within a single State.

2. Now that I know I am going to be operating interstate/intrastate, what do I need to do to begin?
For Interstate--A USDOT number is required if you have vehicles over 10,000 lbs and transport goods or passengers for compensation.
An MC Number is required of "for-hire" carriers of regulated commodities.
For Intrastate-If you operate exclusively Intrastate you must comply with your applicable State and local requirements. Each state has different requirements.

3. How do I obtain these USDOT and MC numbers?
Both can be applied for over the Internet at WWW.SAFERSYS.ORG. The USDOT number is free, but a credit card must be used for signature purposes only. MC numbers are $300.00 for each kind of authority requested.

4. What are the kinds of authority I can obtain?
Common Carrier--provides for-hire truck transportation to the general public. Common Carriers must file both liability (BI & PD) insurance and cargo insurance.
Contract Carrier--provides for-hire truck transportation to specific individual shippers. Contract carriers file only liability (BI&PD) insurance.
Broker--a company who, for compensation, arranges for the truck transportation of cargo belonging to others, utilizing for-hire carriers to provide the actual truck transportation. Brokers must file either a surety bond or trust fund agreement.

5. What happens after I file for the proper authority?
Once the application is received and accepted and fees are paid, you will be assigned a USDOT number and MC number. Your insurance company must file the correct insurance forms and the process agent files the BOC-3 form. After a pending period of about 10 days you will then receive your certificate. You will not be able to operate until this Certificate has been officially issued.

6. What is a Process Agent?
A process agent is a representative upon whom court papers may be served in any proceeding brought against a motor-carrier and this is one of the requirements that must be met before the authority is issued. They file the BOC-3 form for the motor carrier. There are various agencies all over and as soon as your number is issued one will be contacting you for your business.

7. What do I need to do to change the name of my motor carrier operation?
You may change the name only if there is no change in the ownership, management or control of the company. The information can be changed on the Internet at WWW.SAFERSYS.ORG .There is a $14.00 fee for name changing. NOTE: if there is an ownership change, then the company must file a TRANSFER APPLICATION. You will then receive a Re-entitlement Decision that should be attached to your original certificate. You will be using the original MC and USDOT numbers.

8. Is there Temporary Authority?
Temporary Authority is only issued for National Disasters or Emergency situations.

9. Now that I have my Federal Authority in place, what else is there?
Each state has permit and licensing requirements that must be in place before operating. Contact the following for your state's laws:

Department of Motor Vehicles for licensing and further requirements
International Fuel Tax Agreement departments for fuel requirements.
Public Utility Commissions for your Single State Registration
Department of Revenue for licenses and tax purposes
Internal Revenue Service

10. How long does all this take?
If every application and form is submitted in a timely fashion it is possible that a company can have fully licensed and permitted vehicles in about 3 weeks. But that is only if there are no problems, stalls, etc along the way. Anticipate for at least 6 weeks wait from start to finish.