The MCS-150 (Motor Carrier Identification Report) is the form a company files to get a USDOT number, and the form it must re-file to keep that registration current. FMCSA requires every carrier to update its MCS-150 at least every 24 months (the "biennial update"), even if nothing has changed, and whenever its business details change.
What's on it
Legal and DBA name, physical and mailing address, phone, email, company officers, type of operation, cargo classifications, and the number of power units and drivers. That's the information you see on FMCSA's SAFER snapshot.
Why brokers care about the MCS-150 date
- Stale filing: a carrier that hasn't updated in over two years is out of compliance and may not be actively maintained.
- Very recent filing on an old authority: fraudsters who take over a dormant carrier often file an MCS-150 update to put their own phone and email on the record. A fresh update by itself is normal; a fresh update that changed the contact details is worth a call.
CarrierTell flags MCS-150 filings older than two years, and its daily history shows when a carrier's contact details changed.
Check a carrier now. Paste any USDOT or MC number into the free CarrierTell lookup, or add the Chrome extension to get a risk badge next to every number on load boards, in email and in carrier packets automatically.
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