The FMCSA has issued a formal warning to carriers not to buy or sell DOT numbers, as this behavior can lead to revocation of operating authority. The bulletin emphasizes that USDOT numbers are non-transferable identifiers assigned to specific legal persons and cannot be sold, rented, or transferred outside of legitimate corporate transactions.
This warning comes in response to the growing issue of chameleon carriers, which are trucking companies that get shut down for safety violations, revoked authority, or enforcement actions, then reopen under a new identity — new name, new DOT number, clean record — and return to the road as if nothing happened. FMCSA has been tracking this problem since the early 2000s and has found that these reincarnated carriers are approximately three times more likely to be involved in serious crashes than legitimate new-entrant carriers.
The bulletin also highlights the importance of understanding which structure your business operates under, as this determines what is legally possible when you sell your business, take on a partner, or change the structure of your operation. Sole proprietors can keep their USDOT number, but corporations must transfer it to the new owners upon sale or change in ownership.
FMCSA's bulletin serves as part of a broader federal crackdown on chameleon carriers and registration fraud. The agency is using new tools and strategies to detect and prevent this type of behavior, including strengthened identity verification at the point of registration and improved ability to detect relationships between entities through shared addresses, phone numbers, personnel, and other data points.
The bulletin also notes that the market for USDOT numbers can be used to misrepresent a carrier's compliance history, which is a serious competitive and safety threat. Legitimate carriers who built their safety records honestly over years of compliant operations are being directly threatened by this kind of fraud.
FMCSA's new MOTUS registration system is designed to make this type of fraud harder to execute. The system includes strengthened identity verification, improved ability to detect relationships between entities, and tighter integration between registration records and enforcement history.
Carriers operating transparently have nothing to fear from a system designed to detect fraud. However, those who engage in improper transfers or purchase leased DOT numbers are at risk of having their authority revoked.
The bulletin has four practical implications for small carriers and owner-operators: they must understand that USDOT numbers do not transfer with the sale of a business, they must update FMCSA records promptly when ownership changes, they must be aware that purchasing or leasing an established DOT number is a serious offense, and they must take steps to protect themselves from being targeted by fraudulent schemes.
The bulletin serves as part of a year's worth of accelerating enforcement signals from the federal government. The agency is cracking down on all types of freight fraud, including fake CDL schools, non-domiciled driver fraud, shell company structures, purchased DOT numbers, and chameleon carrier reincarnation.
The federal government is cracking down on the sale, purchase, and leasing of USDOT numbers and MC operating authority outside of legitimate corporate transactions.
