What causes an MC to be revoked?
Five main causes: lapsed BMC-91 insurance (most common), failed §385 new-entrant safety audit, unsatisfactory §385.13 safety rating, missed MCS-150 biennial update for an extended period, and FMCSA enforcement action for serious violations (HOS, hazmat, fraud). Lapsed insurance is the dominant cause by volume — accounting for the majority of revocations.
Lapsed insurance: 49 CFR Part 387 requires every motor carrier to maintain primary financial-responsibility coverage. When the insurer cancels or non-renews the BMC-91, FMCSA suspends the authority within hours. If not corrected within the suspension window, the suspension converts to revocation.
Failed new-entrant audit: 49 CFR §385.319 requires every new motor carrier to pass a safety audit during the first 12 months. Carriers failing the audit have a 60-day corrective-action window; uncorrected deficiencies trigger revocation.
Unsatisfactory safety rating: 49 CFR §385.13 grades carriers as Satisfactory, Conditional, or Unsatisfactory based on compliance review findings. Unsatisfactory rating triggers revocation if not improved through corrective action.
Missed MCS-150 (extended): 49 CFR §390.19 biennial-update requirement — missing the deadline by 60+ days flags the USDOT as inactive; missing it by an extended period (typically 12+ months in some FMCSA cleanup cycles) can convert to formal revocation. Most missed-MCS-150 cases are corrected with a routine reinstatement before they escalate.
Enforcement action: serious violations (HOS pattern violations, hazmat-incident citations, fraudulent registration) can trigger FMCSA enforcement-driven revocation under §385.13(c). Less common than the other four but more painful — typically requires substantive operational change before reinstatement is viable.