How to Voluntarily Revoke Your Operating Authority

Voluntarily revoking your operating authority is a deliberate filing — not something that happens by letting paperwork lapse. You request it on Form OCE-46, the FMCSA’s Request for Revocation of Operating Authority, and to also shut down the underlying USDOT number you file an updated MCS-150with the “Out of Business Notification” box checked. This guide walks the exact steps, the single confusing part most owner-operators get wrong (the difference between you cancelling your authority and the FMCSA revoking it), and what happens to UCR, insurance, and the road back if you ever want to reinstate.

Three Different Events People Call “Revocation”

Most of the confusion around “cancelling an MC number” comes from collapsing three separate events into one word. They are not the same, they use different forms, and only one of them is something you choose:

• Voluntary revocation — You ask the FMCSA to revoke your operating-authority registration because you have stopped (or are pausing) for-hire interstate operations. The instrument is Form OCE-46. This is the subject of this guide.
• FMCSA-initiated revocation— The agency revokes your authority against your wishes, most often because your liability insurance lapsed (49 CFR Part 387) or your BOC-3 process-agent designation fell out of effect (operative 49 CFR §366.4T). You did not file anything; a filing stopped being on record.
• Reinstatement— Restoring a revoked authority. It runs on Form MCSA-5889, carries an $80 FMCSA fee, and requires your insurance and BOC-3 to be back in place first. It is the reverse of the other two, not a fourth flavor of revocation.

The practical reason to keep them straight: an FMCSA-initiated revocation for an insurance lapse and a voluntary revocation can look identical in SAFER, but they are reached by opposite paths. If you simply want out, do not just cancel your insurance and let the authority die — file the OCE-46 so the record shows the closure was intentional.

What Is Form OCE-46?

Form OCE-46 is the FMCSA’s Request for Revocation of Operating Authority. Entities that have suspended operations use it to voluntarily revoke their MC, MX, or FF registration. The form is short, but two requirements trip people up. First, it must be completed in its entirety — the docket number (your MC, FF, or MX number), the full legal business name and address, and an authorized signature. Second, and the part most applicants miss: the OCE-46 must be notarized, or signed in the presence of an FMCSA staff member. A plain signature mailed in will be rejected.

If you hold more than one authority type, you are not forced to surrender all of them. You can revoke a single registration and keep the others ACTIVE — you simply designate the specific authority type to be revoked on the form’s “reason for request of revocation” line. A carrier that also brokers, for example, can drop its broker authority and keep its motor-carrier authority running.

How to Cancel Your MC Authority, Step by Step

The FMCSA publishes the procedure as four steps. Here is the sequence with the detail that matters at each one:

1. Verify your current authority status.Check the Licensing & Insurance record so you know exactly which authority types are active and what their docket numbers are. You will need the precise MC/MX/FF number for the form.
2. Fill out Form OCE-46. Complete it in full and get it notarized (or sign it in front of an FMCSA staff member). This is the actual voluntary-revocation request.
3. Decide what happens to your USDOT number. Revoking operating authority does notautomatically inactivate the USDOT number — see the next section. If you are fully closing the business, file an updated MCS-150 (or MCS-150B for hazmat) with the “Out of Business Notification” box checked. If you are keeping the USDOT for operations that do not need authority, update it instead.
4. Submit your form(s). The fastest route is the “Ask FMCSA” online ticket system, which returns a confirmation number by email. You can also mail the forms to the FMCSA Office of Registration (MC-RS), 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Room W65-206, Washington, D.C. 20590. Expect up to about 8 days for review and processing.

Does Voluntary Revocation Also Inactivate My USDOT Number?

No — not on its own. Operating authority and the USDOT numberare two separate records. The OCE-46 revokes the authority; the USDOT number keeps existing until you separately inactivate it. To shut the USDOT down you file an updated MCS-150 (MCS-150B for hazmat carriers) and check the “Out of Business Notification” box in the reason-for-filing section — the same 49 CFR §390.19T filing you would use for any registration change. FMCSA asks that you complete the identity and signature items and attach a copy of the signer’s driver’s license.

This split is deliberate. Plenty of operators want to drop their for-hire authority but keep a live USDOT number — for instance, to run as a private carrier hauling their own goods, which needs a USDOT number but not operating authority. If that is you, update the USDOT (do not mark it out of business) and only file the OCE-46.

What Happens to UCR, Insurance, and Other Filings

Once the authority is revoked and you are no longer operating in interstate commerce, the annual obligations that hang off that authority fall away:

• Insurance. Proof of financial responsibility (the BMC-91/BMC-91X filing under 49 CFR Part 387) is only required to maintain activeoperating authority. Once you voluntarily revoke, FMCSA no longer requires that on-file insurance — though you should coordinate the timing with your insurer, not cancel coverage before the revocation posts.
• Unified Carrier Registration (UCR). UCR is keyed to operating in interstate commerce. Once your authority is revoked and you have stopped interstate operations, the UCR obligation tied to that authority ends going forward; there is no interstate activity left for UCR to cover. If you keep running interstate under any other basis, the UCR requirement still applies. The post-authority compliance checklist covers how UCR works while the authority is live.
• BOC-3 process agents. The BOC-3 designation(operative 49 CFR §366.4T) exists to keep your authority serviceable; with the authority revoked it stops being a live requirement, though the designation is also one of the things you must restore first if you ever reinstate.

One reassurance worth stating plainly: a voluntary revocation does notplace your company on any special compliance-monitoring or watch list. The FMCSA treats voluntary revocations as routine — they are common for seasonal operators who pause and return.

Voluntary Revocation vs. the FMCSA Revoking Your Authority

A voluntary revocation is something you file. An FMCSA-initiated revocation is something that happens to youwhen a continuing requirement falls off the record. The two most common involuntary triggers are an insurance lapse — operating without the minimum coverage required by 49 CFR Part 387 — and a BOC-3 process-agent designation that is no longer in effect (49 CFR §366.4T). Either one sets revocation proceedings in motion on its own; you can read how a lapse cascades into a revocation in the authority timeline guide.

Why the distinction matters: both end with an inactive authority, but they signal different things and they are reached differently. Surrendering authority is a clean, intentional close. Letting it be revoked for a lapse is a default. If your goal is to wind down, file the OCE-46 rather than simply dropping your insurance — it keeps the closure on your terms and avoids the appearance of a compliance failure.

Reinstatement: The Road Back

Voluntary revocation is reversible. You can restore a revoked authority later by filing Form MCSA-5889 (or online with your USDOT PIN) and paying the $80reinstatement fee — FMCSA notes the authority is typically active within about a week of receiving the request and valid payment. Before the request will process, though, two things must already be back in place: a current insurance filing and a BOC-3 designation. If either is missing, the reinstatement is held until you fix it, and your USDOT record must be active (or accompanied by an updated MCS-150). Because that sequencing — insurance, BOC-3, USDOT, then the MCSA-5889 — is where reinstatements stall, many carriers use a reinstatement filing service to order it correctly.

Note the asymmetry in the fees: there is a published $80 fee to reinstate a revoked authority, and a $300-per-type fee to apply for a brand-newauthority under the FMCSA fee schedule (49 CFR §360.3T). We did not find a separately published FMCSA fee for the voluntary-revocation request itself — the OCE-46 process is documented without a stated filing fee — so do not assume a charge for surrendering authority. If a third party quotes you a “revocation fee,” that is their service charge, not a government fee. Whether reinstating later is cheaper than starting fresh is one input into the overall cost picture if you think you might return.

Can You Still Operate After You Revoke?

Not for hire across state lines. Without operating-authority registration, a for-hire carrier is limited to intrastate operations, movements within a single commercial zone, or other operations specifically exempted under 49 U.S.C. §13506. That is exactly why the OCE-46 is framed as something for entities that have suspendedoperations — if you are still planning to haul interstate for compensation, you do not want to revoke. If your registration question is really “do I even need this authority anymore,” start with whether operating authority is required for what you do before filing anything.

Filings like the MCS-150 update and reinstatement requests now run through the FMCSA’s Motus registration system, the modernized portal that replaced the legacy front door in 2026 — another reason to verify the current submission path on FMCSA’s site before you mail anything.

Bottom line:To voluntarily cancel your MC authority, file a notarized Form OCE-46 (the Request for Revocation of Operating Authority) and submit it through the Ask FMCSA ticket system for a confirmation number; allow up to about 8 days. To also close the USDOT number, file an updated MCS-150 with “Out of Business Notification” checked (49 CFR §390.19T). This is a deliberate filing, distinct from the FMCSA revoking you for an insurance or BOC-3 lapse — and it is reversible later for an $80 reinstatement (Form MCSA-5889) once your insurance and BOC-3 are back on file.