FMCSA Company Census (MCS-150)
The federal filing every motor carrier must submit to register with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and refresh biennially thereafter. The form captures the carrier's legal identity, principal address, contact information, fleet composition (power units, drivers, trailers), and the cargo classifications and operating authority the carrier claims.
Why it matters
MCS-150 is the identity record. Every federal interaction with a motor carrier — safety scoring, inspection records, crash indexing, insurance filings, authority grants — keys off the USDOT number assigned at MCS-150 registration. The biennial refresh is also where federal regulators see when fleet size, driver count, or cargo mix has materially changed.
Where it appears in a ProHRHQ carrier page
The Federal record summary and the at-a-glance metrics on a ProHRHQ carrier page (power units, drivers, fleet composition, cargo classifications, operating authority) come directly from the carrier's MCS-150 filing. The identity block at the top of the page — legal name, d/b/a list, USDOT number, MC number, base location — is MCS-150 data.
When it must be updated
Every carrier with a USDOT number must update its MCS-150 every 24 months, even when nothing has changed. The month the update is due is set by the next-to-last digit of the USDOT number, and whether it falls in an odd or even year by the last digit. A carrier that misses the update can have its USDOT number deactivated. The form also has to be updated whenever the carrier's operation changes, such as a new address, a different number of power units or drivers, or a change in the cargo it hauls. The mileage and power-unit figures reported here are what FMCSA uses to size the carrier in its safety measures.
Related terms
MCS-150 data is public and refreshes when the carrier files. The authoritative federal source is FMCSA SAFER. Carriers should keep the filing current; ProHRHQ refreshes a ProHRHQ carrier page's MCS-150-sourced fields on the next monthly refresh after a federal update.