Reinstate or Apply for New Authority?

A revoked MC carries baggage: the safety record, the audit history, and any unresolved violations follow the USDOT, not the new MC. So the question of "reinstate vs file new" depends on whether the carrier wants to continue the same operation or establish a genuinely new legal operation.

Reinstating costs a flat $80 FMCSA reinstatement fee (49 CFR §360.3T(f)(52)) plus the cure cost (insurance, BOC-3, or safety plan). Time: FMCSA controls the timing.

A fresh MC application costs $300 (the OP-1 filing fee) plus the new-MC stack ($75 BOC-3, insurance, and the annual federal UCR fee). Time: a new application goes through FMCSA's new-applicant review, including the 10-day protest period after the FMCSA Register notice (49 CFR 365.203T); FMCSA controls the timing.

Reinstatement preserves the carrier's safety record, audit history, broker onboarding, insurance history, and existing relationships. New authority does not erase safety history or unresolved obligations.

The cluster below covers the decision tree: when reinstatement is the right call (most cases), when fresh authority is the right call (a genuinely new legal operation requires a new application), and the operational mechanics of both paths.