BOC-3 Filing — Process Agents in All 50 States + DC
Foley is named as your designated process agent in all 50 states and DC, and files your Form BOC-3 with FMCSA. One filing, no renewal cycle under Part 366.
- Designated agent of record in all 50 states + DC
- Form BOC-3 filed with FMCSA on your behalf
- One filing. No renewal cycle under Part 366.
File your BOC-3 today, all 50 states and DC
Foley is named your process agent in all 50 states and DC, and files Form BOC-3.
What Is a BOC-3?
A BOC-3 is the FMCSA filing that names who can legally accept court papers and official notices for your company in each state. The form's full title is Designation of Agents for Service of Process. The people or companies you name are process agents. No BOC-3 on file means no interstate operating authority — and if you already hold authority, FMCSA revokes it. The requirement sits in 49 CFR Part 366, under statutory authority at 49 U.S.C. 13303 and 49 U.S.C. 13304. You will see it written boc-3, boc 3, boc3, Form BOC-3, the boc 3 document, and boc 3 filling. Same form.
What a process agent actually does
Someone sues your company in Nevada, where you have never had an office. They do not track you down — they serve your Nevada process agent, and that service counts as service on you. Your agent forwards the papers. That is the job. FMCSA makes it a condition of registration: a carrier that runs through 48 states has to be reachable in 48 states.
What is a boc3 filer?
A BOC-3 filer is the company that submits the form to FMCSA and stands as your process agent — written boc 3 filer or boc3 filer in most searches. Under 49 CFR 366.4, only a filer registered with FMCSA to make blanket designations can cover states where you have no office. Foley is that filer on your form.
One form on file, not a stack
FMCSA keeps exactly one BOC-3 per registrant. A new filing replaces the prior one in full (49 CFR 366.2). It is not additive. The most expensive mistake we see is a carrier filing a second BOC-3 to add one state and quietly erasing every state on the first one.
- An agent for every state of authority and every state you traverse — 49 CFR 366.1
- One completed Form BOC-3 on file, never two — 49 CFR 366.2
- Each agent resident in, or keeping an office in, the state named — 49 CFR 366.3
- Blanket 50-state designations only through a registered filer — 49 CFR 366.4
- Changes and cancellations have their own filing rule — 49 CFR 366.5
- No agent on file, no authority — 49 U.S.C. 13905
FMCSA is moving carrier registration onto Motus, the system announced in the Federal Register on 29 April 2026. Motus replaces the Unified Registration System, the registration side of MCMIS, and the legacy ICC Licensing and Insurance system. Phase I went live in December 2025 for supporting companies such as process agents and insurance filers; Phase II opened the system to motor carriers, brokers and freight forwarders through the second quarter of 2026.
No regulation changed and no new deadline was created. What changed is the front door: the next biennial update, USDOT-number change, operating-authority change or BOC-3 filing is where most carriers will meet it. Fleets with several affiliated entities should expect to re-validate logins and authorisations, because each entity keeps its own record. Foley files through whichever system is live on the day, so the transition is ours to manage, not yours. Read our Motus briefing.
Who Needs a BOC-3 Filing?
Three groups file a BOC-3, and all three are registrants under 49 CFR Part 365: interstate for-hire motor carriers, property brokers, and freight forwarders. What differs is how many states you have to cover.
If you hold or are applying for interstate operating authority, you designate an agent in each state you are authorized to operate in and each state you drive through (49 CFR 366.1). For a nationwide fleet that is all 50 states plus DC. Even a single lane from Ohio to Georgia has to cover every state on the route.
You designate for each state where you keep an office and each state where contracts will be written (49 CFR 366.1). A broker can contract with anyone, anywhere, so most file blanket coverage rather than argue the point later. You also carry the surety or trust filing under 49 CFR Part 387 — BMC-84 or BMC-85.
Intrastate-only operations do not file a BOC-3. Neither do most private interstate carriers hauling their own property: they are not required to register for operating authority under 49 U.S.C. 13901, though they still need a USDOT number. The test is your registration type: if you hold for-hire operating authority, you file; if your only federal registration is a USDOT number, you do not.
One more group files: anyone replacing an agent that dropped off. See BOC-3 withdrawn or revoked.
How to File a BOC-3 Online With Foley
You apply for a BOC-3 through a filer, not on a form you mail in. Blanket designations are filed electronically by the process agent (49 CFR 366.4), so how to apply for BOC-3 comes down to picking the filer. Here is how to file BOC-3 online with us — the whole BOC-3 online filing runs off one order screen.
Carriers search this five ways — boc 3 filing online, boc 3 online filing, file boc 3 online, how to apply for boc 3, how to file boc 3 online — and it is the same six steps. Nothing prints, nothing gets mailed.
Ready to file? We handle the FMCSA submission.
Tell us your USDOT or MC number. Foley is named as your process agent in all 50 states and DC, and we file Form BOC-3 with FMCSA.
BOC-3 Rules, Cost, and Timing at a Glance
| Question | The rule | Cite |
|---|---|---|
| Who must designate an agent? | Interstate for-hire motor carriers, property brokers, freight forwarders | 49 CFR 366.1 |
| Which states? | Carriers: every state of authority plus every state traversed. Brokers and forwarders: every state with an office or where contracts are written | 49 CFR 366.1 |
| What form? | Form BOC-3, Designation of Agents for Service of Process | 49 CFR 366.2 |
| How many can be on file? | One. A new filing replaces the prior one entirely | 49 CFR 366.2 |
| Who can be named as agent? | A resident of that state, or a person keeping an office there where process can be served | 49 CFR 366.3 |
| Can one company cover all states? | Yes, if it is registered with FMCSA to make blanket designations | 49 CFR 366.4 |
| How is it filed? | Online by the filer. Blanket coverage cannot be self-filed on paper | 49 CFR 366.4 |
| Who charges for the filing? | The process agent sets and collects the fee | — |
| When does it take effect? | When filed and posted to your registration record | 49 CFR 366.2 |
| Does it expire? | No renewal cycle. It stands until replaced or cancelled | 49 CFR 366.5 |
| What if it lapses? | FMCSA revokes your operating authority | 49 U.S.C. 13905 |
One designation. Nothing recurring, because Part 366 has no annual requirement.
The timing only works if the filing is right the first time
A rejected or incomplete BOC-3 sends you back to the start of the FMCSA queue. Foley files it correctly, covers all 50 states and DC, and leaves you nothing to renew later.
Have Foley file your BOC-3Form BOC-3, Field by Field
The form is short and unforgiving. A wrong docket number files process agent coverage for a company that is not yours.
- Registrant legal name. Exactly as it reads on your FMCSA registration, not the name on the door of the truck.
- Trade name or DBA, if you operate under one.
- Business address. Your principal place of business — not your process agent's address.
- USDOT number and MC, MX, or FF docket number. If authority is pending, use the docket number from your 49 CFR Part 365 application.
- Designation statement. The operative line naming your agents and the jurisdictions they cover.
- The agent list. Name and street address of the agent for each state designated. A PO box is not an address where process can be served (49 CFR 366.3).
- Signature and date of the person making the filing. On a blanket filing that is the filer, not you (49 CFR 366.4).
FMCSA publishes a BOC-3 form PDF and people download it constantly — usually after searching boc 3 form online or boc3 online. Downloading it does not get you filed. Read the next section before you fill anything in.
Can I Be My Own Process Agent for BOC-3?
Almost always no, and the reason is geography rather than policy. 49 CFR 366.3 requires each designated agent to be a resident of the state named, or to keep an office there where process can actually be served. You can name yourself in the state where you sit. You cannot name yourself in the other 49.
- A blanket designation covering states where you have no presence can only be filed by a company registered with FMCSA for that purpose (49 CFR 366.4). That is why the filing goes in under the agent's name, not yours.
- Self-designation shifts the risk to you. Miss a served complaint and the default judgment still stands.
Count the states you are authorized in, plus every state you drive through. If you do not have a staffed street address in each one, you need a blanket process agent.
Foley Process Agents — All 50 States and DC
Your filing covers every jurisdiction below. There are no extra states to add and nothing to file state by state.
| Jurisdiction | Jurisdiction | Jurisdiction |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Alaska | Arizona |
| Arkansas | California | Colorado |
| Connecticut | Delaware | District of Columbia |
| Florida | Georgia | Hawaii |
| Idaho | Illinois | Indiana |
| Iowa | Kansas | Kentucky |
| Louisiana | Maine | Maryland |
| Massachusetts | Michigan | Minnesota |
| Mississippi | Missouri | Montana |
| Nebraska | Nevada | New Hampshire |
| New Jersey | New Mexico | New York |
| North Carolina | North Dakota | Ohio |
| Oklahoma | Oregon | Pennsylvania |
| Rhode Island | South Carolina | South Dakota |
| Tennessee | Texas | Utah |
| Vermont | Virginia | Washington |
| West Virginia | Wisconsin | Wyoming |
Foley is the designated agent of record in each jurisdiction above — the agent on your filing, not a reseller handing your service address to somebody else's network. The street address for service prints on your filed BOC-3 and is available on request.
BOC-3 Withdrawn or Revoked: The Clock You Are On
Run a boc 3 lookup on your own record in FMCSA's system and you may see your BOC-3 listed as withdrawn. That means the process agent cancelled the designation — the arrangement ended, the account went unpaid, or the agent stopped filing. It is not a clerical note. It leaves you with no agent on file, which is the same position as never having filed.
- FMCSA issues notice that your registration no longer carries a process agent designation.
- FMCSA's notice sets the window to put a new agent on file, and it runs from the date of the notice, not the date you open the mail.
- Miss it and FMCSA revokes your operating authority under 49 U.S.C. 13905. Revoked authority stops for-hire interstate operation on the effective date, not when you notice.
- Reinstatement means a new BOC-3 plus anything else that lapsed — insurance filings under 49 CFR Part 387, and in some cases a fresh application under 49 CFR Part 365.
- Brokers and shippers run automated authority checks and stop tendering the day your status changes.
Order the replacement filing on this page — same path as a new registration, no separate product. If authority is already revoked, talk to a specialist first: when insurance lapsed at the same time, the order of operations decides whether you are reinstated or refiled.
A change of legal name, address, or docket number also requires a corrected designation (49 CFR 366.5). Carriers who relocate and update their mcs-150 routinely forget the BOC-3 still carries the old address.
FMCSA Processing, Effective Date, and Authority Grant
Here is the sequence for a new entrant. The BOC-3 sits in the middle of it and stalls everything if it is late.
- File your registration application under 49 CFR Part 365 and get your USDOT and MC docket numbers — see our walkthrough on the dot number application.
- FMCSA publishes the application and publishes it, and interested parties have 10 days from publication to protest (49 CFR 365.115(a)) before authority can be granted.
- Insurance is filed on your behalf by your insurer or surety under 49 CFR Part 387 — BMC-91X for motor carriers, BMC-84 or BMC-85 for brokers.
- The BOC-3 must be on file. FMCSA does not grant authority without it, and a pending application sits open until both the designation and the insurance post.
- Authority is granted, your status goes active, and for-hire interstate service can begin.
- New entrant safety assurance starts. Under 49 CFR Part 385, Subpart D you are monitored during your first 18 months and receive a safety audit, which FMCSA schedules within that monitoring period.
The designation counts from when it is filed and posted to your record, not from when you paid. That is why we file the day the order comes in.
The authority sequence, and where the BOC-3 sits in it
| Step | What happens | Typical timing |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | USDOT number obtained on Form MCSA-1, the URS online application | Same day |
| 2 | Operating authority requested on the same MCSA-1 filing | Same day |
| 3 | BOC-3 process agent designation filed | 1 to 3 business days through a blanket agent |
| 4 | Your insurer files proof of public liability on Form BMC-91 or BMC-91X, and BMC-34 for household goods | Days to weeks, set by your insurer |
| 5 | FMCSA publishes the application in the FMCSA Register | Day 1 of the protest window |
| 6 | Protest window: interested parties have 10 days from publication (49 CFR 365.115(a)) | 10 days |
| 7 | Authority granted if no one protests and both filings are on record | Roughly 3 to 6 weeks end to end |
Brokers and freight forwarders that do not operate commercial motor vehicles may file the designation on paper rather than online. Everyone else files electronically, and a blanket process agent files on your behalf.
To confirm it landed, look your company up in FMCSA's Licensing and Insurance system at li-public.fmcsa.dot.gov and read the Process Agent section. A blank entry, or one reading none or inactive, means the designation is not on file no matter what you were told.
Filing mechanics people ask about
FMCSA charges nothing for the BOC-3 form itself. What you pay goes to the process agent for making the designation and standing as your agent in every jurisdiction. Dozens of FMCSA-recognised providers exist, and any of them can file for you.
File the BOC-3 alongside your authority application on Form MCSA-1, the successor to the old OP-1, rather than after it. The designation posts to your SAFER record in one to three business days, and authority documents are typically mailed three to four business days after FMCSA has everything it needs.
If the filing is wrong or incomplete, FMCSA issues a notice of deficiency rather than granting or refusing outright. Left unanswered, that becomes a suspension of the application, which is a different and slower problem than a straight rejection.
Exempt for-hire carriers sit in the middle: a BOC-3 is required only if you are applying for or already hold operating authority. Hauling exempt commodities without authority does not create the obligation.
Two housekeeping rules. Your process agents must be available at the address of record during normal business hours, which is why a home address is a poor choice. And the designation names the person authorised to sign for your company, so it needs updating when that person leaves.
Refile when you change blanket agent provider, when your agent stops acting for you, when you add authority in a new category, or when your legal name changes. Nothing reminds you, so check your own designation at least once a year.
What's Included in Foley's BOC-3 Filing
- Process agent designation in all 50 states and DC — included.
- BOC-3 filing online with FMCSA, ordered and filed the same business day — included.
- Copy of the filed form with the full designation list — included.
- Forwarding of any process served on us for you — included.
- Refiling when your legal name, address, or docket number changes — included.
- Replacement filing after a withdrawn or cancelled designation — included.
- Annual renewal fee — none, because Part 366 has no renewal cycle.
- Operating authority application, insurance filing and UCR are available as separate filings.
Anything that is not the BOC-3 is a separate filing, so you can compare it.
Why Carriers File Their BOC-3 With Foley
Foley runs the compliance programs behind the filing, not just a cart.
- We are the designated agent on your filing, under the blanket designation that 49 CFR 366.4 permits only filers registered with FMCSA to make — no downstream network holding your service address.
- Same first-party posture as the rest of what we run: our own DOT consortium and C/TPA for dot drug test programs, clearinghouse queries, and MRO review.
- Monitoring, not one-time paperwork. mvr monitoring and DQ file audits sit with the team that files your BOC-3.
- When the filing needs a person — a served complaint, a withdrawn designation, a reinstatement — you get a specialist, not a ticket number.
What Else FMCSA Will Want From You
The BOC-3 is one line on a longer list. If you are registering now, these land in the same quarter.
- Biennial update. Every registrant refiles the mcs-150 at least every two years under 49 CFR 390.19. Stale MCS-150 data deactivates your USDOT number.
- UCR. Interstate operations register and pay annually — see ucr registration and our unified carrier licence guide.
- Testing program. CDL drivers require pre-employment, random, post-accident, and reasonable-suspicion testing under 49 CFR Part 382, with a pre-employment Clearinghouse query under 49 CFR 382.701.
- Medical qualification. Drivers carry a current medical examiner's certificate under 49 CFR 391.41 — the dot certification exam.
Did your process agent withdraw your designation?
FMCSA gives you a limited window to name a replacement before your operating authority is revoked. Foley can be designated in all 50 states and DC and file today.
You cannot be your own process agent
FMCSA requires a designated agent in every state you operate in, and a carrier cannot name itself. Foley covers all 50 states and DC on one filing.
- The BOC-3 names process agents in all fifty states and DC so legal papers can be served wherever you operate.
- A lapsed designation can revoke operating authority and leave you unable to defend a suit you were never properly served in.
- Process agents were the first group moved onto FMCSA's Motus system, in the Phase I rollout in December 2025.
- There is no renewal cycle under Part 366, so the failure mode is a stale designation, not a missed invoice.
Carriers who already run this with Foley
Samoan Transportation
Filed its MC number and BOC-3 with Foley and has gone three years without an audit. Read the case study.
Frequently asked questions
What is a BOC-3 form?
Form BOC-3 is the FMCSA filing titled Designation of Agents for Service of Process. It names a person or company in each state who can legally accept court papers and legal notices on your behalf. The requirement is in 49 CFR Part 366.
What is a process agent?
A process agent is the party named on your BOC-3 who accepts service of legal process for you in a given state. Service on the agent is service on you. Under 49 CFR 366.3 the agent must be a resident of that state or keep an office there where process can be served.
What is a boc3 filer?
A boc3 filer is the company registered with FMCSA to submit BOC-3 designations and stand as your agent. Under 49 CFR 366.4 only a registered filer can make a blanket designation for states where you have no office, which is why the form is signed by the filer and not by you.
Who needs a BOC-3 filing?
Interstate for-hire motor carriers, property brokers, and freight forwarders that register with FMCSA. Carriers designate for every state of authority and every state traversed; brokers and forwarders for every state with an office or where contracts are written (49 CFR 366.1). Operations that do not hold FMCSA operating authority — intrastate-only carriers and private interstate carriers — do not file.
How do I apply for BOC-3 and file it online?
You file BOC-3 online through a process agent, who submits it electronically under your USDOT and docket number. You cannot get blanket 50-state coverage on your own: 49 CFR 366.4 limits blanket designations to companies registered with FMCSA to make them. Order here and we file it the same business day.
How much is BOC-3 filing, and is there a free BOC-3?
What you pay is the filer's fee for making the designation and standing as your agent, which is where the boc 3 free searches come from. Foley covers all 50 states and DC on one designation, with no renewal because Part 366 has no renewal cycle.
How do I look up my BOC-3?
Do a boc 3 lookup on your registration record in FMCSA's system: it shows whether a designation is on file, which filer made it, and the date of the designation. If it reads withdrawn, order a replacement before the correction window closes.
Can I be my own process agent for BOC-3?
Only in a state where you are a resident or keep an office where process can be served (49 CFR 366.3). You cannot self-designate where you have no presence, and a blanket filing must come from a company registered with FMCSA for that purpose (49 CFR 366.4). For a carrier running multiple states, the answer is no.
Is there a BOC-3 form PDF I can download and mail in?
FMCSA publishes the form and you can read it. Filing it is the part that matters: blanket designations are filed online by the process agent, not the registrant, and only one completed BOC-3 stays on file at a time (49 CFR 366.2). A downloaded PDF with your own name in the agent field does not satisfy Part 366.
Do I need to renew my BOC-3?
No. Part 366 sets no renewal cycle, so the designation stands until it is replaced or cancelled (49 CFR 366.5). You do need a corrected filing if your legal name, business address, or docket number changes.
What happens if my BOC-3 shows as withdrawn?
A withdrawn designation means your agent cancelled it, leaving you with no process agent on file. FMCSA issues notice with a correction window, and revokes operating authority under 49 U.S.C. 13905 if it is not fixed. Order a replacement filing here, or call us if authority is already revoked.
Does my BOC-3 have to be on file before FMCSA grants authority?
Yes. A pending application under 49 CFR Part 365 stays open until both your BOC-3 and your Part 387 insurance filings post to the record. The designation is effective when it is filed and posted to the record.
BOC-3 withdrawn? The clock is running.
A withdrawn designation leads to revocation of operating authority under 49 U.S.C. 13905 once the correction window closes. Order the replacement filing now.