Is it legal to show 2 dot# on the same truck? 1 for the owner, and 1 for the company leased to? Or just show the leased to company's #. Help me settle a bet with a friend
Get ready, it’s going to get long. Pull up a chair and have popcorn. When is it legal to have more two or more DOT numbers? The FMCSA’s policy is to assign a unique USDOT identification number to each person required to identify themself with FMCSA and remain assigned to that person forever under 49 U.S.C. 13902, 31134 and 49 C.F.R. 390.19T or 390.200T. According to the DOT, “a person includes an individual, corporation, partnership, or other business organization as authorized by state law. Each separate and distinct person must have separate registration.” For corporations, partnerships, and other business organizations, the USDOT number will remain the same when there is a change in company officials, address or other demographic information, and the corporation, partnership, or other business organization will continue operations as the same legal person/entity. The only time a company will need multiple DOT numbers is if they operate two or more separate commercial driving entities. In other words, the company needs to have separate entities but have familial ownership. This can happen due to a company acquisition or a large company that has multiple divisions. example, there is a company who has one tractor trailer, bus transportation, and a pickup to haul empty containers from the ports. These are considered three completely different operations. You do not want to put these on the same insurance policy, which is why we separate them as separate entities. The short answer is no. What drives people to have multiple DOT numbers are the insurance rates, which are determined by their hauling classification.
Penske had a problem a while back. They had they’re name and numbers on Trucks leased to others. Bad inspections went on their DOT # safety rating. It’s a good question, probably a grey area. I would think, Company name and DOT#. Also if Leased onto a Carrier part time, they’re Name and DOT# would also need to be posted. My guess, is it’s Legal, but not required. Only the DOT# of the Authority thats operating the Truck. The company your leased to. Unless you have your own authority, and haul freight under it also.
