What steps to make to change company name

Go on the fed's website and change the name...

 

Here's my experience with that. You don't have to read the whole thread. This topic plays out in 2-3 pages.

There is some scrutiny on that application. It went ok for the most part. Mind the insurance filings closely. Mine tried twice to file under the new name before it was approved. Turns out the filing wasn't accepted until after the name change was completed. The name has to be an exact match. And without my knowledge, my insurance agency didn't try again after the second attempt.

Long story short, I got busy and failed to notice a two month timeline on the FMCSA site. They give you 60 days and set the clock by changing the expiration date on your insurance filing, regardless of what it actually is. In my case, 3/2/12 turned into 8/26/11. That's what got me concerned in the first place, blowing up my insurance agent's phone about it. He never got it fixed and I got busy and forgot to keep chasing the issue.

Then on 8/27 I get a call out of the blue from TransCore telling me my authority was revoked. Finally figured out it was that date and that now the insurance could re-file and make it stick. Plus an $80 reinstatement fee. As luck would have it, our truck was down for service and we weren't moving during that period. Could have been ugly at a scale house.

 

Good point, the same thing happened to me. Luckily, I was home as well and didn't get caught out on the road. Needless to say I was not happy with my insurance agent, and he's now my ex-agent.

 

You don't need two insurance policies. Just watch your fmcsa status and posted insurance expiration date daily until the new name filing sticks and has valid dates.

 

I would change the name first and then call my insurance agent. If you change the insurance first then the name won't match the filing with the fmcsa records. It can take a day or two for the insurance filing to be active or updated.

 

It can be a bit of a chicken and the egg problem. FMCSA will give you a 60 day period to update your insurance filing. It can only be updated after the name change request is approved and completed.

In my case, I had set a target date of 9/1 to stop doing business as a partnership and start as a corp. A few days before, I had the insurance change my business name (simply added "Inc" at the end of the same name) and filed for the name change. My name change took over a week due to FMCSA delay in handling the faxed request (full story in my thread linked earlier). By the time that got completed, my insurance company had attempted a new posting twice and failed due to the new name not being set yet.

The main thing is bird-dogging the FMCSA status online frequently and staying on top of what your insurance company is doing. Don't be afraid to blow up their phones if you even think it doesn't look right.

Then you get the fun of updating each customer with your new name and FEIN. All the good ones will subscribe to a carrier monitoring service and will be alerted to any changes. Most will not call and instead mark you inactive/no-load until you call in and get it straightened out.

Glad to have that behind me LOL.

 

Red and Bayou,
Did you do S-Corps? We are in the process of setting this up. I'm glad we have a couple people in the office to work on contracts. With 6 trucks rolling it could get interesting. Will likely take some time off the road to help with this.

Was even thinking of contacting all the regulars ahead of time and getting contracts filled out so they can be sent as soon as it changes.