Form BOC-3 filed and confirmed within 24 hours, so your operating authority is never the thing holding you up.
A process agent is the person legally authorized to accept court papers on your behalf in a given state. If someone sues your trucking company in a state you pass through, the papers go to your designated agent there, not to your home terminal.
Federal law at 49 U.S.C. 13303 requires interstate carriers, brokers and freight forwarders to name those agents. You name them on Form BOC-3, the Designation of Agents for Service of Process, under 49 CFR Part 366. FMCSA will not activate your operating authority until that form is on file.
The form itself is short. The part that trips people up is that FMCSA accepts it from a designated process agent rather than from the carrier directly, and the designation has to cover every state you are required to name. That is the piece we handle.
| Operation | What FMCSA requires | Form |
|---|---|---|
| For-hire motor carrier | An agent in each state it operates in and traverses | BOC-3 |
| Freight broker | An agent in every state | BOC-3 |
| Freight forwarder | An agent in every state | BOC-3 |
| Private carrier hauling only its own goods | Generally no operating authority, so generally no filing | Not applicable |
KEEP IN MIND
A BOC-3 is not a one-and-done form. If your process agent resigns and you do not replace them, FMCSA can revoke your operating authority.
Carriers usually find out when a load is already booked. That is the failure this service exists to prevent.
For a new authority, or a replacement designation.
Starts at $29
Confirmed within 24 hours.
For carriers who would rather not track this themselves.
See plans
Re-filings, reminders and updates included for the year.
Delaware Mobile Signings prepares and files the BOC-3 designation on your behalf. We are not attorneys and this page is not legal advice. Authority requirements are set by FMCSA under 49 CFR Part 366 and can change.
A short consultation by phone, video or at the Dover office about process agent designation and BOC-3 filing.
Delaware registered agent is a different thing to a BOC-3 process agent
A BOC-3 designates process agents for FMCSA purposes. A Delaware registered agent receives state service of process and corporate notices for the entity itself. If you operate through a Delaware entity you need both, and we do both.
Tell us your operating states and we handle the designation and the filing.
