California motor carrier statistics
California ranks #1 of the 50 states and DC by active motor carrier registrations, with 328,239 active carriers — 14.9% of the U.S. total. 85,845 of them (26.2%) hold operating authority. Computed from FMCSA's census snapshot of 2026-09-04 10:47 UTC.
Among California's 85,845 authority holders, 49,648 (57.8%) report a single power unit and 3,845 (4.5%) report a fleet of 10 or more. 18,376 (21.4%) last filed an MCS-150 biennial update before September 2024 — below the national 25.9%.
Registration overview
| Measure | California | Share | U.S. share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active registrations | 328,239 | 14.9% of U.S. | rank #1 of 51 |
| With operating authority | 85,845 | 26.2% | 32.6% |
| Hazmat-registered | 9,848 | 3.0% | 7.0% |
“Share” is the measure as a percentage of California's active registrations; “U.S. share” is the same percentage computed nationally, so the two columns are directly comparable.
Operation type
| Operation | Carriers | California | U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interstate | 66,819 | 20.4% | 31.0% |
| Intrastate, hazmat | 3,687 | 1.1% | 2.1% |
| Intrastate, non-hazmat | 256,840 | 78.2% | 66.7% |
| Not reported | 893 | 0.3% | 0.2% |
Percentages are of active registrations. Interstate (census code A) carriers cross state lines; intrastate carriers operate only within California.
Fleet size
| Power units | Carriers | California | U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 power unit | 49,648 | 57.8% | 49.8% |
| 2–9 power units | 19,969 | 23.3% | 26.8% |
| 10–49 power units | 3,250 | 3.8% | 5.0% |
| 50 or more power units | 595 | 0.7% | 1.2% |
| None reported (0 or blank) | 12,383 | 14.4% | 17.2% |
Percentages are of California's 85,845 active authority holders. Power-unit counts are self-reported on the MCS-150 and are not validated by FMCSA; a small number of records carry implausible values, so treat the top bucket as an upper bound.
MCS-150 filing currency
| Last recorded MCS-150 update | Carriers | California | U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 2024 or later | 61,470 | 71.6% | 66.0% |
| Before September 2024 (over 24 months old) | 18,376 | 21.4% | 25.9% |
| No date recorded in the census | 5,999 | 7.0% | 8.1% |
FMCSA requires a biennial MCS-150 update. The cutoff above is the first day of the month 24 months before this page was rendered. A stale census date is a strong signal but not proof of a missed filing — check a specific USDOT number with the MCS-150 update checker.
Related
States with similar registration counts: Texas (193,242) · Florida (156,412) · New York (129,313) · Georgia (107,737) · Pennsylvania (82,028) · Michigan (77,948)
All 50 states and DC · Look up a carrier by USDOT or MC number · Check a carrier’s MCS-150 filing status
Source: FMCSA Company Census File (az4n-8mr2) on data.transportation.gov, refreshed daily. Figures computed by CarrierStat from the census snapshot dated 2026-09-04 10:47 UTC and aggregated by CarrierStat; FMCSA publishes no state-level rollup. Counts cover records with census status A (active) and a physical address in the 50 states or the District of Columbia; Canadian and Mexican registrants are excluded. Unofficial — verify any individual carrier at FMCSA SAFER.