FMCSA · Motor Carrier
MCS-82
Motor Carrier Surety Bond (FMCSA Form MCS-82)
Motor Carrier Surety Bond For Public Liability (FMCSA Form MCS-82)
Legacy surety-bond filing form historically used to demonstrate motor-carrier financial responsibility — largely superseded by BMC-91 but still seen on older filings.
Heads up: This is an FMCSA filing posted to SAFER — not a policy endorsement. A contract requiring an endorsement (for example MCS-90) is NOT satisfied by a filing alone.
What it does
MCS-82 is an FMCSA surety-bond form used to file public-liability financial responsibility under 49 CFR Part 387. It predates BMC-91 in much of FMCSA's electronic filing system and is now uncommon on new filings, but legacy filings persist and Bindly's verifier recognizes it. Functionally equivalent to BMC-91 for compliance purposes: satisfies the federal filing requirement, does NOT satisfy an MCS-90 endorsement requirement in a private contract.
When you need it
- Legacy motor-carrier filings where MCS-82 was the surety-bond instrument originally posted.
- Compliance reviews of carriers with long-standing FMCSA authority where the original filing was MCS-82.
Common mistakes
- Mistaking MCS-82 for a policy endorsement — it's a filing.
- Accepting an MCS-82 in lieu of a contract-required MCS-90 — same distinction as BMC-91 vs. MCS-90.
- Failing to verify the surety remains in good standing — some MCS-82 filings persist in SAFER even after the underlying surety has changed.
Verifying MCS-82 on a real certificate?
Bindly Compliance auto-verifies endorsement attachment, named parties, and edition dates on every COI we track. Description-only language and missing forms surface as deficiencies in your dashboard before they become claims.