Terms of Service

1. What we do

In plain English: You pay us a flat fee. We fill out the federal and state forms required to get your motor carrier authority running, file them with the right agencies, and keep your filings current. We are doing the paperwork; you remain the legal entity, the carrier, and the responsible party for what gets filed.

Cypress provides paperwork-preparation and submission services for federal motor carrier authority (FMCSA URS, MC number, USDOT number, EIN, BOC-3 process agent designation), business entity formation (LLC formation in your selected state, including registered agent designation), and recurring compliance obligations (UCR, MCS-150 biennial update, IRP, IFTA, 2290 HVUT, D&A consortium administration, MVR pulls, CSA monitoring) as you elect on your dashboard. Specific services are described on the pricing page and itemized in your order confirmation.

2. Paperwork-prep plus hand-off filing model

In plain English: We prepare your filings the same way whether we submit them for you or hand you a pre-filled URS form to submit yourself. The product is the same product either way.

Per our internal architecture decision ADR-CY-002, our delivery product is the prepared, validated filing package. We electronically submit the package on your behalf via direct regulatory portals (FMCSA Unified Registration System, state Secretary-of-State filing portals, IRS Form 2290 e-file). Where direct submission is unavailable or you prefer to submit yourself, we deliver the pre-filled package to you for execution. Your customer experience and price are identical in either path; the legal validity of the submitted filing is also identical.

3. Pass-through fees

In plain English: When the government charges a fee (like the FMCSA $300 registration fee, or your state's LLC filing fee), you pay the government's amount, not a marked-up version. We pass these through at cost and we always show them on your invoice as a separate line item.

Per our internal architecture decision ADR-CY-004, every line item on your invoice carries an explicit pass-through flag. Government and partner pass-through fees (FMCSA URS $300, state Secretary-of-State LLC filing fees, UCR bracket fees, IRS HVUT amounts, BOC-3 process-agent partner cost, registered-agent partner cost) are charged to you at the amount we pay the underlying agency or partner. We do not mark up pass-through fees. Pass-through fees are non-refundable once remitted because the underlying agency or partner does not refund them to us.

4. 21-day vetting window and refunds

In plain English: FMCSA reviews your authority application for 21 days. If they reject your application, we refund the service portion of your fee. We cannot refund what the government already kept.

Per our internal architecture decision ADR-CY-005, every new authority application is tracked against the 21-day FMCSA vetting window. If your application receives a NOT_AUTHORIZED determination from FMCSA within the vetting window, Cypress will refund the service-fee portion of your order. Pass-through fees (FMCSA registration fee, state filing fee, BOC-3 partner cost) are not refundable because the receiving agency or partner does not refund them. See the full Refund Policy for line-by-line treatment.

5. Your responsibilities

In plain English: You confirm the information you give us is accurate. You sign what needs to be signed. You keep us up to date on changes (new address, new vehicle, new driver, new commodity).

• You represent that information you submit to Cypress (legal name, residence, ownership, vehicle and driver counts, operating commodity, prior authority history) is true and current. Inaccurate or stale information can trigger an FMCSA NOT_AUTHORIZED determination, an insurance binding refusal, or a downstream filing rejection that we cannot reverse.
• You will execute documents we send for signature (engagement agreement, FMCSA Form OP-1 / MCS-150 attestation, IRS Form 8453 / Form 2290 attestation, state-specific formation documents) within a reasonable time. Missed signature windows can cause your filings to lapse.
• You will notify Cypress within 10 business days of any change that affects an active filing (legal name change, principal office relocation, ownership change, addition or removal of power units or drivers, change of operating commodity, FMCSA out-of-service order, insurance lapse).

6. Our authority to act on your behalf

By placing an order, you authorize Cypress Authority Services LLC and its designated agents to: (a) prepare and submit federal and state filings on your behalf to FMCSA, the IRS, state Secretaries of State, state Departments of Transportation, and IFTA/IRP base-state administrators; (b) designate process agents under 49 CFR §366 as part of your BOC-3 filing; (c) act as or appoint your registered agent in the state of formation; (d) communicate with these agencies on your behalf regarding the status of your filings. You may revoke this authority at any time in writing via your dashboard, after which we will cease acting on your behalf on a forward-going basis (revocation does not undo filings already submitted).

7. Billing

In plain English: Service fees are charged when you order. Pass-through fees are charged when they become due. Recurring services renew automatically until you cancel.

Service fees for the LLC-plus-Authority bundle and the Authority-only product are charged at order placement. Pass-through fees are charged when the underlying agency or partner invoices Cypress (typically at submission). Recurring compliance services (UCR annual, MCS-150 biennial, IRP annual, IFTA quarterly, 2290 annual, D&A monthly, MVR pulls, CSA monitoring) renew automatically on the cycle disclosed in your order confirmation. You may cancel any recurring service from your dashboard prior to the next renewal charge. Cancellation does not refund pass-through portions already remitted to the underlying agency or partner.

8. Service availability and SLA posture

Cypress targets high availability on its dashboard and filing pipeline but does not guarantee uninterrupted service. Government portals (FMCSA URS, state Secretary-of-State, IRS Modernized e-File, state DMV) experience their own outages outside Cypress's control. Filing-deadline obligations (MCS-150 biennial, IFTA quarterly, 2290 annual, UCR annual) remain yours; Cypress's compliance calendar exists to surface these deadlines, not to assume them.

9. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Cypress Authority Services LLC's aggregate liability under this agreement is limited to the service fees you paid Cypress in the 12 months preceding the event giving rise to the claim. Cypress is not liable for indirect, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages, including but not limited to lost profits, lost revenue, lost contracts, lost goodwill, vehicle downtime, or regulatory fines arising from third-party (agency or partner) action.

10. Dispute resolution

Disputes arising under this agreement will first be addressed through good-faith discussion between you and Cypress's customer-resolution team (reachable at ops@cypressauthority.com). Disputes not resolved through discussion within 30 days will be submitted to binding arbitration in the State of Delaware under the American Arbitration Association's Commercial Arbitration Rules. Each party bears its own costs and attorney's fees absent an arbitrator's award to the contrary.

11. Governing law

This agreement is governed by the laws of the State of Delaware without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles.

12. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time. Material changes will be announced via email to the address on your account and on this page at least 14 days before they take effect. Continued use of the service after the effective date constitutes acceptance.

13. Contact

Cypress Authority Services LLC
Operations: ops@cypressauthority.com