FMCSA proposes 27% fee reductions in 2023 for Unified Carrier Registration

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) recently issued a proposed rule that would reduce Unified Carrier Registration (UCR) fees for 2023 and subsequent registration years.

When annual revenues exceed the maximum allowed, the U.S. Code says that UCR fee adjustments must be requested by the UCR Plan.

The reduction in annual UCR fees applies to motor carriers, private motor carriers of property, brokers, freight forwarders and leasing companies that are paying fees to their respective state.

What is the Unified Carrier Registration fee reduction?

The UCR fee reduction would be about 27% in 2023.

For companies with up to two power units, rates will change from the current $59 to $43. For companies with 1,001 or more units, fees will drop from the current $56,977 to $41,627.

What if I am not registered to the UCR?

Created by Congress in 2005, the UCR Plan and the 41 states participating in the UCR agreement requires ALL carriers (private, exempt, or for-hire) to register their business with a participating state and pay an annual fee that is based on the size of their fleet.

Brokers, freight forwarders, and leasing companies also are required to register and pay a fee, unless they are also operating as a motor carrier.

Out of the 44,000 motor carriers who have not registered or paid fees with the Unified Carrier Registration (UCR) plan, there are an estimated 35,000 unregistered carriers from the nine nonparticipating states, which include:

These states that do not participate in the program must enforce UCR requirements for carriers domiciled in those states with DOT numbers.

The UCR board authorized three pilot projects that call for hiring a private contractor to contact, attempt to register and collect unpaid fees to raise funds for the plan.

The three pilot programs to collect fees include:

• focusing on around 5,600 new carrier entrants in nonparticipating states who have failed to register, which could raise up to $383,000
• targeting motor carriers who have received a violation for not registering, which is around 3,500 motor carriers each year
• contacting motor carriers that report power units that contradicts the number of power units declared on their MCS-150

Currently, none of the new pilots would be focused on brokers or freight forwarders, officials said.

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