The long-awaited final rule defining the Unified Carrier Registration (UCR) fees for the 2010 registration year was published in the April 27, 2010 Federal Register. The rule announced a new fee schedule, effective as of January 1, 2010, that significantly increases fees for motor carriers under the Unified Carrier Registration Agreement (UCRA). Although the new fee schedule equates to a 95% increase across the board, the fee levels are slightly lower than what FMCSA proposed last year.
Effective with the 2010 registration year, trailers were removed from the definition of a vehicle subject to UCR - only power units will be counted for purposes of determining a fleet size. Also, leasing companies will only pay one annual fee regardless of fleet size.
As published by the FMCSA, the fees are:
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Bracket
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Number of commercial motor vehicles owned or operated by exempt or nonexempt motor carrier, motor private carrier, or freight forwarder
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Fee per entity for exempt or non-exempt motor carrier, motor private carrier, or freight forwarder
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Fee per entity for broker or leasing
company
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B1
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0-2
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$76
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$76
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B2
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3-5
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$227
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B3
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6-20
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$452
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B4
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21-100
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$1,576
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|
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B5
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101-1,000
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$7,511
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|
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B6
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1,001 and above
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$73,346
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Acceptance of registrations began on May 5, 2010. An enforcement date will be announced, ending the current moratorium on enforcement of 2010 UCR payment. More information is posted on the national UCR website at http://www.ucr.in.gov/. The National Conference of State Transportation Specialists (NCSTS) recommended that states not begin hard enforcement of the 2010 UCRA fees until July 15. States are not bound by these dates, but are not expected to begin enforcement prior to July 15. Carriers and entities subject to the UCR are still subject to registration, whether or not they receive notification from their state.
Who must register with UCR?
The following entities engaged in interstate commerce are subject to annual UCR registration:
- Private property carriers;
- For-hire property carriers;
- For-hire passenger carriers;
- For-hire exempt (non-regulated) commodity carriers;
- Freight forwarders;
- Leasing companies; and
- Brokers.
Entities based in and/or operating in non-participating states are required to register with UCR; the UCR application form provides guidelines for selecting a base state. All entities domiciled in Canada or Mexico operating in the United States are also subject to UCR registration.
Who is not required to register with UCR?
These entities are not subject to UCR fees:
- Entities that receive USDOT numbers under the PRISM program as "registrants" but have no interstate operating authority;
- Purely intrastate carriers, that is, those that do not handle interstate freight or make interstate movements, (unless the State has elected to apply the provisions of the UCR Agreement to such intrastate carriers); and
- Motor private carriers transporting passengers in interstate commerce (e.g. church buses).
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Last week, the FMCSA issued regulatory guidance saying that states that participate in the Unified Carrier Registration Agreement (UCRA) could collect fees for 2010 at the rates in effect for 2009, if the states did not include trailer equipment in the fee calculation. Then states could go back and reassess carriers for any difference once the federal rulemaking to set the 2010 fees is completed later this year.
On March 11, the UCRA Board of Directors held its first meeting since FMCSA's notice, and voted 10 to 1 to prohibit states from collecting any UCRA fees for 2010 until FMCSA publishes a final rule resetting fees for the program, or until further notice from the Board.
Based on the discussion at the Board meeting, it was decided that attempting to collect under the FMCSA guidance would lead to severe administrative problems for the program. The Board's resolution has been circulated to all of the states that participate in the UCRA. The federal rulemaking to set the 2010 fees is now at the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for final review, and its issuance is anticipated this summer.
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On Jan. 12, the FMCSA announced to the Board of Directors of the Unified Carrier Registration Agreement (UCRA) that publication of the 2010 fees to be imposed under the UCRA program will be delayed until much later this year, perhaps April.
The UCRA fees must be reset, since Congress eliminated trailing equipment from the fee calculation by 2008 legislation effective in 2010. FMCSA is charged with setting the fees by means of a federal rulemaking. Last fall, FMCSA proposed much higher fees that have been strongly opposed by many industry groups. Now, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has determined that the rulemaking is "significant," which in this context means that OMB will conduct a full economic review of the matter, a process that commonly takes at least 90 days.
States participating in the UCRA presumably cannot collect anything under the program until the fees are published following the completion of all reviews.
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