The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has finalized plans to reduce commercial vehicle registration fees by 9.10% in 2018, and by 4.55% in 2019.
The reduction will range from approximately $7 to $6,700 per entity in the first year, and from about $3 to $3,400 per entity in subsequent years, depending on the number of vehicles owned and/or operated.
The agency’s final rule is scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on Jan. 5. It followed a recommendation by the Unified Carrier Registration Plan board to the Department of Transportation in March after total revenues collected in 2016 exceeded for the first time the total revenue entitlements of $107.78 million distributed to the 41 participating states, plus $5 million established for administrative costs to operate the plan.
The UCR program is a federally mandated, annual state-administered program for registering and collecting fees from operators of vehicles engaged in interstate commerce.
The program applies to for-hire and private motor carriers, freight forwarders, leasing companies and brokers based in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
The money collected from registration fees generally is used by states to help pay for highway safety enforcement, although there is no legal requirement that dictates how the funds are spent, according to Bob Pitcher, vice president of state laws for American Trucking Associations and a member of the UCR board of directors.
Enforcement of UCR registration requirements commonly begins Jan. 1, but due to delays in publishing the new fee schedule, the board has asked states not to enforce for 90 days after the fees go into effect, which is not until April 5.
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, an association representing motor carrier safety enforcement agencies, said it has adopted this position.
The Indiana Department of Revenue, which operates a national UCR online registration system on behalf of the UCR board of directors, announced that it will be ready to handle registrations beginning Jan. 5, while some states that maintain their own UCR systems may require a few more days to get ready, according to a statement issued by the board.
A total of 41 states participate in the online registration system and receive revenue based on the number of vehicles registered. States receiving the largest entitlements under the new 2018-19 fee schedule are Michigan ($7.5 million), Kentucky ($5.4 million), Pennsylvania ($4.9 million), Virginia ($4.85 million) and Ohio ($4.8 million).
“We’re pleased with the outcome of FMCSA’s rulemaking on this matter,” said UCR board Chairman Avelino Gutierrez, director of transportation at the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission, “and pleased that we could help deliver a cost reduction next year for our carrier partners.”
Federal law requires FMCSA to reduce the fees for all motor carrier entities in the year following any year in which the depository retains funds in excess of the amount necessary to satisfy the revenue entitlements of the participating states and the UCR plan’s administrative costs.
In 2018, the graduated pay fee scale ranges from a drop to $69 from $76 in 2010-17 for carriers with up to two trucks and brokers, while the fee for carriers with 1,001 or more trucks would decline to $66,597 from $73,346 paid the past seven years.
The 2019 numbers would rise slightly over 2018 but still be 4.55% below current levels and could still be changed based on results of registration payments in 2017, according ATA’s Pitcher.
“The UCR board has already requested FMCSA to reduce the fees for 2019 and 2020 somewhat further still,” Pitcher said in a memo sent to ATA member companies.
Also, Pitcher told Transport Topics that the UCR board is expected to solicit bids for a new online registration system to be implemented by 2019. The board also will recommend a reduction in the amount of money set aside to administer the program from $5 million to $3.5 million.
This article was originally posted by Transport Topics.
