FMCSA plans to reduce UCR fees in 2019, 2020

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is proposing to reduce the fees for the Unified Carrier Registration plan, according to a notice of proposed rulemaking published in the Federal Register.

According to the notice, the proposed fees for the 2019 registration year would be nearly 18 percent lower than the 2017 level. The reason for the reduction is to ensure fee revenues don’t exceed the statutory maximum. Fees in 2020 would be roughly 9.5 percent below 2017 levels.

FMCSA proposes fees for 2019 to be $63 for motor carriers and brokers with zero to two power units. That represents a $6 decrease from the 2018 fee. It is however, $10 less than what the UCR board had anticipated needing to charge for 2019 fees for the smallest of motor carriers.

“FMCSA proposes reductions in the annual registration fees states collect from motor carriers, motor private carriers of property, brokers, freight forwarders and leasing companies for the UCR plan and agreement for the 2019, 2020 and subsequent registration years,” the notice stated.

“The reduction in fees for subsequent registration years would range from approximately $4 to $3,565 per entity.”

Proposed fees for 2019:

Number of Trucks   Fee

0-2   $63

3-5   $187

6-20   $372

21-100   $1,299

101-1,000    $6,190

1,001 and above       $60,441

Total revenue from the current UCR plan for 2018 are estimated to exceed the statutory maximum by more than $9 million. Collection of UCR 2019 fees is scheduled to begin Oct. 1.

Collection of 2018 UCR fees was delayed until after the start of the new year, as the UCR board grappled with a fee reduction. LL