UCR fees to increase 20%, despite opposition
Unified Carrier Registration fees are officially increasing by about 20%.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is scheduled to publish a final rule on Tuesday, Sept. 1, that will increase fees by as little as $9 and as much as $9,329, depending on the size of a motor carrier’s fleet.
UCR is an annual permit that most motor carriers must pay if they have an active U.S. DOT number, regardless of whether they are using that DOT number or whether it is marked interstate.
UCR fees for 2027
| Fleet size | Fee |
|---|---|
| 0-2 | $55 |
| 3-5 | $167 |
| 6-20 | $333 |
| 21-100 | $1,163 |
| 101-1,000 | $5,548 |
| 1,001 and above | $54,165 |
UCR fees for 2026
| Fleet size | Fee |
|---|---|
| 0-2 | $46 |
| 3-5 | $138 |
| 6-20 | $276 |
| 21-100 | $963 |
| 101-1,000 | $4,592 |
| 1,001 and above | $44,836 |
Opposition
FMCSA announced in April that the UCR Board of Directors recommended the fee increase.
Now, the agency is moving forward with the recommendation despite opposition from truckers.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association told FMCSA that the system no longer meets its original objectives and merely generates “slush fund revenue” for states.
Individual truckers also spoke out against the fee increase.
“We, the American Trucker, are fed up with being taxed and regulated to death,” Aaron Wilhelm wrote. “You have made it completely impossible for truckers to make a living. Now you want to raise our taxes more for your mismanagement of funds. You have allowed foreign entities to come in and destroy the industry while you destroyed it as well. If you continue down this path, you will cripple our country. Without truckers, our country will die.”
FMCSA said that the UCR plan and requirement to assess fees was established by Congress and that neither the agency nor the UCR Board has the discretion to stop collecting the fees.
“By statute, UCR fees are required to be used by participating states for motor carrier safety programs and enforcement, or the administration of the UCR Plan and UCR Agreement,” FMCSA wrote.
The agency added that it found the fee increase recommended by the UCR Board to be “within a reasonable range.”
Every state is responsible for enforcing UCR compliance, even if the state does not participate in the program. The non-participating states are Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont and Wyoming, along with Washington, D.C. The UCR requirement applies to all motor carriers and entities that must register with the FMCSA, including carriers based in Canada and Mexico. LL