FMCSA Final Rule Calls for Reduced Commercial Vehicle Registration Fees

Trucks on highway
John Sommers II for Transport Topics

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The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has issued a final rule that continues to reduce commercial vehicle registration fees in 2020 and 2021, the agency announced Feb. 12.

FMCSA said it is reducing the 2020 annual registration fees collected by states for motor carriers, private motor carriers of property, brokers, freight forwarders and leasing companies by 14.45% below the 2018 registration level. The fees will remain at the same level for 2021 and subsequent years unless revised in the future.

Reduction of the 2019 registration year fees ranges from approximately $3 to $2,712 per entity, depending on the number of vehicles owned or operated by the affected entities.



FMCSA UCRPA 2020-01761 by Transport Topics on Scribd

The rates are graduated based on the number of trucks a carrier has in its fleet. For instance, carriers with up to two trucks paid $69 in 2018 and $62 in 2019, but will pay $59 in 2020.

For a carrier with a fleet of 1,001 or more trucks, the proposed fee would be $56,977 in 2020, down from $59,689 in 2019.

The Unified Carrier Registration Plan and the 41 states participating in the UCR establish and collect the fees. The UCR Plan and Agreement is administered by a 15-member board of directors —14 appointed from the participating states and the industry, plus the deputy administrator of FMCSA or another presidential appointee from the department. Revenues collected are allocated to the participating states and the UCR Plan.

The plan’s overall renew target for 2020 is more than $107 million, according to the final rule. If there are excess funds after payments to the states and for administrative costs, they are retained in the board’s depository and subsequent fees must be reduced as required.

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