Starting January 1, 2015 the way you register under the International Registration Plan will change, and change in a big way. The Full Reciprocity Plan or FRP for short
will make the way we register our commercial motor vehicles cheaper and some say better.
Currently under The International Registration Plan or IRP, carriers are asked to come up with a list of states and provinces they THINK they will travel into during the year. In many cases carriers don’t really know where they will be going so it is all a big guessing game. If you guessed wrong and missed a state/province you had to act fast. Sometimes it meant getting a trip permit, and they add up fast. Other times it meant doing a whole new application adding those jurisdictions they found out they needed. Other carriers registered for everything because they did now want to be tied down, often times they paid a high price for places they never would end up going to.
Carriers were also required to record their mileages during the year and give a set of actual mileages to IRP on their renewals. If a state/province was not on the list of places they went to they had to figure out mileages any ways. Some had to figure out mock trips of where they thought they would go, how many times they might go and hand in a stack of paper, or use the easier method of using a state/province issued mileage form. You paid fees on where you actually went and where you think you might go. If after the second year of where you thought you might go was still estimated you had to pay a higher estimate fee. Actually the system was a not only messy and complicated it made little sense. I mean really why pay for the privilege of might go to?
Under the new FRP system carriers will no longer have to figure out where they think they will go under IRP. They would be registered across North America. Period and very simple. Yes, no more single trip permits and frantic last minute looking at a CAB Card to make sure a truck was ok to go.
Also carriers will only have to pay for where they actually went! Yes, no more estimating distances and figuring out fees based on those estimates. This is supposed to make record keeping and administration much easier and save carriers money in the long run! FRP should be a welcome program to many.
How will FRP be implemented?
Carriers whose renewal is January 1, 2015 and beyond will be changed over to FRP system as of their renewal date. This means carriers will be under the existing rules until they renew in 2015. This includes any amendments to the fleet from between January 1, 2015 until they actually renew.
How each state/province will start implementation is still up in the air. Carriers should be aware of possible delays as jurisdictions move towards compliance and the deadline approaches. If any one remembers Ontario’s struggles with their new software system you can bet there will be delays in processing here in Ontario. It is best then that carriers plan their early 2015 renewals sooner rather then later.
Information about FRP can be found here
photo credit: classic_film via photopin cc
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