New online Unified Registration Systems in effect beginning Sept 2016

Starting September 30, 2016, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) will require all trucking companies to file all registration data online instead of through paper forms or faxes. Trucking companies will only be able to use the online Unified Registration Systems (URS) database to apply or update records after the deadline.

The new streamlined URS will replace all the other old ways of using the URS and the FMSCA says the online system will cut down on unsafe trucking companies who try to get back their registration by filing a physical URS with a different, unrelated, business name. The agency believes the new online system will save the industry approximately $9 million in time and fees over the next decade.

The URS will replace the entire old system of physical registration. This online system, starting in the fall, will be the only source of registration data or all FMCSA staff and motor carriers as well as for state licensing and roadside safety enforcement personnel and other licensing information and records.

The changes to the registration process will affect all trucks under the FMCSA, including motor carriers with passengers, interstate motor carriers, and private or for-hire carriers. The new registration policy includes changes for freight forwarders, brokers, intermodal equipment providers, hazardous materials safety permit applicants/holders, along with cargo tank manufacturing and repair facilities.

Trucking companies which are only using MC and FF numbers will receive USDOT numbers because only the U.S. Department of Transportation number will be used after the second phase begins in September. Included in the new procedure is a $300 fee for each registration type, including safety and operating authority registrations. Trucking companies will get a USDOT number, and then they are registered in the safety registration needed to operate commercial vehicles like trucks in interstate commerce.

The online registration can be completed for pre-existing motor carriers any time after September 30, and must have completed the URS before December 31.

*updated December 2016*

The final phase of URS has been postponed until sometime in 2017.  Click here for more information.

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