If you haven’t filed a unified carrier registration for your business yet, it’s important to get it done right away.
If your company deals with interstate or international shipping or commercial passenger transportation, you must register the vehicles owned or leased by the company under the UCR program.
Not doing so can result in your vehicles being detained and fined (up to $5,000) by the enforcement officials.
But before registration, you must determine if your vehicles need to be included in the UCR program. In this blog, we will help you with that.
So, let’s dig in.
What is UCR?
Unified Carrier Registration or UCR is a program mandated by federal law that requires commercial motor vehicle operators to register their motor fleet and business. The registration needs to be made with a participating state and pay the due fees annually.
Please note that as long as your commercial vehicles participate in the interstate or international shipping business, you must include them in the Unified Carrier Registration compliance form.
The country(US) uses the fees collected from UCR to enforce various safety and compliance programs nationwide.
As long as your company owns motor vehicles with federal MC numbers for shipment of goods, you need to pay UCR fees.
How to Determine if Your Vehicle Needs to be Included in the UCR Registration?
Any business that owns motor vehicles that ships goods beyond their home state or through international channels must be UCR compliant. The total UCR fees depend on the number of commercial vehicles the business owns.
However, not all vehicles your business owns need to be URC compliant.
Here are the factors determining if your vehicle needs to be included in the UCR registration.
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Vehicles Owned by the Registrant
A motor carrier or freight forwarder only needs to pay UCR fees for the vehicles owned or operated as a part of its business. So, it includes motor vehicles that are:
- Registered with the carrier.
- Controlled by the carrier or freight forwarder under a long-term lease during the vehicle registration year (The lease time must be 30 days or more).
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Specific Commercial Vehicles
Any motor vehicle that hits the highway to transport cargo or passengers is qualified to be called a commercial motor vehicle and CMV. Carriers must include the CMV during UCR filings if the motor vehicle:
- Has a total weight or gross weight rating of 10,001 pounds or more.
- Has a gross combination weight or combination weight rating of 10,001 or more it’s connected to the trailing gear.
- Carries a certain quantity of hazardous materials.
- Is fit to carry 10 passengers or more.
As long as the commercial vehicle under the shipping business or carrier fulfills any of the conditions mentioned above, the carrier must include it in the UCR registration.
Does Your State Participate in UCR?
Not all US states participate in the Unified Carrier Registration program. As of now, only 41 states are participating in it.
Meanwhile, the states that are yet to participate in this program are:
- Arizona
- District of Columbia
- Maryland
- New Jersey
- Florida
- Wyoming
- Oregon
- Hawaii
- Vermont
- Nevada
Remember, just because your state is not a part of the UCR program yet doesn’t mean your business doesn’t have to comply with UCR regulations. Most commercial motor vehicles traveling from one state to another must be included in the UCR filings.
If your state isn’t participating in the program, you must get your URC fillings done in the nearest participating state.
Conclusion
As you can see, determining if your vehicle needs to comply with the UCR regulations isn’t a tough job. You just have to go to the online UCR portal, read the rules, and start filing.
As long as your vehicle is categorized as a CMV and it’s owned by your company for shipping and interstate transportation, including it in the UCR program is necessary.
Do you still have trouble understanding if your vehicle should be included in the UCR registration?
Hire qualified experts who can help you with UCR filings so you can focus on your job.
