Owning a trucking company comes with the responsibility of filling out a copious amount of paperwork. Can you imagine having to fill out paperwork in every single state that you drive through?
UCR is the Unified Carrier Registration program. Created by federal legislation, it replaces the former system for registering the operators of vehicles engaged in interstate travel – the Single State Registration System (SSRS).
The UCR Agreement is established by federal law in the UCR Act, which is part of the federal highway reauthorization bill known as the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act, A Legacy for Users (“SAFETEA-LU”), Public Law 109-59, enacted August 10, 2005.
It should be emphasized that interstate carriers and other transportation businesses will typically still be subject to UCR fees even though they are based in a nonparticipating state, a U.S. territory, or a foreign country. The states that have chosen not to participate include:
- Oregon
- Arizona
- Florida
- Nevada
- Vermont
- District of Columbia
- Hawaii
- Maryland
- New Jersey
- Wyoming
If your state does not participate, you may think you do not have to pay the fee. This is not true. You will simply register your company in another state. For example, If your company is based in Florida, you would sign up in Georgia. You will pay your annual fees to the state between October 1st and December 31st.
The fees imposed on motor carriers and freight forwarders — businesses that operate motor vehicles – are graduated through a system of brackets, based on the number of vehicles they have operated; brokers and leasing companies, which operate no vehicles themselves, pay a fee at the level that applies to the smallest motor carriers. Fortunately, you will not have to pay for trailers.
When your truck is impounded, it can cause a major disaster for your company. Your clients are counting on you to get their product where it is going on time and in one piece. If you do not have access to your trucks, you may be sued by your clients in addition to receiving government fines.
We want to make sure that your trucking company gets off to a great start. When all your fees are paid and your paperwork is filled out, you will travel from state to state with ease.
How we can help you to register?
The paperwork for the UCR is quite detailed and takes a long time to fill out. The compliance experts at Simplex Group can take care of your paperwork for you. We have years of experience dealing with UCR paperwork and any problems that can occur.
The UCR will not always notify you when fees are due, so we will make sure that your fees are paid in full and on time. Things like paperwork can get away from you when you have all the owner-operator responsibilities of your trucking company.
Simplex Group wants to see you succeed. Give us a call today.
FAQs
Who needs to file a Unified Carrier Registration?
You must file UCR if you operate in interstate or international commerce as a for-hire or private motor carrier, exempt carrier, broker, freight forwarder, or leasing company, and you use qualified commercial motor vehicles—self-propelled units that are 10,001 lb GVWR/GCWR or more, placard hazardous materials, or are designed to carry 10+ passengers including the driver. Purely intrastate operations that never engage in interstate commerce (including through-shipments) generally do not file, but once any interstate activity occurs—directly or under a through bill—you’re in scope for UCR.
What are the 2025 UCR fees, and how do I count vehicles correctly?
2025 fees: B1 (0–2) $46; B2 (3–5) $138; B3 (6–20) $276; B4 (21–100) $963; B5 (101–1000) $4,592; B6 (1001+) $44,836. Brokers/leasing companies pay B1 ($46). Count only self-propelled CMVs (not trailers): vehicles that meet the CMV definition above. You may size your fleet using either your most recent MCS-150 (Option A) or the CMVs operated in the 12-month period ending June 30 before the registration year (Option B). You can exclude vehicles used exclusively intrastate if they never leave the state, never haul freight with out-of-state origin/destination, and are not IRP-plated—but keep a list and provide it to your Base State on request.