UCR renewal 2027: fees, deadline, and how to file

Any business in interstate or international commerce that is one of the following must register for UCR every year:

• A motor carrier of property, for-hire or private, including exempt carriers that hold no operating authority
• A for-hire passenger carrier
• A broker or freight forwarder
• A leasing company that leases vehicles without drivers to interstate carriers

Two groups are not subject: carriers that operate only in intrastate commerce, and private carriers of passengers, such as a school or a business moving its own employees. UCR's idea of interstate is broader than IRP's or IFTA's: a truck that never leaves its state is interstate when it carries part of a shipment crossing a state or national border, such as a container drayed to or from a port.

If you're not sure, UCR's Do I Need to Register? questionnaire walks through each case. UCR is also separate from IRP, IFTA, and state permits; our truck permits guide shows how they fit together.

What if your state doesn't participate?

You still register. Forty-one states participate in UCR. Carriers based in Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont, Wyoming, or Washington, D.C. use a participating state as their base state.

A Florida carrier with no office in a participating state, for example, chooses from Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, or Texas. Carriers based in Canada and Mexico that operate in the U.S. register too.

One legal entity that is both a carrier and a broker registers once and pays the higher carrier fee. A carrier that operates under more than one USDOT number registers and pays for each number.

To keep operating legally, you must complete your UCR renewal and pay before January 1 of the registration year. For 2027, the portal opens October 1, 2026, and the UCR Plan expects an on-time start.

After January 1 the fee is still due, and states can take enforcement action against anyone who hasn't paid. A new interstate carrier owes the fee as soon as it designates interstate commerce on its USDOT record, so UCR belongs in the startup sequence our guide to starting a trucking company lays out.

How is UCR enforced?

There is no UCR credential to carry, so enforcement runs on data. Officers check registration through FMCSA's SAFER system, CVIEW, or UCR's own lookup, and cite an unpaid year at roadside as a 392.2 UCR violation, "Failure to pay UCR fees."

States also audit. They compare the IRP-plated vehicles a carrier runs with the bracket it paid, and a carrier that can't justify its bracket must pay the difference or have its registration suspended. Each state sets its own penalties, and some refuse to register a carrier's vehicles until UCR is paid.

Most carriers renew online through the National Registration System at ucr.gov, which starts with your USDOT number. You can also mail a paper form to your base state, or register at a base-state office.

Step 1: Confirm you're subject and know your base state

Your base state is normally the state of your principal place of business. If it doesn't participate, pick one as described above.

Step 2: Bring your USDOT record up to date

The UCR Plan tells carriers to update their USDOT and operating authority record with FMCSA whenever the name, address, or other details change. Our Motus guide explains where those updates happen now.

Step 3: Choose your count and bracket

Use your last MCS-150 or your 12-month count, and keep the records that support the number.

Step 4: Pay before January 1

Pay online if you can. If you register online and mail a check, your registration isn't effective until the payment is received and posted.

Step 5: Confirm it and keep the receipt

Search your USDOT number in UCR's registration lookup to confirm it shows. You don't need proof in the truck, but keep the receipt. Or let our UCR registration and renewal service handle the filing.