The FMCSA is suggesting a 25% uptick in the Unified Carrier Registration (UCR) Plan fees for the 2025 registration year, as well as beyond, into the following years. This increase would set a new standard for UCR Plan fees.
This adjustment aims to counterbalance a revenue shortfall that compiled throughout two consecutive years of reduced fees. The proposed increase, recommended by the UCR Plan, applies to registration fees collected by participating states from motor carriers, brokers, freight forwarders, and leasing companies.
For the 2025 registration year, fees would escalate by an average of 25% compared to those of 2024. The increase ranges from $9 to $9,000 per entity, depending on the specific fee bracket, so a clear estimate for the increase in all fees is difficult to determine accurately.
The UCR Plan, mandated by federal statute, issues recommendations to the Secretary of Transportation for fee adjustments when revenue collections deviate from the authorized amount.
This proposal follows a downward trend in UCR fees for the past two registration years. At a closer look, in 2023, fees were reduced by an average of 31.2% from 2022, and in 2024, they decreased by an average of 8.9% from the previous year. The UCR Plan’s recommendations, especially the 2023 suggestion for 2024 fees, anticipated the future need for a fee increase around the 2025 registration year. This is due to the reduction of excess collections that prompted the decreases in the preceding fees.
It’s noteworthy that even with the proposed 2025 increase, the fees would still be lower than those in effect during the 2019-2022 registration years.
FMCSA is open to public comments on this proposal for a 30-day period, which started Jan. 9, and individuals can provide their feedback at www.regulations.gov by searching for Docket No. FMCSA-2023-0268.
Source: Commercial Carrier Journal
