From a FAQ by AAMVA with respect to SAFETEA-LU
What entities are subject to the UCRA fees?
Only regulated for-hire motor carriers have been covered by the Single State Registration System (“SSRS”). UCRA, on the other hand, requires all motor carriers required to
register with the United States Department of Transportation (“USDOT”), including private, for-hire, and exempt carriers, as well as brokers, freight forwarders, and leasing
companies to pay fees.
What entities are not subject to the UCRA fees?
Purely intrastate motor carriers are not subject to UCRA per se, unless a state that participates in UCRA elects to extend the requirements of UCRA to its intrastate carrier
population. In general, apart from entities that receive a USDOT number solely under the PRISM Program, and intrastate carriers of hazardous materials, all carriers that have a USDOT number are under the UCRA.
The UCRA law prohibits states from doing certain things and imposing certain fees on interstate carriers. What are these?
Section 4305 of SAFETEA-LU prohibits a state from requiring an interstate carrier, 'for hire' or private, to register with it the carrier’s interstate operations, to file information
concerning the carrier’s federally required insurance, to file the name of the carrier’s federally required agent for service of process, or to renew with it the carrier’s intrastate
authority or insurance filings or any other filings required of an intrastate carrier, except with respect to intrastate operations whose regulation has not been federally preempted (such as nonconsensual towing and the transportation of household goods, for example). SAFETEA-LU does not affect a state’s regulation of intrastate carriers that do not hold interstate operating authority.
Under the UCRA, may a state continue to impose a requirement – and a fee – on an interstate carrier when it first obtains intrastate operating authority?
Yes. The new law draws a distinction between requirements (including the requirement to pay a fee) a state may impose on an interstate motor carrier when it initially applies for intrastate operating authority, and those requirements which pertain to the renewal of the intrastate authority by an interstate carrier. A state may continue to impose the first set of requirements, including the fees, and may not recoup such revenues under the UCRA. And a state may not, under the new law, continue to impose the second set of requirements, and may recoup revenues it loses from the discontinuance of such a program.
The up-shot is that:
- ALL Motor Carriers must register through the Unified Carrier Registration System, including Private and Exempt Carriers
- Intrastate Operating Authorities will continue
- A state may revoke the Interstate Authority of a carrier domiciled in that State
- "In theory", renewal charges for an Intrastate Operating Authority are terminated
- A carrier can not be required to file any Federally mandated items with any State
- First time Intrastate applicants may be charged and required to file full documentation
- Intrastate only carriers will see no change in the rules
