Bulktransporter 397 General Trucking
Bulktransporter 397 General Trucking
Bulktransporter 397 General Trucking
Bulktransporter 397 General Trucking
Bulktransporter 397 General Trucking

FMCSA launches new Unified Registration System for DOT operating authority

Aug. 27, 2013

The Federal Motor Carrier Administration (FMCSA) has published a final rule that will combine 16 different forms that carriers, freight forwarders, and brokers currently use to register and update their information with the agency into a single, electronic “smart form.”

The new Unified Registration System will increase efficiency by streamlining the registration process for industry and enabling FMCSA to maintain more accurate information on the entities it regulates, according to FMCSA officials. The streamlined web-based system will begin operating in 2015. At that time, all new applications and updates to existing records will be handled through the new system.

The Unified Registration System (URS) is a new electronic on-line registration system that will streamline and simplify FMCSA’s registration process and serve as a clearinghouse and depository of information on all entities regulated by the agency, including motor carriers, brokers, freight forwarders, intermodal equipment providers (IEPs), hazardous materials safety permit (HMSP) applicants/holders, and cargo tank manufacturing and repair facilities. The URS will combine multiple registration processes, information technology systems and forms into a single, electronic online registration process.

FMCSA officials say the agency undertook this rulemaking to simplify and reduce the amount of time entities must spend filling out paperwork as part of the registration process as well as enable the agency to maintain more accurate information on the entities subject to FMCSA’s jurisdiction. Portions of this rule are also required by the ICC Termination Act of 1995 and the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users. The Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) also included several provisions relevant to the new URS, but these provisions will be addressed in a separate rulemaking.

There are two effective dates for this rule. Taking effect on November 1, 2013, are new enforcement provisions for failing to file biennial updates according to the schedule in 49 CFR 390.19(b)(2), and a prohibition on operating with an inactive US DOT Number. Starting October 23, 2015, the Agency will require all entities registering or providing information to the agency to do so through the URS electronic online registration process.

FMCSA set November 1, 2013 as the compliance date for the biennial update requirements because motor carriers are already required to update their registration information biennially under 49 CFR 390.19 and the information is very valuable to the Agency in carrying out its safety mission. The October 23, 2015 effective date to comply with the remaining URS requirements is to provide sufficient time for the Agency to launch the new URS website.

The new rule will streamline manual processes and combine several forms regulated entities are required to submit into one unified online registration process, thereby saving time and money for the industry and FMCSA, according to FMCSA officials. They estimate that industry will see total savings of almost $9 million from time and fees over a 10-year period.

This rule will also improve the ability for FMCSA to locate small and medium-sized private and exempt for-hire motor carriers for enforcement action, because investigators will be able to work with designated process agents to locate and/or serve documents on hard-to-find motor carriers.

The Agency estimated in its Regulatory Impact Analysis that 16% of new registrations are submitted through paper applications. Entities without access to the Internet may use third party processing agents, Internet access at public libraries, and kiosks at trucks stops and travel centers, among other options.