UCR Registration for Commercial Vehicles: A Step-by-Step Guide

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If you are thinking “what is ucr registration?” Then, you must know it’s an abbreviation of Unified Carrier Registration. It is a federal government program enforced in the USA for over a decade. According to the UCR system, it is mandatory for every individual and organization operating in commercial motor vehicles to register with the government. This allows for interstate & international travel without any restrictions. Unified Carrier Registration needs to be renewed every year by December 31. Normally, the owners/operators of commercial MVs start on October 01 for the registration of the coming year.

Who Needs UCR Registration?

Individuals & companies that operate in commercial MVs are required to register. This will help them ensure smooth business activities by allowing restriction-free interstate and international travel.

However, motor vehicles that are involved in intrastate commerce activities are not forced to register for UCR. These vehicles are not subject to fees.

How Do You Register for UCR?

UCR registration can be a bit challenging, especially if you are new to the process. Generally, there are UCR filing websites available online like movingauthority.com that can help you with UCR registration against minimal fees. You can pick an online payment method, such as a debit card, MasterCard, an e-Check, or any other federal government accepted method to get registered online.

You can also visit https://plan.ucr.gov/ to check when UCR registration is going to open for 2021.

Step-by-Step Process to UCR Registration

If you know nothing about the process, then read the below-mentioned points for some valuable information.

Determine Qualified Commercial Vehicles

First thing first, you are required to identify the number of qualified commercial MVs in your fleet so that you can begin with the registration process. In case you don’t know what comes under the umbrella of qualified MVs, then review the following:

  • Passenger—a vehicle that is designed to carry more than 10 passengers.
  • Cargo—a vehicle that has an approx. gross weight of 10,001 pounds or more.
  • Or any type of commercial vehicle that can carry hazardous materials in bulk quantities. These vehicles need to be marked under state/federal regulations.

Visit UCR Registration Office

Up next, you need to contact your base jurisdiction’s UCR office for registration. For your information, you must know that every member jurisdiction has its own registration office. This makes it easy for the commercial MVs operators to register for inter-state and international commerce. You can check on the list of approved UCR registration offices across different states.

As mentioned earlier, you can get your commercial MVs registered online through reliable portals. You can feasibly use the UCR system without worrying about where your jurisdiction is situated.

Calculate Your Registration Fees

After you have decided on jurisdiction’s UCR registration office or online registration platform, it’s time that you calculate the processing fee & annual registration charges. Remember, total fee will be dependent on the number of commercial MVs qualified in your fleet. Typically, there is a $76 fee/company for a fleet size of 0 to 2, $227 fee/company for a fleet size of 3 to 5, $452/company for a fleet size of 6 to 20, $1576/company for a fleet size of 21 to 100, $7511/company for a fleet size of 101 to 1000, and $73,346/company for a fleet size of 1001 and over.

Review UCR Form Instructions

It is good on your end to carefully read all the instructions given on UCR forms. Normally, a UCR form is divided into four sections. The 1st section is about ‘general information’ that covers relevant information of your company and operational records. The 2nd section is about ‘classification’ of motor carrier / commercial vehicles. The 3rd section is about ‘the exclusive use of MVs’ whether the vehicles will be used for intrastate or interstate transportation. It also covers manufacturing year, engine no, chassis no, registration no, license plate, no. of passengers, etc. The 4th section is about ‘certification’ which shows that information given on the form is correct.

Pay Your Fees

Lastly, you will be paying for the registration fee to your base jurisdiction or through the state’s online registration portal. As mentioned in the start of this article, you can pay your UCR fees via multiple methods. You can either pay in cash, through your debit card, or by signing up for UCR system mobile.