The federal government is overhauling its system for trucking and bus company registration, in a move that will combine 16 forms that companies must complete into one Web-based electronic form, regulators said Thursday.
When the new system from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration becomes mandatory in October 2015, it will “streamline the registration process and serve as a clearinghouse and depository of information on, and identification of, motor carriers, brokers, freight forwarders, [intermodal equipment providers], [hazardous materials safety permit] applicants, and cargo tank facilities required to register with FMCSA,” the agency said.
The rule combines three separate systems FMCSA previously used to track carriers’ registration numbers, evidence of financial responsibility and a designation of a process agent. It creates a Unified Registration System for tracking companies FMCSA regulates.
It also consolidates FMCSA’s number designations into one system, eliminating the motor carrier numbers, freight forwarder numbers and numbers for Mexico-based carriers. All companies registering with FMCSA will instead be assigned a Department of Transportation number.
URS does not incorporate the Unified Carrier Registration system, which states jointly operate to collect carrier fees.
The new system will cost the trucking industry $25 million, due mostly to the time it takes to fill out the form. But it will save the government $27.3 million, resulting in a net savings of $2.3 million, FMCSA said.
Congress first told DOT to establish URS in 1995.
