FMCSA to Simplify Registration System With Creation of Single Web-Based Form
This story appears in the Aug. 26 print edition of Transport Topics.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is overhauling its system for registering the companies that it regulates, a move that will condense 16 forms that companies must complete into a single Web-based form, regulators said last week.
When the new Unified Registration System 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 in the rule to create the system, which it unveiled Aug. 22.
The new system will cost the trucking industry $25 million, mostly because of the time it takes to fill out the new “MCSA-1” registration application form. But it will save the government $27.3 million, resulting in a net savings of $2.3 million, FMCSA said. “FMCSA is focused on streamlining processes for industry while maintaining our commitment to safety,” agency spokeswoman Marissa Padilla said.
The rule combines three systems FMCSA previously used to track carriers’ registration numbers, evidence of financial responsibility and a designation of a process agent.
The URS does not incorporate the Unified Carrier Registration system, which states jointly operate to collect carrier fees.
Additionally, the Unified Registration System 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 be assigned a Department of Transportation number.
In its Aug. 22 announcement, the agency said it would formally publish the rule in the Aug. 23 edition of the Federal Register, after Transport Topics went to press.
Congress first told DOT to establish a Unified Registration System in 1995.
