States Face Budget Crunch as UCR Fees Still Up in Air
This story appears in the Dec. 21 & 28 print edition of Transport Topics.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has yet to announce the final fees for its Unified Carrier Registration Agreement, leaving states in financial limbo and some wondering if the program should be scrapped.
“Perhaps there should be a change in the [Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program] or just do away with UCR altogether and give states the money they were supposed to get under UCR that we’ve never gotten,” said Capt. Robert Powers, commander of the Traffic Safety Division of the Michigan State Police. “It would allow us to have that money for enforcement and safety programs, which is what it is supposed to be used for.”
Powers told Transport Topics that Michigan has lost $3.5 million to $4 million annually because of the change from the Single State Registration System to UCR. That revenue decline has had a palpable effect on the state’s motor carrier enforcement program, he said.
“I’ve got 37 fewer officers today from UCR than we had under SSRS,” Powers said.
Congress created UCR, a registration system for all types of interstate carriers, brokers and forwarders, as part of the 2005 highway reauthorization bill. Unlike UCR, the SSRS program collected fees only from for-hire carriers.
However, since its inception, UCR has been plagued by missed deadlines and the undercollection of fees.
Powers said UCR was expected to provide states with as much revenue as they had gotten under SSRS. Michigan should receive about $7.5 million a year, but he said the state has collected about half that amount.
The projected revenue accounts for 25% to 30% of the state’s annual commercial vehicle enforcement budget, Powers said.
William Leonard, director of the motor carrier compliance bureau of the New York State Department of Transportation, said UCR funds account for “roughly 60% to 70% of my program.”
Earlier this year, FMCSA proposed doubling the fees to make up for shortfalls, but those fees have yet to be approved. Until then, states will not be able to collect new money.
“We’ll retrench and we’ll continue to collect for 2009 and possibly go back for ’08 and ’07 collections until we can get the new fee structure,” Leonard said.
An FMCSA official told TT last week the proposed regulation is currently under departmental review. UCR board members have said the program may require further review by the White House, a process that could take until early spring.
“It will become a cash flow issue for us right around April 1. We may have to look into borrowing,” Leonard said.
Earlier in the year, American Trucking Associations and other industry groups proposed eliminating UCR and replacing it with just a block of grants to states from the federal government.
“I’d be surprised if some states aren’t thinking along those lines. It just seems like a whole lot easier way to get their money if it can be arranged,” said Bob Pitcher, ATA vice president of state laws and vice chairman of the UCR board.
Leonard said a grant proposal would need to be carefully scrutinized and should provide the maximum amount of money available to states.
