FMCSA cuts 2023 UCR fees for carriers, small fleet requests HOS waiver

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced in a Federal Register notice published Sept. 1 that it is reducing fees collected by states from motor carriers, brokers, freight forwarders and leasing companies as part of the Unified Carrier Registration (UCR) Plan for the 2023 registration year and beyond. The new fees are effective immediately.

The new fees are an approximately 31% decrease for all fee brackets, which equates to a reduction between $18 and $17,688, depending on the number of vehicles owned or operated by the company.

The 2023 UCR fees are:

2023 UCR fees

The fee adjustments were approved because the total revenues collected for previous registration years exceeded the maximum annual revenue of $107.78 million. Fees collected over the maximum annual revenue are held and applied to future registration years, allowing for the fee reduction.

Participating states will begin collecting 2023 UCR fees on Oct. 1.

Small fleet seeks temporary HOS waiver

Flat Top Transport, a trucking company that delivers products such as food grade flour, corn meal, and salts used for the production of cereals, baked goods, canned goods and meat processing, has petitioned FMCSA for a four-month waiver from the hours of service regulations in 49 Code of Federal Regulations Part 395.

According to FMCSA’s SAFER website, Holland, Michigan-based Flat Top Transport operates nine trucks and has 10 drivers.

The company is requesting the exemption to provide “immediate and emergency delivery of dry and bulk food grade products to locations that supply stores and distribution centers nationally.”

“These goods being delivered under hours of service are threatening food chain supply and producing shutdowns,” Flat Top said in its request. “The products being delivered are under strict time constraints and the number of available trucks is limited. Due to railroads being limited and a truck driver shortage, the inflation rates of parts and services, the time constraint of hours of service are causing many food producing factories to shut down until the products arrive.”

Flat Top says it is requesting the exemption “to help these food producers catch up to an already decreased stock due to COVID. ... We are not seeking this exemption to ignore hours of service, but to simply be given some flexibility, as the goods we haul and deliver and our customers we are delivering to, need this.” 

FMCSA is requesting public comments on the exemption application, which can be made here through Oct. 3.

Other news, in brief: 

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