UCR fees may decrease for 2018 – UPDATE

By Bob Pitcher, State Laws Newsletter.

A few weeks ago, we reported that there was a good chance that the fees imposed under the Unified Carrier Registration Agreement would decrease for 2018, because the UCR program has collected more revenue from carriers and other entities than the participating states are entitled to.

At the time, we suggested that the decrease might be in the neighborhood of 4 percent. In the interim, however, we realized that such a decrease would only serve to prevent the continued collection of surplus UCR revenues, and would not compensate carriers for the fees they had already overpaid. We brought this to the attention of the UCR Board of Directors and it now appears that the decrease in fees next year may be more on the order of 8.3 percent. That would take a UCR fee at the lowest level from $76 to $70, and at the highest from some $76,000 to some $70,000.

There may have to be a slight offsetting increase in the fees for 2019, but the complexities here have yet to be worked out fully. It also appears at this point that the U.S. Department of Transportation, which has to approve the decrease, may in fact be able to do so in time for the change to take effect this fall.