WASHINGTON — Regulators are moving ahead with plans for a new registration system that will help the government keep better track of motor carriers and freight brokers.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will be asking the White House Office of Management and Budget to review and approve a request to collect new information that will inform the FMCSA Registration System (FRS). FRS will replace the current Unified Registration System (URS), according to a Federal Register notice scheduled for Friday.
FMCSA and the states use operating-authority registration information to track motor carriers, freight forwarders and brokers, as well as the companies that insure them.
“Registering motor carriers is essential to being able to identify carriers so that their safety performance can be tracked and evaluated,” FMCSA stated in the notice.
“The data makes it possible to link individual trucks to the responsible motor carrier … ensuring that commercial motor vehicles are maintained and operated safely. In general, registration information collected informs prioritization of the agency’s activities and aids in assessing and statistically analyzing the safety outcomes of those activities.”
The information collection — and ultimately the FRS — will apply to:
- New registrants applying for safety and/or operating authority registration for the first time from FMCSA.
- Existing registrants (i.e., entities that already have a U.S. Department of Transportation number and/or operating authority) subject to FMCSA’s registration and certification regulations that want to apply for additional authorities.
- Registrants seeking to process name changes, address changes and reinstatements of operating authority for motor carriers, freight forwarders and brokers.
- Registrants requesting to voluntarily suspend their safety and/or operating authority registration with FMCSA.
- Motor carriers, brokers and freight forwarders that must designate an agent on whom service of notices in proceedings before the secretary of transportation may be made.
- Designated agents and entities providing proof of financial responsibility requirements, such as insurance companies and bond agents.
- Mexico-based carriers that want to operate beyond the U.S. municipalities on the U.S.-Mexico border and their commercial zones.
10 years in the making
FMCSA envisioned transitioning URS to a more streamlined online registration system when URS was finalized in 2013.
But due to suspensions and delays, the agency still separately collects different types of information — including voluntary and involuntary operating authority revocations, and the designation of brokers and freight forwarders — and compiles them into URS.
Initially, FMCSA estimates 650,000 entities — motor carriers, freight brokers, insurers and others — will be using the new system.
“FMCSA is developing FRS in such a way as to save users as much time as possible,” it noted in the Federal Register document. “However, FMCSA expects that, at worst, the time and effort required to complete an application, update, or process agent designation in FRS will be the same as it is to complete in the URS or using a paper form.
“In the future, during routine renewals and/or revisions for this new collection, and as FMCSA gathers information on average time per transaction in FRS, FMCSA expects to be able to refine these estimates.”
Public meeting May 29
FMCSA held a public meeting in January to get URS users’ perspectives on improving their registration experience and plans a second virtual meeting, “FMCSA Registration Modernization Stakeholder Day II,” on May 29.
Motor carriers, brokers, insurance companies and other third-party service providers are encouraged to attend and provide feedback “as we develop a more user-friendly registration system that manages the registration life cycle of regulated entities.”
Marilyn
I wish FMCSA would put their time, effort, and money into securing the motor carrier’s data and getting ahead of the real fraudsters instead of imposing more regulations.
Johnny
Are we living in a jail or prison? Where is American freedom our forefathers have fought for? Why do you need tracking truckers ? DOT and FMCSA lost their mind, we have bunch of stupid ppl who wants to collect date and sell to private sectors or is it to much putting stupid nose into the business by government? The results wont be good, instead these stupid idiots idiots could think of improving transportation infrastructure, building quality roads, the half of the country’s roads needs attention.
Richard Davis
The regulations that the DOT/FMCSA/GOVERNMENT force upon the trucking industry and drivers are said to be for safety. Even though the trucking industry was supposedly de-regulated in the 80s, it is still heavenly regulated. Today’s regulations dictate how much a truck owner and driver can make in different ways. They are told how many hours they can work in a day and week. They are told when and for how long they need to take a break/sleep. Truck drivers and owner-operators are forced/required to work many hours a week for free. They aren’t held under the FLSA like almost, if not every other American worker, a regulation/law that dates back to 1938. Truck drivers’ time is mostly dictated by how others do their jobs or the circumstances around them. With most truck drivers, you aren’t getting paid if the wheels aren’t turning. It’s time to regulate the freight rates and have a minimum rate, just like a minimum wage. They have a minimum wage so workers can have a living wage. Truck owners and drivers need the same. Most truck drivers can’t work overtime if they need extra money, because they are regulated on how much they can work.
Sales rep
The re-brokering of freight by carriers is a problem nobody wants to address. I have been a driver, an owner operator, fleet owner and sales agent for carriers and brokers. There are problems at every level. Here is my current issue.
I as a broker agent have a contract with carrier A to haul a load from Los Angeles to Atlanta for $6,000 and that carrier picks up then calls carrier B, without my knowledge), and offers if to them for $4500, carrier B picks up the freight from carrier A then a week later I am calling Carrier A to find out why the freight hasn’t delivered,
Carrier A has some BS story about how the truck broke down, meanwhile, carrier B calls the receiver and says he has the freight and wants $8,000 to deliver it. The receiver tells them to pound sand because the shipment is prepaid by the shipper. The shipper calls the broker and wants to file a claim. The insurance company for Carrier A denies the claim stating the freight is not in the possession of their insured carrier. Carrier B has no contract with the Shipper or the Broker and will not return calls from either.
Clearly, the contract between the Broker and Carrier A has been broken because the clause in the contract states that any freight tendered to a partner carrier must be approved by the broker and meet the requirements of the brokers’ due diligence search. This was not done and Carrier A was hired in good faith.
If you look at all the major carriers you’ll see they all have a brokerage arm of their business. There have been a number of times that I have scheduled loads to be picked up by a major carrier and a truck shows up with a different name on the door and upon running their MC number we find they have an “unsatisfactory” Safersys score or their insurance hasn’t been paid. This entire industry needs to get their ducks in a row and weed out the “bad actors” that give us all a bad name.
I know insurance is unbelievably high and that is due in large part to the ambulance chasers advertising they will get the claimant millions for the scratched paint on their 1984 Yugo. But that’s a whole other problem.
Please leaveusalone
Please for christs sake leave us carriers alone already.
Robert Gallegos
Glad they are looking into theft prevention and easier registration.
Deuce
Leave. Us. Alone! Regulate the brokers. Change their language in their successful practice of fabricating the number of trucks in their “fleet” to customers! There are still small time Owner Ops out here who are being choked by regulations and disrespected by the many. Starting with the federal government!!! Nothing they do is for trucker protection or advancement.