Unified Carrier Registration (UCR) is an annual fee that interstate motor carriers, private carriers, brokers, freight forwarders and leasing companies pay through their base state. For registration years 2025 and 2026 the fee for a carrier with 0 to 2 vehicles is $46; a final rule of 1 September 2026 raises it to $55 from registration year 2027, with every bracket going up. Brokers and leasing companies pay the smallest carrier fee.
What UCR is
UCR comes from 49 U.S.C. 14504a. It replaced the old single-state registration system with one national fee, collected by participating states and shared among them under the UCR Agreement, which is run by a UCR Plan board of 15 directors (14504a(d)(1)). The fees themselves are set by FMCSA in 49 CFR Part 367 on the board’s recommendation (14504a(f)(1)(B)). FMCSA’s September 2026 final rule says 41 states participate.
UCR is not a registration of your vehicles and is not the same as IRP or IFTA. It is a fee on the company, sized by how many commercial motor vehicles it operates.
Who must pay
Under 14504a, the fee applies to motor carriers, motor private carriers, brokers, freight forwarders and leasing companies. Two definitions widen it beyond what most people expect:
- 14504a(a)(5)(A): for UCR, "motor carrier" includes carriers that are otherwise exempt from economic regulation, so a for-hire carrier hauling only exempt commodities is still covered.
- Private carriers are named expressly: a company moving its own goods in interstate commerce pays too.
- Leasing companies are lessors "engaged in the business of leasing or renting for compensation motor vehicles without drivers" to carriers (14504a(a)(4)).
- Freight forwarders that operate CMVs and are not registered as carriers are treated as motor carriers (14504a(b)).
The vehicle trigger is the definition in 49 U.S.C. 31101, which 14504a(a)(1) adopts for self-propelled vehicles: a vehicle used on the highways in commerce principally to transport passengers or cargo that has a GVWR or gross vehicle weight of at least 10,001 pounds, whichever is greater; is designed to transport more than 10 passengers including the driver; or carries hazardous materials in a quantity requiring placards.
Intrastate-only carriers
UCR is built around interstate operation. 14504a(j) lets a state "elect to apply the provisions of the UCR agreement" to carriers operating solely in intrastate commerce within its borders. If you never leave your state, whether you pay depends on your state’s choice; ask its UCR office.
The fees
Fees are per company, by fleet size bracket. The statute requires no more than 6 and no fewer than 4 brackets, and a progressive scale (14504a(f)(1)(C) and (D)). Brokers and leasing companies pay "the smallest fee charged to a motor carrier" (14504a(f)(1)(A)(ii)), whatever their size.
| Bracket | Vehicles owned or operated | 2025 and 2026 | 2027 onward |
|---|---|---|---|
| B1 | 0 to 2 (also every broker and leasing company) | $46 | $55 |
| B2 | 3 to 5 | $138 | $167 |
| B3 | 6 to 20 | $276 | $333 |
| B4 | 21 to 100 | $963 | $1,163 |
| B5 | 101 to 1,000 | $4,592 | $5,548 |
| B6 | 1,001 and above | $44,836 | $54,165 |
The 2025 and 2026 figures are the table in 49 CFR 367.50 as it stood in September 2026. The 2027 figures come from FMCSA’s final rule of 1 September 2026 (91 FR 56063), effective 1 October 2026, which moves the current table to 367.40 and adds a new 367.50 "for Registration Year 2027 and Subsequent Years." FMCSA describes the change as an average increase of 20 percent, and the new fees stay in place for later years until another rulemaking changes them.
Why the 2027 fees went up
UCR fees are set to raise a fixed sum. Each participating state’s revenue entitlement is fixed by statute (14504a(g)), and the fees must cover those entitlements plus the Plan’s administrative costs. If collections fall short, the board must seek higher fees; if there is a surplus, fees for later years "shall be reduced" (14504a(h)(4)). FMCSA’s September 2026 rule explains that the 2027 increase addresses a shortfall, averages 20 percent over the 2025-2026 table, and still leaves fees below those in effect for registration years 2019 through 2022. For the smallest carriers and for brokers the increase is $9 a year; for the next bracket, $29. FMCSA calculated that the smallest carrier in each bracket pays roughly $54.11 to $55.67 per truck in 2027.
What states may not charge you
UCR replaced a patchwork of state filings. 14504a(c) makes it "an unreasonable burden upon interstate commerce" for a state to impose requirements or fees on an interstate motor carrier or private carrier in connection with registering its interstate operations with the state, filing insurance information with the state, filing the name of its process agent with the state, or annually renewing its intrastate authority or insurance filings, where the carrier is registered with FMCSA and complies with the state’s laws (with exceptions for some passenger, household goods and waste operations). Under 14504a(c)(2) a state also may not make an interstate carrier that also runs intrastate pay a fee or tax from which purely intrastate carriers are exempt. None of this covers fuel tax or vehicle registration, which are separate (see IFTA and IRP below).
Who runs UCR
The UCR Plan and Agreement are administered by a board of 15 directors. FMCSA’s 2026 final rule describes it as 14 members appointed from the participating states and the motor carrier industry, plus FMCSA’s Deputy Administrator as a statutory member. The board recommends fee changes to the Secretary of Transportation when collections run short of, or over, the amount the states are entitled to (14504a(d)(7) and (f)(1)(E)), and FMCSA adopts the fees by rulemaking in Part 367. Revenue is shared among the participating states and the Plan, and by statute the states must use it for motor carrier safety programs and enforcement, or for administering the UCR Plan and Agreement (14504a(e)(1)(B)).
When you pay
The same final rule explains that the UCR Plan collects each fee year over a two-year window: "collections begin on October 1 of the year preceding the fee year to allow for advance registration and close on December 31 of the year following the fee year." So registration for 2027 opens on 1 October 2026. Register for each year you will operate in; the UCR Plan (ucr.gov) and your base state publish the deadlines for each registration year.
How to count your vehicles
14504a(f)(3) gives two ways to arrive at the number that sets your bracket:
- the number of CMVs shown on your most recently filed MCS-150, or
- the total number of CMVs you owned or operated during the 12-month period ending on June 30 of the year before the registration year.
Two adjustments are allowed. Carriers "may elect not to include commercial motor vehicles used exclusively in the intrastate transportation of property, waste, or recyclable material," and a carrier may choose to include lighter for-hire vehicles if it wishes (14504a(a)(1)(B)). A vehicle counts as yours if it is registered in your name or "controlled ... under a long term lease during a vehicle registration year" (14504a(f)(2)). Trailers do not count: 14504a(a)(1)(A) limits the definition to self-propelled vehicles.
Base state
14504a(a)(2): your base state is the participating state where you maintain your principal place of business. If that state does not participate, or you have no principal place of business in the United States, you may designate another participating state in which you maintain an office or operating facility. You pay all UCR fees to the base state (14504a(f)(4)).
Enforcement
14504a(i)(4) preserves the power of participating states to issue citations and impose "reasonable fines and penalties" under their own laws on a carrier, broker, forwarder or leasing company that fails to file the required information or pay the fee. The amount of any fine is a matter of state law. The statute also stops states from demanding any extra vehicle sticker as evidence of compliance beyond what 49 U.S.C. 14506 allows (14504a(i)(4)(B)).
Registering: the practical sequence
- Check that you are covered. Interstate motor carrier (for-hire, exempt or private), broker, freight forwarder or leasing company: yes. Purely intrastate: only if your state has opted in under 14504a(j).
- Identify your base state: the participating state of your principal place of business, or, if that state does not participate, another participating state where you have an office or operating facility.
- Count your power units using your latest MCS-150 or the 12 months to June 30 of the prior year, leaving out any vehicles used only in intrastate transportation of property if you wish. A truck you control under a long-term lease counts in your fleet (14504a(f)(2)).
- Pick the bracket and pay for each registration year you will operate in. Under 14504a(f)(4) fees are paid to the base state "pursuant to the UCR Agreement." The UCR Plan’s official site is ucr.gov.
- Keep proof of payment with your company records. The statute does not let states demand a vehicle sticker or other identification as evidence of compliance beyond what 49 U.S.C. 14506 permits (14504a(i)(4)(B)).
If your fleet size changes, the bracket for the next year follows the count method you use. Keep the MCS-150 current: under 49 CFR 390.19T(b) it must be updated at least every 24 months, and the UCR count can be based on it.
UCR compared with IRP and IFTA
| UCR | IRP | IFTA | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Annual company fee | Apportioned vehicle registration (plates and cab card) | Quarterly fuel tax return |
| Sized by | Number of power units (bracket) | Distance run in each jurisdiction and vehicle weight | Miles and fuel by jurisdiction |
| Brokers pay? | Yes, smallest fee | No | No |
| More | This page | IRP guide | IFTA guide |
Worked examples
Example 1. An owner-operator with his own authority, one tractor, based in a participating state. Bracket B1: $46 for 2026, $55 for 2027.
Example 2. A fleet whose last MCS-150 shows 7 tractors, 2 of them used only for intrastate hauling of property. It may exclude the 2 intrastate-only trucks and count 5, which puts it in B2 ($167 for 2027) rather than B3 ($333).
Example 3. A farm cooperative’s trucking arm hauls only commodities exempt from FMCSA economic regulation across state lines with 4 trucks. It needs no operating authority, but UCR counts exempt carriers as motor carriers (14504a(a)(5)(A)), so it pays for bracket B2: $138 for 2026, $167 for 2027.
Example 4. A freight broker with 200 employees and no trucks. Brokers pay the smallest fee by statute, whatever their size: $46 for 2026 and $55 for 2027.
UCR is small next to insurance and fuel, but it belongs in your cost model; the cost per mile calculator has a line for fixed fees. For the full list of start-up filings see how to get your own trucking authority.
Common mistakes
- Thinking private or exempt carriers are outside UCR. The statute names both.
- Counting trailers. Only self-propelled vehicles count.
- Reporting a fleet size on UCR that does not match the MCS-150 without a basis in the June 30 look-back.
- Paying the old fee for the new year. From registration year 2027 the higher table applies.