Driving Toward Efficient MC Authority Registration

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has been working on the new Unified Registration System (URS) for the past few years. It should benefit drivers and owners of motor carrier enterprises and businesses, particularly in applying for MC authority registration.

The URS will consolidate the systems that track registration, identification, and financial responsibility into one “smart form.” It aims to raise the standards for entry into the industry for carriers, brokers, and freight forwarders. Parties entering the trucking industry need to acquire an MC number, which will be made simpler by the URS.

The FMCSA is trying to achieve a more detailed but simplified registration. The current system entails going through more than three separate processes, including the USDOT Number, Single State Registration System, and Financial Responsibility Information, all of which can just be consolidated.

One of the reasons the FMCSA instituted this new system is to track down “chameleon carriers.” These truckers have been registering under different names and using different USDOT IDs to evade apprehension for safety violations. This anomalous practice has been fairly easy under the current system, giving the FMCSA a lot of trouble tracing these unlawful truckers.

The problems that arise from chameleon carriers include lack of safety inspection and insurance, as well as financial responsibility issues. Presently, chameleons can hide from the authorities by registering under different names.