Effective January 1, roadside enforcement personnel began checking for compliance with the federal Unified Carrier Registration, or UCR. UCR applies to all motor carriers involved in interstate commerce, along with other businesses such as freight brokers.
UCR is a fee established in 2005 to provide supplemental funding for state highway motor carrier registration and safety programs. Failure to register and pay UCR fees can subject you to fines ranging from $100 to $5,000 for first time offenders, depending upon your base state.
The fee is based on the size of the fleet you operate as shown in your USDOT profile. If you’re not sure how many power units are showing in your profile, go to https://safer.fmcsa.dot.gov/CompanySnapshot.aspx. To pay your 2022 UCR, go to www.ucr.gov and follow the prompts.
No driver plans for a breakdown, but every driver should be ready for one. Mechanical issues, tire failures, or other unexpected problems can happen when you least expect it. Knowing how to safely bring your vehicle to a stop and protect yourself and others can help keep a minor inconvenience from becoming a serious incident.
For truckers, testing for marijuana continues. Just as with testing for cocaine, amphetamines, PCP, and opioids, testing for marijuana will continue to be conducted on a pre-employment, random, post-accident, reasonable suspicion, and return-to-duty basis.
As temperatures rise, so do the risks associated with tires, brakes, and overall vehicle condition. Summer heat doesn’t just stress drivers, it amplifies mechanical weaknesses, making maintenance and inspections more important than ever.