Title 49 — TransportationRelease 119-73
§13908 Registration and other reforms
Title 49 › Subtitle SUBTITLE IV— - INTERSTATE TRANSPORTATION › Part PART B— - MOTOR CARRIERS, WATER CARRIERS, BROKERS, AND FREIGHT FORWARDERS › Chapter CHAPTER 139— - REGISTRATION › § 13908
Summary
The Secretary must create an online system called the "Unified Carrier Registration System" within 1 year. It will replace existing DOT ID, state registration, financial responsibility, and service-of-process agent systems. The system will hold and identify all foreign and U.S. motor carriers, private carriers, brokers, freight forwarders, and others who must register. It will include things like safety ratings, proof of financial responsibility, and compliance with registration rules. Federal agencies, States, industry representatives, and the public must be able to access the system. Within 60 days the Secretary must make rules that let a carrier fix wrong information in the system. The Secretary must set fees under 31 U.S.C. 9701. New registrants will pay a fee that roughly covers processing costs. Filing proof of financial responsibility may cost up to $10 per filing. No fee is charged to name an agent for service of process or for some other financial filings. There can be a small fee to get data from the system to cover running and updating it, but not for federal or State governments or for a carrier or its agent to get that carrier’s own records. Fees go to the Department of Transportation account and can be spent for their intended uses until used up. Carriers that operate only inside one State and are not otherwise required to register do not have to register.
Full Legal Text
Title 49, §13908
Transportation — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)The Secretary, in cooperation with the States, representatives of the motor carrier, motor private carrier, freight forwarder, and broker industries and after notice and opportunity for public comment, shall issue within 1 year after the date of enactment of the Unified Carrier Registration Act of 2005 regulations to establish an online Federal registration system, to be named the “Unified Carrier Registration System”, to replace—
(1)the current Department of Transportation identification number system, the single State registration system under section 14504; 11 See References in Text note below.
(2)the registration system contained in this chapter and the financial responsibility information system under section 13906; and
(3)the service of process agent systems under section 503 and 13304.
(b)The Unified Carrier Registration System shall serve as a clearinghouse and depository of information on, and identification of, all foreign and domestic motor carriers, motor private carriers, brokers, freight forwarders, and others required to register with the Department of Transportation, including information with respect to a carrier’s safety rating, compliance with required levels of financial responsibility, and compliance with the provisions of section 14504a. The Secretary shall ensure that Federal agencies, States, representatives of the motor carrier industry, and the public have access to the Unified Carrier Registration System, including the records and information contained in the System.
(c)Not later than 60 days after the effective date of this section, the Secretary shall prescribe regulations establishing procedures that enable a motor carrier to correct erroneous information contained in any part of the Unified Carrier Registration System.
(d)The Secretary shall establish, under section 9701 of title 31, a fee system for the Unified Carrier Registration System according to the following guidelines:
(1)The fee for new registrants shall as nearly as possible cover the costs of processing the registration.
(2)The fee for filing evidence of financial responsibility pursuant to this section shall not exceed $10 per filing. No fee shall be charged for a filing for purposes of designating an agent for service of process or the filing of other information relating to financial responsibility.
(3)(A)Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the fee system shall include a nominal fee for the access to or retrieval of information from the Unified Carrier Registration System to cover the costs of operating and upgrading the System, including the personnel costs incurred by the Department and the costs of administration of the unified carrier registration agreement.
(B)There shall be no fee charged under this paragraph—
(i)to any agency of the Federal Government or a State government or any political subdivision of any such government for the access to or retrieval of information and data from the Unified Carrier Registration System for its own use; or
(ii)to any representative of a motor carrier, motor private carrier, leasing company, broker, or freight forwarder (as each is defined in section 14504a) for the access to or retrieval of the individual information related to such entity from the Unified Carrier Registration System for the individual use of such entity.
(e)Fees collected under this section may be credited to the Department of Transportation appropriations account for purposes for which such fees are collected and shall be available for expenditure for such purposes until expended.
(f)Nothing in this section requires the registration of a motor carrier, a motor private carrier of property, or a transporter of waste or recyclable materials operating exclusively in intrastate transportation not otherwise required to register with the Secretary under another provision of this title.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Historical and Revision Notes
Pub. L. 104–287, § 5(36)(A)This amends 49:13908(d)(1) for clarity and consistency. Pub. L. 104–287, § 5(36)(B)This sets out the
Effective Date
of 49:13908.
Editorial Notes
References in Text
The date of enactment of the Unified Carrier Registration Act of 2005, referred to in subsec. (a), is the date of enactment of subtitle C of title IV of Pub. L. 109–59, which was approved Aug. 10, 2005. section 14504, referred to in subsec. (a)(1), was repealed by Pub. L. 109–59, title IV, § 4305(a), Aug. 10, 2005, 119 Stat. 1764; Pub. L. 110–53, title XV, § 1537(a), Aug. 3, 2007, 121 Stat. 467, effective Jan. 1, 2008. The
Effective Date
of this section, referred to in subsec. (c), probably means the date of enactment of Pub. L. 109–59, which amended this section generally and was approved Aug. 10, 2005.
Amendments
2012—Subsec. (d)(1). Pub. L. 112–141 struck out “but shall not exceed $300” after “registration”. 2008—Subsecs. (e), (f). Pub. L. 110–244 added subsec. (e) and redesignated former subsec. (e) as (f). 2005—Pub. L. 109–59 amended heading and text of section generally. Prior to amendment, text consisted of subsecs. (a) to (e) relating to issuance of
Regulations
to replace the current Department of Transportation identification number system, the single State registration system under section 14504, the registration system contained in this chapter, and the financial responsibility information system under section 13906 with a single, online, Federal system. 1996—Subsec. (d)(1). Pub. L. 104–287, § 5(36)(A), substituted “December 31, 1995” for “the day before the
Effective Date
of this section”. Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 104–287, § 5(36)(B), substituted “January 1, 1996” for “the
Effective Date
of this section”.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 2012 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 112–141 effective Oct. 1, 2012, see section 3(a) of Pub. L. 112–141, set out as an Effective and Termination Dates of 2012 Amendment note under section 101 of Title 23, Highways.
Effective Date
Section effective Jan. 1, 1996, except as otherwise provided in Pub. L. 104–88, see section 2 of Pub. L. 104–88, set out as a note under section 1301 of this title.
Regulations
Pub. L. 110–53, title XV, § 1537(b), Aug. 3, 2007, 121 Stat. 467, provided that: “Not later than October 1, 2007, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration shall issue final
Regulations
to establish the Unified Carrier Registration System, as required by section 13908 of title 49, United States Code, and set fees for the unified carrier registration agreement for calendar year 2007 or subsequent calendar years to be charged to motor carriers, motor private carriers, and freight forwarders under such agreement, as required by 14504a of title 49, United States Code.” Deemed References to Chapters 509 and 511 of Title 51General references to “this title” deemed to refer also to chapters 509 and 511 of Title 51, National and Commercial Space Programs, see section 4(d)(8) of Pub. L. 111–314, set out as a note under section 101 of this title. Relationship to Other LawsExcept as provided in section 14504, 14504a, and 14506 of this title, subtitle C (§§ 4301–4308) of title IV of Pub. L. 109–59 is not intended to prohibit any State or any political subdivision of any State from enacting, imposing, or enforcing any law or regulation with respect to a motor carrier, motor private carrier, broker, freight forwarder, or leasing company that is not otherwise prohibited by law, see section 4302 of Pub. L. 109–59, set out as a note under section 13902 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
49 U.S.C. § 13908
Title 49 — Transportation
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73