FMCSA Plans Third Stakeholder Day on Its New Registration System

In September 2024, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) scheduled a third public meeting on the online system it was building to replace how carriers, brokers and freight forwarders register with the agency. A notice published on September 20, 2024 set FMCSA Registration Modernization Stakeholder Day III for October 21, 2024, as a hybrid in-person and virtual meeting at Department of Transportation headquarters in Washington.

Why a new system

FMCSA said it was developing a new online registration system to make its registration procedures more transparent and efficient and to carry out statutory requirements for the registration program. A separate notice published on August 28, 2024 said the new system would be named the FMCSA Registration System (FRS) and would replace the Unified Registration System (URS).

That notice gave the background. FMCSA's 2013 Unified Registration System rule called for an online system for everyone subject to its registration rules, and planned to fold most of the OP-1 series of forms into a single form, the MCSA-1. FMCSA began a phased rollout in 2015, but only the first phase, for first-time applicants, took effect, on December 12, 2015. Later phases for existing registrants were delayed, and a January 2017 rule suspended them indefinitely. As a result, existing registrants were still filing older OP-1 series forms to add authorities.

Who the new system would cover

According to the August notice, FRS would let everyone required to register under FMCSA's commercial or safety jurisdiction do so online. The planned information collection would cover first-time applicants, existing registrants seeking more authority, name and address changes, reinstatements, voluntary suspensions, and designation of process agents. Insurers and bond agents filing proof of financial responsibility would also use it.

FMCSA estimated 764,582 respondents and 583,306 burden hours a year. Comments on the information collection were due by September 27, 2024.

The October meeting

The September notice said the meeting was for current and potential users of the new system, including:

• motor carriers;
• brokers and freight forwarders;
• insurance companies, financial institutions, process agents and blanket companies;
• transportation service providers.

FMCSA held the first Stakeholder Day in person on January 17, 2024, and the second virtually on May 29, 2024. For the third, registration closed at 11:59 p.m. EST on October 14, 2024. Attendance was capped at the first 100 in-person and 500 virtual registrants. FMCSA moderators were to lead discussions on what users wanted, and on what would not help, and in-person attendees could try out parts of the new system.

No launch date set

The September notice did not give a date for the new system to go live. It described the meeting as a way to gather user perspectives while development continued.

Archive: this article describes rules and events as of September 2024. Regulations may have changed since, so check the current rule before relying on it.