Court Challenge to 2027 UCR Fees: What Carriers Should Know
A small-carrier trade group has asked the D.C. Circuit to throw out FMCSA's 2027 UCR fee rule and stop collections. Here's what was filed and why the new fees still apply for now.
The Small Business in Transportation Coalition (SBTC) has gone to federal appeals court to challenge the higher Unified Carrier Registration (UCR) fees that took effect October 1, 2026.
SBTC filed a petition for review on October 20, 2026, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (docket No. 26-1297) under the Hobbs Act, according to a release the group issued on October 23. The respondents named in the petition are FMCSA, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the United States.
The rule being challenged
FMCSA's final rule, published September 1, 2026, set fees for the 2027 registration year and later years. It raises fees by an average of 20% over the 2025–2026 schedule, with increases from $9 to $9,329 per entity depending on the bracket. FMCSA noted the 2027 fees are still lower than those charged from 2019 through 2022. The rule took effect October 1, 2026. (We broke down the full fee table here.)
What SBTC argues
- The UCR system was never set up by regulation. SBTC says the UCR Plan and Agreement was never lawfully established through rulemaking as required by 49 U.S.C. 13908, so the fee rule codified at 49 CFR 367.50 is unlawful.
- Privacy Act. SBTC says FMCSA releases truckers' personal information, including Social Security numbers, to the UCR Plan and its technology vendor without truckers' knowledge or consent, and that this breaks the Privacy Act and FMCSA's own data release policy.
What SBTC is asking the court to do
According to the group's release, SBTC asks the court to:
- Declare the 367.50 fee rule, the UCR Board and the UCR Agreement unlawful and set the 2027 fee rule aside.
- Bar further UCR fee collection and enforcement of the fee rule.
- Bar new UCR fee rules until the system is established by rulemaking.
- Disband the UCR Board.
- Order FMCSA to issue a direct final rule establishing the system.
- Declare the data releases illegal and order them stopped.
SBTC also says it filed a data release complaint with the USDOT Office of Inspector General on October 13, 2026. The group's petition says it moved, with the government's consent, to dismiss an earlier case over the old fee rule (No. 25-1290) as moot after the new rule came out.
What this means for you right now
Filing a petition for review does not, by itself, suspend a federal rule. Unless the court orders otherwise, the 2027 UCR fees in 49 CFR 367.50 are the ones in force.
- If you operate interstate and must register for UCR, budget for the 2027 rate for your bracket.
- Don't hold off on registering because of the lawsuit. Running without a current UCR registration can still get you cited.
- Watch for any court order in case No. 26-1297. We'll update this guide if the court acts.