UCR Fees for 2027: New Rates, Deadlines, and Who Has to Register
Unified Carrier Registration fees rise by an average of about 20 percent for the 2027 registration year, effective October 1, 2026. Here is the full fee table, who owes it, and how to file it without paying a service.
The 2027 fee table
FMCSA published a final rule on September 1, 2026 establishing the increased fees. They take effect October 1, 2026 and apply to the 2027 registration year and beyond.
| Fleet size (commercial motor vehicles) | 2027 fee |
|---|---|
| 0–2 | $55 |
| 3–5 | $167 |
| 6–20 | $333 |
| 21–100 | $1,163 |
| 101–1,000 | $5,548 |
| 1,001 or more | $54,165 |
| Brokers, freight forwarders and leasing companies | $55 |
What changed and by how much
The increases average about 20 percent against the 2025–2026 fees, ranging from $9 to $9,329 per entity depending on the bracket. For a single-truck owner-operator that is $9 more than last year — an irritation rather than a crisis. For a fleet of more than a thousand vehicles it is a five-figure increase.
Context most coverage leaves out: even after this increase, the 2027 fees are still lower than what carriers paid during the 2019 to 2022 registration years. UCR fees are adjusted to hit a revenue target set for the participating states, so they move in both directions. This year they moved up.
Who has to register
UCR applies to you if you operate commercial motor vehicles in interstate commerce, and also to brokers, freight forwarders and leasing companies — whether or not they own a single truck. Private carriers hauling their own goods across state lines are covered too, which surprises people who assume UCR is a for-hire-only obligation.
Not every state participates in the UCR Plan. If your base state does not participate, you still register — you do it through a designated base state instead. The UCR Plan's own site is the authoritative place to confirm your base state, because participation has changed over the years.
How fleet size is counted
Your bracket is based on the number of commercial motor vehicles you own or operate, as reflected in your MCS-150 filing. Two points that decide which side of a bracket line you land on:
- Vehicles are counted, not power units in service on any given day. A truck that spent the year parked still counts if it was part of the fleet.
- Trailers are not counted. The count is of commercial motor vehicles, not equipment.
If your MCS-150 is out of date, your UCR bracket will be wrong, and the fix is to correct the MCS-150 rather than to guess at registration time.
Deadline and what happens if you miss it
The UCR registration period for a given year opens in the autumn of the preceding year, and enforcement of the new year's registration begins on January 1. Registering early costs nothing extra and avoids the annual scramble.
Missing it is not a paperwork footnote. UCR compliance is checked at roadside and at inspection stations in participating states, and an unregistered carrier can be fined and put out of service until it registers. The penalty is set by the state, so it varies.
How to file it yourself
Registration is done online through the national UCR system at ucr.gov. You will need your USDOT number and your fleet count. The process takes a few minutes and costs the fee above and nothing else.
Watch who you are paying. Search for UCR registration and most of the top results are filing services that charge a markup on top of the fee, some of them styled to look like official sites. There is nothing wrong with paying someone to handle your filings if you would rather not deal with them — but you should know that the underlying fee for a single-truck operation is $55, and that the official site is ucr.gov.
One more date, for the record
Petitions for reconsideration of the fee rule had to be submitted to the FMCSA Administrator by October 1, 2026. In practice this matters to trade associations rather than to individual carriers, but it is the mechanism by which the fee schedule can be challenged.
Frequently asked questions
How much is UCR for one truck in 2027?
$55, in the 0–2 vehicle bracket. That is $9 more than the 2026 fee.
Do brokers have to register for UCR?
Yes. Brokers, freight forwarders and leasing companies pay the smallest bracket fee, $55 for 2027.
Is UCR the same as the biennial MCS-150 update?
No. They are separate obligations. UCR is an annual fee administered by the participating states; the MCS-150 biennial update is a filing with FMCSA to keep your carrier record current. Your MCS-150 vehicle count does, however, determine your UCR bracket.
Do I owe UCR if I only run within one state?
UCR applies to interstate operations. A purely intrastate carrier is generally not subject to it, but state rules differ and some carriers who consider themselves intrastate are in fact operating in interstate commerce — for example when hauling freight that is part of a continuous interstate movement. If you are unsure, that distinction is worth confirming before you skip the registration.
Related
- Federal fee reference — every recurring federal fee a small carrier pays, in one table.
- How to get your trucking authority — the current Motus process.
- What it actually costs to start — where UCR fits in the wider budget.
Sources
- Fees for the Unified Carrier Registration Plan and Agreement — Federal Register, September 1, 2026.
- Unified Carrier Registration Plan — official registration system.
- FMCSA Registration — MCS-150 and carrier record.
This page is general information, not legal advice. Fee schedules and state participation change; confirm current requirements before filing.