As most TLA members know, the Unified Registration System or URS is an on-line filing process which eventually will be the only available format for doing most types of business with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration or FMCSA. Currently, the on-line “URS Wizard” must be used by any first-time applicant for registration with FMCSA, while “legacy” non-URS application forms must still be used by anyone already regulated by the Agency. On Friday afternoon, December 9, 2016, FMCSA announced a third indefinite postponement of the date on which existing registrants will have start using the “Wizard.” Please recall that the legislative mandate for creating a unified registration system dates back to the ICC Termination Act of 1995. Eighteen years later, a “final rule” adopting URS was published on August 22, 2013, and initially was to take effect for all registrants on October 23, 2015. In a first postponement announced in late 2015, that effective date was pushed back to September 30, 2016, for all but new registrants. A second postponement was announced this past summer, putting off the compliance date for existing registrants until April 14, 2017. Last Friday’s announcement indicated that a new effective date for existing registrants will be published in early January 2017. As in the past, the Agency explains the additional delay as necessary to “securely migrate data from multiple legacy platforms into a new central database and to conduct further compatibility testing with its State partners.” Until the new effective date (whatever it is), the status quo will remain in place under which new registrants must use the “Wizard” while all others must use legacy forms for additional authority applications, MCS-150 updates, name changes and other Agency business. For further information, please feel free to contact either co-chair of TLA’s Committee on Federal Legislation, Agency Practice and Security (FLAPS). The co-chairs are Hank Seaton (heseaton@aol.com ) and Mark Andrews (mark.andrews@strasburger.com ).
