UCR 2027 Fees by Fleet Size

2027 fees from the September 1, 2026 final rule

FMCSA published the final rule on Unified Carrier Registration fees on September 1, 2026, as Federal Register document 2026-17893. It is effective October 1, 2026. The fees for registration year 2027, and for subsequent years until a later rule changes them, are a six-bracket table. Zero to two commercial motor vehicles: $55. Three to five: $167. Six to twenty: $333. Twenty-one to one hundred: $1,163. One hundred one to one thousand: $5,548. One thousand one or more: $54,165. The rule describes the increase as an average of about 20 percent over the fees that were in place for 2025 and retained for 2026. The dollars above are the table. The average is only context. Pay the bracket, not the average.

A one-truck carrier is in the first bracket. So is a two-truck carrier. The third truck moves you to $167. Do not stay at $55 because the business still feels small. The bracket is a count.

The six brackets, including brokers

The statute puts brokers and leasing companies in the smallest bracket even when they operate no commercial motor vehicles. Freight forwarders are in the table according to the vehicles they operate. For 2027 the smallest bracket is $55. A broker does not pay $0 because the fleet column is blank. A broker does not pay a higher bracket because the brokerage revenue is large. The bracket is the vehicle count, and the broker rule forces the first bracket when the count is none.

If you hold both broker authority and motor-carrier authority, count the commercial motor vehicles the carrier operates and pay that bracket. Do not pay $55 for the brokerage and ignore the trucks. Do not pay twice for the same legal entity because you have two authority types, unless the instructions for that year tell a combined entity to do something else. Read the entity line on the form. Two companies are two fees. One company with two authorities is a question the form asks. Answer it from the instructions, not from a wish to pay the smaller number.

What 2026 still costs if you are paying a late 2026 fee

The same rulemaking states the fees retained for 2026, which match the 2025 schedule. Bracket 1 is $46. Bracket 2 is $138. Bracket 3 is $276. Bracket 4 is $963. Bracket 5 is $4,592. Bracket 6 is $44,836. The 2026 fee page is that year. If you are paying 2026 late, you pay those figures. You do not get to use $55 for 2026, and you do not get to use $46 for 2027. The registration year is printed on the receipt. Look at it before you forward the receipt to a shipper who asked for "current UCR."

A carrier that owes both years pays both years. One checkout that only offers 2027 does not erase 2026. Ask the portal which year you are buying. If you are unsure which years are open, stop and look. Guessing the cheaper year is an underpayment of the other year.

Due before January 1, 2027

For a UCR registration year, the fee is supposed to be paid before January 1 of that year if you will operate in a participating state during the year. For 2027, that date is January 1, 2027. After that date the fee is still owed. States that participate can enforce against a carrier that is operating without it. This page will not invent a penalty percentage or a per-day fine. Enforcement is the state's. The federal rule sets the fee. Your base state or the portal will show what they assess on top if you are late. Read that assessment. Do not copy a rumor.

The final rule is effective October 1, 2026, which is the date FMCSA set so 2027 collections could begin. The prior year's portal had opened on October 1 of the preceding year. Confirm, on the week you file, that plan.ucr.gov is accepting the 2027 year. A rule effective date is not a screenshot of the portal. If the portal is open, file. If you cannot see the 2027 year in the portal, you are not done by telling yourself the Federal Register was enough.

Which power units you count

The brackets are counts of commercial motor vehicles owned or operated, as the UCR instructions define the count for that year. Trailers are not power units. A truck you sold before the registration year may be out. A truck you leased on and operate may be in. "Trucks I like" is not a count. An owner-operator who is leased on may be on the carrier's count rather than on a separate UCR, depending on whose authority and whose operation the instructions attribute the vehicle to. Read the current instruction before you omit a unit to save a bracket. A wrong bracket is an underpayment of the difference between the brackets, and it is a credential that does not match the fleet.

Write the list of power units next to the bracket you paid. When you add a truck mid-year, ask whether the bracket changes. UCR is an annual fee, not a monthly plate. Adding a unit can move 2 vehicles into the 3-to-5 bracket. The $55 receipt does not stretch to cover the fourth truck by silence.

Where you pay

You pay through the UCR plan's system or through a participating state, as the current portal instructs. You do not pay it as a line on the IFTA return, and you do not pay it on Form 2290. Those are different taxes. A shipper who asks for all three is asking for three receipts. The registration guide is the account, the years, and the retrievable receipt. This page ends at the price and the January 1 date.

Keep the receipt with the registration year printed on it. A carrier that forwards a 2026 receipt in answer to a 2027 question has not answered. The brackets changed. The PDF should show the year that matches the load.

Pay before January 1 of the year you will operate. The how-to page can take you through the screens. The bracket is the decision this article is for.

The final rule also prints the dollar difference from the retained 2026 fees, which is a useful check against a typo. Bracket 1 rises by $9, from $46 to $55. Bracket 2 rises by $29, from $138 to $167. Bracket 3 rises by $57, from $276 to $333. Bracket 4 rises by $200, from $963 to $1,163. Bracket 5 rises by $956, from $4,592 to $5,548. Bracket 6 rises by $9,329, from $44,836 to $54,165. If a receipt does not match either column, you are not looking at these two years. Do not "round" a bracket to a nearby number a vendor quotes. The Federal Register table is the fee.

Freight forwarders are on the vehicle-count side of the table when they operate commercial motor vehicles. A forwarder with no vehicles should not invent a zero fee. Read the entity type the form assigns before you pay the broker bracket by analogy.

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