2027 UCR Fees Update: What Carriers Should Know
FMCSA extended the UCR Fees 2027 comment period from May 7 to May 26, 2026, after SBTC pushed back. Here is what carriers should review and file before the new deadline.
UCR Fees 2027 Update: Comment Extension to May 26, What Carriers Should Know
The Unified Carrier Registration fee proposal for the 2027 registration year is getting a do-over on its public comment window. On May 1, 2026, FMCSA published a notice extending the comment period for its April 7 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking from May 7 to May 26, 2026. The agency granted the extension at the request of the Small Business in Transportation Coalition (SBTC). The reason the agency cited is direct: the public could not access the supporting documentation on how the proposed 2027 fees were calculated. With supporting docs now posted and 22 more days on the clock, every interstate motor carrier, broker, freight forwarder, and leasing company has a second chance to weigh in before the next fee schedule locks.
What changed about the comment window
FMCSA's original UCR Fees NPRM (FR-2026-06726, published April 7) proposed amendments to the annual UCR registration fees for 2027. The window for comments was set to close May 7. Three weeks in, with the deadline approaching, the Small Business in Transportation Coalition pointed out that FMCSA had not made the supporting fee-calculation documentation publicly available. The agency agreed and reopened the window.
The May 1 notice does two practical things. First, it extends the deadline to May 26, 2026 — giving the public 22 more days to weigh in. Second, it acknowledges that supporting documentation is now part of the docket. Any carrier or broker who tried to comment in late April and could not evaluate how FMCSA arrived at the proposed numbers now has the math to react to. The original NPRM language and proposed fee amounts remain on the table; only the runway and the supporting evidence have changed.
How the extension came about
This is the kind of intervention that does not always work. A trade or advocacy organization writes the agency, points out a procedural shortcoming, and asks for more time. The agency can deny, partially grant, or grant the request. The FMCSA fully granted SBTC's request and pushed the deadline. The notice itself names SBTC as the requester, which puts a small-business-advocacy intervention on the public record for a fee proposal that disproportionately affects small fleets and brokers — the operators least likely to have a Washington-side lobbying presence.
For a fleet that has never tracked an FMCSA comment process before, the lesson is that procedural advocacy works when the request is concrete. SBTC did not ask for the rule to change. It asked for the supporting documentation to be available so the public could evaluate the math. That is a narrow, factual basis for an extension request. It is also the kind of basis that other associations and individual carriers can rely on the next time a federal proposal lands without complete supporting materials. The extension is now a documented precedent.
Why the supporting documentation matters
UCR fees are not arbitrary. They are computed using a formula administered by the UCR Plan, with caps and floors that vary by fleet-size bracket. The supporting documentation in a fees NPRM shows how the agency moved from current-year numbers to proposed numbers — what the projected revenue need is, what assumptions about carrier counts feed the calculation, what the bracket-by-bracket fee schedule actually looks like, and what the year-over-year dollar change will be for an operator in each bracket.
With the NPRM, a carrier or broker can do three concrete things in the comment window: verify that the bracket assumptions reflect realistic fleet-size distributions, flag any line items where the methodology departs from prior years, and quantify the proposed dollar impact on operations of their size. A comment that walks the agency through specific arithmetic carries more weight than a comment that objects to a fee increase in principle. The May 1 extension makes that kind of grounded comment possible.
Who pays UCR fees?
UCR is the registration fee that interstate motor carriers, private motor carriers, brokers, freight forwarders, and leasing companies pay each year through participating states. The fee scales with fleet size, but the program covers an enormous slice of the regulated population. If a business has interstate operating authority, it almost certainly pays UCR — and almost certainly does so without much annual review of the dollar amount until the bill arrives.
The 2027 schedule is the one being proposed now. UCR fee schedules are typically updated annually, and the cycle compresses around year-end as states process payments. A change in the per-bracket fee for 2027 lands in budgeting cycles that small carriers and brokers tend to lock in mid-year. That is the operational reason the comment window matters even for operators who do not normally engage with federal rulemaking — the proposal becomes their 2027 cost line.
The audience also extends to insurance partners and brokers who reference UCR registration as part of their underwriting and onboarding flows. A meaningful change in the fee schedule changes the cost basis for new operating authority filings. Brokers tracking onboarding costs across many small-carrier referrals will see the change reflected in their referral pipeline.
Refresher on the underlying NPRM
For carriers who did not engage with the original April 7 proposal, the NPRM's substance is straightforward. The UCR Board recommended a fee adjustment for the 2027 registration year. The proposal walks through the recommended fee changes by bracket. Brackets are defined by fleet size — a 0–2 vehicle owner-operator pays one rate, a 3–5 vehicle small fleet pays the next, and so on up through the 1,001+ enterprise tier. Each bracket has its own current and proposed dollar amount. Brokers, freight forwarders, and leasing companies pay at their own bracket structure, which is published alongside the carrier brackets.
The original NPRM is the document of record on what the proposed change looks like. The May 1 extension does not replace it — it augments it. A carrier preparing to comment should pull both: the April 7 NPRM for the proposed text and the May 1 extension notice for the procedural posture and the supporting documentation reference.
What to do and by when
- This week: pull the April 7 NPRM and the May 1 extension notice from the Federal Register. Locate the supporting documentation now posted to the regulations.gov docket (FMCSA-2025-0655). Read the bracket-by-bracket fee schedule and identify which bracket your operation falls in.
- By May 18: compute the year-over-year dollar change for your bracket. For brokers and forwarders, identify whether the bracket structure has shifted relative to the carrier-side change.
- By May 22: draft your comment. A useful comment cites the docket number (FMCSA-2025-0655), names your operation type and bracket, walks through the dollar impact you computed, and either supports or objects to specific elements of the proposed schedule. A comment that disagrees with the methodology should point to the workpaper element it disputes — vague objections carry less weight than specific ones.
- By May 26: file your comment through regulations.gov. Confirm receipt. The agency reviews comments after the window closes; the next public step will be either a final rule or a supplemental notice responding to comments received.
- Internal budget planning: brief your finance team on the proposed 2027 numbers now, even before the rule is final. UCR is typically collected in the fall of the prior year for the next registration year. If the proposal advances, the new fee schedule will likely be in place when 2027 collections begin.
- For multi-entity operators: verify that each registered entity in your structure (operating carrier, broker, leasing, freight forwarder) is captured separately. UCR is paid per registered entity, not per parent organization, and the bracket schedules differ across entity types.
- Coordinate with your insurance and authority filer: if you use a third party for BOC-3 process-agent designation or for surety filings, a fee schedule change is expected to verify everything in the registration packet is current.
How Foley helps
Foley supports motor carriers, brokers, and freight forwarders with annual UCR registration, multi-state authority management, and the broader fleet compliance management work that surrounds it. Visit the FMCSA Compliance hub for current resources or contact us directly to talk through the May 26 deadline.
Frequently asked questions
I already filed a comment in late April. Do I need to file again?
No. Comments filed before the original May 7 deadline are part of the record. If you want to supplement with new analysis based on the now-available supporting documentation, you can file an additional comment referencing the same docket. The agency reviews everything in the docket together.
How do I file a comment?
Go to regulations.gov, search for docket FMCSA-2025-0655, and use the "Comment" link on the docket page. You can attach a PDF if your analysis runs long. Comments are public by default. Plan accordingly with anything proprietary.
Can my comment be confidential?
UCR rulemaking comments are generally public. If your comment includes business-sensitive financial detail, the agency may accept a redacted version. The standard approach is to share dollar impacts as percentages or ranges rather than absolute numbers tied to your fleet.
Does this delay the 2027 fee schedule?
The extension delays the close of public comment, not the rule itself. The agency still has to review comments and issue a final rule before the 2027 schedule takes effect. Whether the May 26 reset pushes the final rule into a later month depends on how many comments arrive and how substantive they are.
What happens if I miss the May 26 deadline?
You lose the formal comment opportunity for this NPRM. The 2027 fee schedule will be set by the final rule. If it advances unchanged, your only further options are submitting concerns to the UCR Board on the next annual cycle or working through industry associations. The comment window is the most direct point of input.