In an attempt to deter fraud and improve an outdated system, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is working toward modernizing the registration process.
FMCSA officials discussed the changes at the Mid-America Trucking Show in March and at its Safety Research Forum in April.
Later this month, the agency will hold a second Registration Modernization Stakeholder Day. The virtual event will be from 1 to 3 p.m. Eastern on May 29. Previously, FMCSA held an in-person stakeholder meeting in January.
“For the second time, the FMCSA invites our stakeholders to a public meeting shaping the future of our modernized online registration system,” the agency wrote on its website. “As we develop a more user-friendly registration system that manages the registration life cycle of regulated entities, we would like your input.”
Stakeholders can register for the online meeting here.
Changes
FMCSA plans to replace its Unified Registration System with a new online version named FMCSA Registration.
“We’ve had a registration system in its current form for many years,” FMCSA’s Tom Keane said at MATS. “It was robust when it was originally designed and implemented, but it has become very dated over the years, and we need to modernize that registration system.”
A surge in fraud and theft has prompted FMCSA to move forward.
“Fraud and freight theft are at an all-time high in the commercial motor vehicle industry,” FMCSA’s Ken Riddle said at MATS. “Every corner of the industry is experiencing fraud, whether it be on the carrier side, the broker side … We’ve been asked, “What can you do, FMCSA?”
Some of the steps the agency already has taken include:
Next steps include implementing identity- and business-verification services.
FMCSA’s new registration system, which is projected to be released in late 2024 or early 2025, will include:
- Enhanced fraud-resistant security features
- Streamlined commercial motor vehicle registration process
- Improved user experience and data collection
- Real-time data validation, smart logic and edit checks to reduce errors
- Consolidation of forms into one online application, which will allow the agency to retire older systems LL
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