UCR · Registration year 2027
UCR renewal for 2027: your fee and when to file
That’s the whole fee. Filing it yourself at ucr.gov costs nothing on top of the bracket fee apart from the card-processing charge, and this page gives you everything you need to do exactly that.
Updated September 26, 2026 · Applies to registration year 2027 · Texas and 40 other participating states
Every bracket, old and new
The Unified Carrier Registration Plan raised fees an average of 20% for registration year 2027 and after, in a final rule effective October 1, 2026. The increase runs from $9 at the bottom to $9,329 at the top. Almost every carrier reading this is in bracket one.
| VEHICLES | 2026 FEE | 2027 FEE | CHANGE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 to 2 | $46 | $55 | +$9 |
| 3 to 5 | $138 | $167 | +$29 |
| 6 to 20 | $276 | $333 | +$57 |
| 21 to 100 | $963 | $1,163 | +$200 |
| 101 to 1,000 | $4,592 | $5,548 | +$956 |
| 1,001 and up | $44,836 | $54,165 | +$9,329 |
Count power units only. Trailers don’t count toward your bracket.
The dates that matter
Oct 1, 2026
Filing opens
New fees apply from this date.
Dec 31, 2026
Last day to file
Three months to get it done.
Jan 1, 2027
Enforcement begins
Unpaid UCR is visible roadside from day one.
Texas follows the national calendar: the 2026 window opened October 1, 2025, enforcement started January 1, 2026, and TxDMV posts the exact dates each fall. Roadside enforcement checks your UCR against the national database, so an unpaid registration is visible at the scale house from the first day of enforcement.
You might not owe this at all
UCR is an interstate program.
If every load you haul starts and ends inside Texas, and you don’t cross a state line or carry interstate freight, you are not required to register, and nobody should be selling you a UCR filing. The exceptions are narrow: hazardous materials and household goods carriers can be pulled in under state rules even when operating intrastate.
Not sure which side of that line you’re on? The test isn’t where your truck is parked, it’s whether the freight is moving in interstate commerce. If you haul a trailer that came from out of state, that usually counts, even if you never leave Texas.
Everything a Texas carrier owes on either side of that line, federal and state, is set out on our Texas compliance page, including the TxDMV certificate an intrastate carrier needs instead.
How to file it yourself
This one is free to do yourself. You do not need to pay anyone to file your UCR.
It takes about ten minutes at ucr.gov, and the only money that changes hands is the government fee. Plenty of sites dress that up to look like the official portal and add a markup they never name. If you would rather have it prepared, our price for that is published further down, and you still submit it and pay the government fee yourself at ucr.gov.
- 1
Go to ucr.gov, the National Registration System. It's the official site and it's the only one you need. Bookmark it; the lookalike sites buy ads above it.
- 2
Enter your USDOT number. The system pulls your carrier record automatically.
- 3
Confirm your vehicle count. Power units only, based on last year's operation, not what you own today.
- 4
Pay the bracket fee. $55 for one or two trucks. Card payments add a processing fee of roughly 3%; paying by bank draft avoids it.
- 5
Save the receipt. Keep a copy in the truck and a copy in your files. It's the fastest way to end a roadside conversation.
Would rather not? UCR prepared for you is $129 plus the government fee you pay at ucr.gov, and included for members.
Four ways carriers get this wrong
Counting trailers.
Only power units count. A one-truck operation with three trailers is still bracket one, at $55.
Using this year's truck count.
The bracket is based on the vehicles you operated in the preceding year. If you added a truck in November, that's next year's problem.
Paying a lookalike site.
Search results are full of pages built to look like the government portal. The official site is ucr.gov and nothing else. A service that files it for you should say plainly what its fee is and what the government fee is.
Assuming it renews itself.
UCR does not auto-renew. Every year, every carrier, from scratch.
Skipping it in Texas is an offense under Transportation Code § 645.004, a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $500, and each day of violation counts as a separate offense. Not ruinous, but it’s a stop, a citation, and an afternoon you don’t get back over a $55 filing.
Or don’t think about it again
$99/month
First truck on the annual plan, $1,188 up front, or $119 month to month. Each additional truck $59/month, every driver included.
UCR is one line on a longer list. If you would rather someone else owned the whole calendar, that is what the membership does: your UCR prepared every year for you to submit, with the government fee paid by you at ucr.gov and never marked up, every deadline checked daily with alerts at 60, 30 and 7 days, driver qualification files built and kept current, the drug and alcohol program set up and run for you through an established consortium (you pay the consortium's own fee and the tests directly to the provider), Clearinghouse queries kept on schedule, your safety score watched and explained in plain English, and routine questions answered the same business day under a published fair-use policy. Fewer vendors, fewer renewal dates, fewer things to remember.
$99/month is the annual plan for one truck, billed $1,188 up front, about two months free against $119 month to month. Each additional truck is $59/month ($69 month to month), every driver included, up to six trucks. Cancel any month; remaining full months refunded.
UCR prepared for you: $129 plus the government fee
We prepare it in the right bracket for the right year, you submit it at ucr.gov and pay the government fee there directly, and we keep the receipt. $129 for our part, credited in full to any membership you start within 60 days. It is included for members.
And if all you needed was the $55 number and the ucr.gov link. You have both. Go file it.
UCR renewal questions
How much is UCR for 2027?
For carriers operating 0 to 2 commercial motor vehicles, the 2027 UCR fee is $55, up from $46. Fees rose an average of 20% across all brackets for registration year 2027.
When can I file my 2027 UCR?
Registration for 2027 opens October 1, 2026. Enforcement begins January 1, 2027, so the practical window to file is October through December.
Do I need to renew my UCR every year?
Yes. UCR does not renew itself: every interstate carrier registers and pays for each registration year. For 2027 the window runs from October 1 to December 31, 2026.
What is the deadline for UCR registration?
For 2027, December 31, 2026: enforcement of the 2027 registration begins January 1, 2027. If you miss it, register late at ucr.gov rather than running unregistered.
Do intrastate-only carriers need UCR?
No. UCR applies to interstate motor carriers. Carriers operating exclusively in intrastate commerce are not required to register, with narrow exceptions for hazardous materials and household goods.
Do trailers count toward my UCR bracket?
No. Only power units count toward the vehicle bracket. Trailers are excluded.
Sources
- Federal Register: Fees for the Unified Carrier Registration Plan and Agreement (final rule, published September 1, 2026, effective October 1, 2026)
- UCR Plan, fee brackets and vehicle counting
- TxDMV: Unified Carrier Registration (state window and enforcement dates)
- Texas Transportation Code § 645.004 (offense and penalty)
Related: DOT compliance in Texas · the full deadlines calendar · MCS-150 due-date calculator · new entrant audit readiness check
One membership. Every deadline watched.
$99/month for the first truck on the annual plan, $59/month for each additional truck, every driver included. UCR is one of the filings it covers, alongside the driver files, the consortium paperwork and every other date on the calendar.
$99/month is the annual plan for one truck, billed $1,188 up front, about two months free against $119 month to month. Each additional truck is $59/month ($69 month to month), every driver included, up to six trucks. Cancel any month; remaining full months refunded.