Federal Heavy Vehicle Usage Tax - HVUT
The Federal Heavy Vehicle Usage Tax (HVUT) is a federal excise tax paid annually to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by commercial motor carriers with vehicles registered at 55,000 pounds and over. Motor carriers are required to provide proof of payment of the HVUT at the time of registration to the registration agency in their base state. Revenue from the HVUT is allocated to the states based on Federal excise tax allocation formulas. States are mandated by Federal law to obtain proof of payment prior to issuing a commercial vehicle registration. Failure by a state to obtain proof of payment can result in a loss of Federal highway funding of up to 25% of their annual allocation.
AAMVA members are working jointly with representatives from the Expanded CVISN group to work with the IRS and FHWA to try to work out a workable solution that provides and improved process for both the state registration agencies and the industry. The goal is to try to reduce the paper burden and provide an electronic verification process that will not only improve the process but also improve compliance.
Unified Carrier Registration – UCR
The passage of HR 3, SAFETEA-LU the Highway re-authorization bill, brought about a new system called the Unified Carrier Registration System (UCR). The UCR is to replace the Single State Registration System (SSRS) which was repealed in the law. The UCR is a state compact to facilitate the Federal registration of all foreign and domestic motor carriers, motor private carriers, freight forwarders, brokers and others required to register with the US Department of Transportation, including information with respect to carrier’s safety ratings, compliance with required levels of financial responsibility, and compliance with the provisions of the law. The UCR law requires the development of a unified system to serve as a clearinghouse and depository of information and identification of such motor carriers and that the information shall be accessible by Federal Agencies, States, representatives of the motor carrier industry and the public.
AAMVA MCS is working to try to ensure we keep the membership up to date on what is happening with UCR and working with FMCSA and other related organizations to help where possible with the development and implementation process.
Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Belt Partnership
AAMVA MCS continues to work with the FMCSA sponsored CMV Safety Belt Partnership to encourage use of safety belts by commercial motor vehicle drivers. The latest information available shows an improvement in use by about 7 percentage points up to 56 from 49 percent of drivers buckling up when behind the wheel of a CMV. This is a good improvement but the numbers are still way to low. It has been proven that wearing a safety belt greatly increases a person’s chance of surviving a vehicle crash yet we still only have 56 percent of the drivers of CMV buckling up. AAMVA will continue to help promote and educate CMV drivers of the importance of wearing safety belts.
Expanded CVISN (Commercial Vehicle Information Systems and Networks)
AAMVA MCS is working closely with FMCSA and the states involved in the ongoing development and implementation of programs under the CVISN initiative. Most recently we have been involved with the Expanded CVISN efforts in the areas of HVUT, Driver Information Sharing, Roadside Identification, COMPASS and Security Check flags working groups. AAMVA continues to provide support and expertise where needed in these efforts and will continue to provide periodic updates via the website and various updates and publications.
PRISM
AAMVA MCS has worked over the years with FMCSA to help increase participation in the Performance and Registration Information Systems Management (PRISM) program. The number of states participating in PRISM continues to grow from year to year. Hopefully at some point all states will be a part of this very important safety program that focuses on tying a motor carrier’s safety record to their registration. The main focus of PRISM is to improve the motor carrier’s safety performance with the most severe penalty for carriers who refuse to work on improvement being refusal of registration. Penalizing carriers is not the goal of PRISM, the goal is to improve safety on the highways by having safe and legal carriers operating commercial motor vehicles. Look for more information on this important program under the “Other Resources” section of this web site.
Emergency Preparedness
The hurricanes of 2005 brought us to a reality that we need to be prepared to react quickly when disaster strikes. Whether it is a natural disaster such as a hurricane or a terrorist act, we need to be ready to ensure the information is gathered and disseminated out to the proper authorities as quickly as possible. AAMVA MCS is working with IRP, Inc. to address the issues surrounding this topic and will be working to ensure that we provide the best possible information and data necessary to help the jurisdictions and motor carrier industry respond when these situation arise.
NAFTA Border States Issues
The NAFTA Border States working group continues to work on developing a process to allow Mexican motor carriers to register their vehicles in one of the four border states for IRP and IFTA registrations. Additionally, the working group is working on a training program that will educate the motor carriers on IRP, IFTA and other motor carrier services related programs.
ITS CVFM
AAMVA MCS works with the ITS America Commercial Vehicle Freight Mobility forum to address issues related to the commercial motor vehicles. The (CVFM) Forum focuses on issues and topics specific to the commercial vehicle sector. Members participate in information exchange, policy discussions, and projects and initiatives that advance ITS in commercial vehicle and freight mobility. Participants include individuals from motor carriers, railroads, state and federal enforcement and administrative personnel, deep water ports, other shipping and commercial vehicle operations as well as suppliers of inter-modal freight technology and services.
The CVFM Forum also has three very active Special Interest Groups - Commercial Vehicle Operations, Inter-modal Freight, and Homeland Security.