49 U.S.C. § 13908 — Registration and other reforms

Page 505 TITLE 49—TRANSPORTATION § 13908 1 See References in Text note below. ABOLITION OF INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION Interstate Commerce Commission abolished by sec- tion 101 of Pub. L. 104–88, set out as a note under sec- tion 1301 of this title. § 13908. Registration and other reforms (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF UNIFIED CARRIER REG- ISTRATION SYSTEM.—The Secretary, in coopera- tion with the States, representatives of the motor carrier, motor private carrier, freight for- warder, and broker industries and after notice and opportunity for public comment, shall issue within 1 year after the date of enactment of the Unified Carrier Registration Act of 2005 regula- tions to establish an online Federal registration system, to be named the ‘‘Unified Carrier Reg- istration System’’, to replace— (1) the current Department of Transpor- tation identification number system, the sin- gle State registration system under section 14504; 1 (2) the registration system contained in this chapter and the financial responsibility infor- mation system under section 13906; and (3) the service of process agent systems under sections 503 and 13304. (b) ROLE AS CLEARINGHOUSE AND DEPOSITORY OF INFORMATION.—The Unified Carrier Registra- tion System shall serve as a clearinghouse and depository of information on, and identification of, all foreign and domestic motor carriers, motor private carriers, brokers, freight for- warders, and others required to register with the Department of Transportation, including infor- mation with respect to a carrier’s safety rating, compliance with required levels of financial re- sponsibility, and compliance with the provisions of section 14504a. The Secretary shall ensure that Federal agencies, States, representatives of the motor carrier industry, and the public have access to the Unified Carrier Registration Sys- tem, including the records and information con- tained in the System. (c) PROCEDURES FOR CORRECTING INFORMA- TION.—Not later than 60 days after the effective date of this section, the Secretary shall pre- scribe regulations establishing procedures that enable a motor carrier to correct erroneous in- formation contained in any part of the Unified Carrier Registration System. (d) FEE SYSTEM.—The Secretary shall estab- lish, under section 9701 of title 31, a fee system for the Unified Carrier Registration System ac- cording to the following guidelines: (1) REGISTRATION AND FILING EVIDENCE OF FI- NANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY.—The fee for new reg- istrants shall as nearly as possible cover the costs of processing the registration. (2) EVIDENCE OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY.— The fee for filing evidence of financial respon- sibility pursuant to this section shall not ex- ceed $10 per filing. No fee shall be charged for a filing for purposes of designating an agent for service of process or the filing of other in- formation relating to financial responsibility. (3) ACCESS AND RETRIEVAL FEES.— (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the fee system shall in- clude a nominal fee for the access to or re- trieval of information from the Unified Car- rier Registration System to cover the costs of operating and upgrading the System, in- cluding the personnel costs incurred by the Department and the costs of administration of the unified carrier registration agree- ment. (B) EXCEPTIONS.—There shall be no fee charged under this paragraph— (i) to any agency of the Federal Govern- ment or a State government or any polit- ical subdivision of any such government for the access to or retrieval of informa- tion and data from the Unified Carrier Registration System for its own use; or (ii) to any representative of a motor car- rier, motor private carrier, leasing com- pany, broker, or freight forwarder (as each is defined in section 14504a) for the access to or retrieval of the individual informa- tion related to such entity from the Uni- fied Carrier Registration System for the individual use of such entity. (e) USE OF FEES FOR UNIFIED CARRIER REG- ISTRATION SYSTEM.—Fees collected under this section may be credited to the Department of Transportation appropriations account for pur- poses for which such fees are collected and shall be available for expenditure for such purposes until expended. (f) APPLICATION TO CERTAIN INTRASTATE OPER- ATIONS.—Nothing in this section requires the registration of a motor carrier, a motor private carrier of property, or a transporter of waste or recyclable materials operating exclusively in intrastate transportation not otherwise required to register with the Secretary under another provision of this title. (Added Pub. L. 104–88, title I, § 103, Dec. 29, 1995, 109 Stat. 888; amended Pub. L. 104–287, § 5(36), Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3392; Pub. L. 109–59, title IV, § 4304, Aug. 10, 2005, 119 Stat. 1763; Pub. L. 110–244, title III, § 301(l), June 6, 2008, 122 Stat. 1617; Pub. L. 112–141, div. C, title II, § 32106, July 6, 2012, 126 Stat. 781.) HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES PUB. L. 104–287, § 5(36)(A) This amends 49:13908(d)(1) for clarity and consistency. PUB. L. 104–287, § 5(36)(B) This sets out the effective date of 49:13908. Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The date of enactment of the Unified Carrier Reg- istration Act of 2005, referred to in subsec. (a), is the date of enactment of subtitle C of title IV of Pub. L. 109–59, which was approved Aug. 10, 2005. Section 14504, referred to in subsec. (a)(1), was re- pealed by Pub. L. 109–59, title IV, § 4305(a), Aug. 10, 2005, 119 Stat. 1764; Pub. L. 110–53, title XV, § 1537(a), Aug. 3, 2007, 121 Stat. 467, effective Jan. 1, 2008. The effective date of this section, referred to in sub- sec. (c), probably means the date of enactment of Pub. L. 109–59, which amended this section generally and was approved Aug. 10, 2005. AMENDMENTS 2012—Subsec. (d)(1). Pub. L. 112–141 struck out ‘‘but shall not exceed $300’’ after ‘‘registration’’. Page 506 TITLE 49—TRANSPORTATION § 13909 2008—Subsecs. (e), (f). Pub. L. 110–244 added subsec. (e) and redesignated former subsec. (e) as (f). 2005—Pub. L. 109–59 amended heading and text of sec- tion generally. Prior to amendment, text consisted of subsecs. (a) to (e) relating to issuance of regulations to replace the current Department of Transportation iden- tification number system, the single State registration system under section 14504, the registration system contained in this chapter, and the financial responsi- bility information system under section 13906 with a single, online, Federal system. 1996—Subsec. (d)(1). Pub. L. 104–287, § 5(36)(A), sub- stituted ‘‘December 31, 1995’’ for ‘‘the day before the ef- fective date of this section’’. Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 104–287, § 5(36)(B), substituted ‘‘January 1, 1996’’ for ‘‘the effective date of this sec- tion’’. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 2012 AMENDMENT Amendment by Pub. L. 112–141 effective Oct. 1, 2012, see section 3(a) of Pub. L. 112–141, set out as an Effec- tive and Termination Dates of 2012 Amendment note under section 101 of Title 23, Highways. EFFECTIVE DATE Section effective Jan. 1, 1996, except as otherwise pro- vided in Pub. L. 104–88, see section 2 of Pub. L. 104–88, set out as a note under section 1301 of this title. REGULATIONS Pub. L. 110–53, title XV, § 1537(b), Aug. 3, 2007, 121 Stat. 467, provided that: ‘‘Not later than October 1, 2007, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration shall issue final regulations to establish the Unified Carrier Registration System, as required by section 13908 of title 49, United States Code, and set fees for the unified carrier registration agreement for calendar year 2007 or subsequent calendar years to be charged to motor car- riers, motor private carriers, and freight forwarders under such agreement, as required by 14504a of title 49, United States Code.’’ DEEMED REFERENCES TO CHAPTERS 509 AND 511 OF TITLE 51 General references to ‘‘this title’’ deemed to refer also to chapters 509 and 511 of Title 51, National and Commercial Space Programs, see section 4(d)(8) of Pub. L. 111–314, set out as a note under section 101 of this title. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS Except as provided in sections 14504, 14504a, and 14506 of this title, subtitle C (§§ 4301–4308) of title IV of Pub. L. 109–59 is not intended to prohibit any State or any political subdivision of any State from enacting, im- posing, or enforcing any law or regulation with respect to a motor carrier, motor private carrier, broker, freight forwarder, or leasing company that is not other- wise prohibited by law, see section 4302 of Pub. L. 109–59, set out as a note under section 13902 of this title. § 13909. Availability of information The Secretary shall make information relat- ing to registration and financial security re- quired by this chapter publicly available on the Internet, including— (1) the names and business addresses of the principals of each entity holding such reg- istration; (2) the status of such registration; and (3) the electronic address of the entity’s sur- ety provider for the submission of claims. (Added Pub. L. 112–141, div. C, title II, § 32914(b)(1), July 6, 2012, 126 Stat. 819.) Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Section effective Oct. 1, 2012, see section 3(a) of Pub. L. 112–141, set out as an Effective and Termination Dates of 2012 Amendment note under section 101 of Title 23, Highways. CHAPTER 141—OPERATIONS OF CARRIERS SUBCHAPTER I—GENERAL REQUIREMENTS Sec. 14101. Providing transportation and service. 14102. Leased motor vehicles. 14103. Loading and unloading motor vehicles. 14104. Household goods carrier operations. SUBCHAPTER II—REPORTS AND RECORDS 14121. Definitions. 14122. Records: form; inspection; preservation. 14123. Financial reporting. SUBCHAPTER I—GENERAL REQUIREMENTS § 14101. Providing transportation and service (a) ON REASONABLE REQUEST.—A carrier pro- viding transportation or service subject to juris- diction under chapter 135 shall provide the transportation or service on reasonable request. In addition, a motor carrier shall provide safe and adequate service, equipment, and facilities. (b) CONTRACTS WITH SHIPPERS.— (1) IN GENERAL.—A carrier providing trans- portation or service subject to jurisdiction under chapter 135 may enter into a contract with a shipper, other than for the movement of household goods described in section 13102(10)(A), to provide specified services under specified rates and conditions. If the shipper and carrier, in writing, expressly waive any or all rights and remedies under this part for the transportation covered by the contract, the transportation provided under the contract shall not be subject to the waived rights and remedies and may not be subsequently chal- lenged on the ground that it violates the waived rights and remedies. The parties may not waive the provisions governing registra- tion, insurance, or safety fitness. (2) REMEDY FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT.—The exclusive remedy for any alleged breach of a contract entered into under this subsection shall be an action in an appropriate State court or United States district court, unless the parties otherwise agree. (Added Pub. L. 104–88, title I, § 103, Dec. 29, 1995, 109 Stat. 890.) Editorial Notes PRIOR PROVISIONS Provisions similar to those in this section were con- tained in section 11101 of this title prior to the general amendment of this subtitle by Pub. L. 104–88, § 102(a). Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Section effective Jan. 1, 1996, except as otherwise pro- vided in Pub. L. 104–88, see section 2 of Pub. L. 104–88, set out as a note under section 1301 of this title. § 14102. Leased motor vehicles (a) GENERAL AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY.—The Secretary may require a motor carrier providing