For the past seven years, the United States has had a mandate to do away with the Single State Registration System, a U.S. Dept. of Transportation program that allows truck operators to register their authority and proof of insurance in every state they operate via one home or base state. Thirty-eight states participate in the program; if you’re based in Canada, or your home jurisdiction isn’t part of SSRS, you can register with a state that is.

SSRS currently applies only to for-hire interstate carriers, which collectively pay about $100 million US a year in various registration fees. The fees are per-vehicle and cannot exceed $10 per vehicle per state in which the carrier operates.

It’s a cumbersome system that falls far short of the one-stop shopping concept carriers have wanted for years. The Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act of 1995 called for the creation of a single online federal system to replace SSRS as well as the ICC and current DOT insurance and registration programs. Congress also specifically gave DOT the authority to dump the SSRS and other state carrier-registration programs that serve the same purpose as those to be operated under the new federal program.

What would this mean for the typical fleet? It could result in a quantum leap toward a more convenient, less costly way to acquire federal and state credentials. The problem is, the new federal program has yet to emerge.

A group of state regulators and two American fleet associations are trying to kick-start the process. The National Private Truck Council (NPTC), the National Conference of State Transportation Specialists (NCSTS), and the American Trucking Associations (ATA) are lobbying for a proposal to replace SSRS with a Uniform Carrier Registry, a concept outlined by the U.S. DOT in an advanced rulemaking in August 1996.

The proposal, which is expected to be presented to Congress for inclusion in next year’s highway funding bill, calls for a single, federal on-line registration system; per-carrier fees rather than per-vehicle fees; replacement revenue for current SSRS states; and a minimum allocation of fees for current non-SSRS states.

In addition, the plan proposes that all motor carriers be included, not just for-hire interstate truckers. It also says the federal system should preempt any state system; that SSRS revenue should be used for safety, enforcement, and financial responsibility only; and that access to this information should be available to all interested parties via the Internet.

By taking the UCR online, fleet operators would be able to process all their federal and state credentials from a desktop computer. Others who need information from the system, including state officials, insurers, and shippers, would also have access.

The carrier’s USDOT number would be the only identification for the UCR. The ATA committee that drafted the proposal says the type of online federal safety and insurance registration system mandated by the ICC Termination Act would do carriers no good while SSRS and related programs still live. It would simply consolidate a federal-level program as an add-on to the existing state initiatives.

They want redundant state programs axed or incorporated into a uniform national system, or they fear truck operators will simply pay more fees. (The Act gives the department authority to charge carriers an open-ended fee to support the consolidated federal system).

If the ICC Termination Act says anything at all, it calls for leaner, less intrusive government. Consolidating outmoded programs demands less regulation and paperwork.

It’s an idea that’s worth the wait — and the effort — even though the demise of SSRS already seems so long overdue.