BUSTED!

[jonboy]

Well, I thought I had my t's crossed and i's dotted, but I was wrong.

I called those idiots at the IFTA office in Texas, (they don't even knowwhat their job is), and I told them I just received my MC# and I wanted to register with IFTA.

I was told to do my trip reports and I couldn't turn in anything until the fourth quarter anyway. I asked them about the sticker and they told me it would come in the mail when I did my fourth quarter report.

Bottom line is, I got a ticket in Oklahoma for $170. I still had the 2007 IFTA sticker from Minnesota on my truck with Texas apportioned plates. The scale house guy commented on how my docs were in in order, but wrote me the ticket anyway.

I don't think the IFTA money would add up to the ticket in my first year??, and how could you really cheat IFTA with an audit coming in the first few months???

They have now informed my it will take 2-4 weeks for me to register with IFTA, which they originally told me, I could not even do until I got my MC#.

That drags the whole process out to five weeks, which is quite amazing efficiency.

Since there is very little comprehensive information on starting a trucking company, somebody here out to put out a manual, because the information you can get from some of the agencies if not true or misleading.

GMAN, you ought to write one, I know people would buy it.

jonboy

[LOAD IT]

You have to go to the IFTA office in person now. When you got your apportioned plate, the IFTA should have been handled then and there. Now you are behind the 8 ball with this ticket in OK. Register your IFTA in person and notify them that you have been trucking without one, have all of your mileage and fuel info with you. Texas will probably fine you but at least it will be straight going forward. Your upcoming DOT audit is not an IFTA audit, it is a safety audit.

Also do you have Texas intra-state authority? If not you better get it while fixing your IFTA problem. Good Luck and $170 isnt that bad of a ticket, but the DOT notation of not having IFTA in your file is whats going to always get you pulled around back.

[merrick4]

This is why I pay the lousy $38 a month and these people do everything. That's THEIR JOB. I believe in doing a lot yourself to curb expenses but no man can know everything. As a matter of fact I cost my self several thousand in sales tax because I didn't check with them first. I don't have to use all their services but they aren't going to be answering my phone calls for free.

In NH you just waltz up to the girls and ask for one. If you don't have any of your paper work filled out they do it for you. Gotta love NH for commercial stuff.

[GMAN]

You should be able to get your IFTA at the same time you get your apportioned plates and cab card. In my state they are in the same building but different offices. As long as you have your insurance information, paid 2290 receipt and authority you should not have any problem getting your IFTA set up. By the way, you will also need to get your UCR before November 15th. This is the new Unified Carrier Registration. This is for 2007. For 2 vehicles it costs $39. If you have one truck and one trailer that is considered two vehicles according to the UCR. The UCR replaces the SSR or Single State Registration which was suspended the first of this year. As a carrier we will need to pay for the 2008 UCR in a couple of months. You can do it on line. They will start checking on November 15th. You don't really need to pay anyone to do this for you. I would go to Austin and wait until they gave the IFTA to you. Unless you have your stickers on the truck they will take a hard look at you and could continue to write tickets. If you haul intrastate in Texas you will need to get intrastate authority. You can also do that on line.

[no_worries]

I've heard horror stories about TX and their IFTA, good luck.

I've actually got a friend writing a textbook that deals with starting and running a small trucking company.

[jonboy]

Thanks for all the advise guys.....

In Texas, it's the State Comproller that collects the IFTA and you cannot go in person and get a sticker. I actually called twice and got a different person, and was told the same thing.

I still have my Texas authority and will just run under that until I get this resolved, or else, I can get temporary fuel permits for the states I want to cross, but they can add up pretty fast.

GMAN, the Oklahoma scale guys were really surprised I not only had my UCR registration, but a printed reciept with me. They told me the world was going to come to an end for many truckers on November 15th. They said that, either people failed to register or the UCR website was not updated to reflect they were.

For now I have high tailed it across the border into Texas, and am debating whether to pull my MC# and USDOT# off my truck until this is resolved. I can find plenty to do in Texas until then........

Ironically, you don't pay fuel taxes with Texas authority for fuel bought in Texas, but you are supposed to have combination plates to run only Texas. I just found out the IRP people were not even supposed to issue me apportioned plates until my MC # was issued (I've had them since the end of September). So now I'm stuck either way, the Texas boys can give me a ticket for apportioned plates and no IFTA as well.

I'm scratching my head now as to what to do, but I think the temporary IFTA permits, state by state, would be the way to go. I'll know more Monday. I guess I'll have to get one for Texas as well to cover all the bases.


jonboy

I understand that Oregon is not participated in the Unified Carrier program. One of these days someone will have to tell Oregon that they are not a separate country!

[GMAN]

There are several states who are not participating in the new UCR. Some of those who are not participating include: Oregon, California, Arizona, Nevada, Wyoming, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Vermont, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Florida. It seems to make more sense if all states participated.

[Dispatch_This]

No one has been able to explain to me why the UCR program is even necessary. The best explaination I have heard is that it allows participating states to verify proper liability insurance. Heck, the same info is available to the public for free at the SAFER website!

[GMAN]

Yes, but the safer site is FREE!! :wink:

[jonboy]

GMAN, I've been reading the websites of the UCR non participating states, and it appears, they don't know what to do with the repeal of the single state registration.

If the government repealed the single state registration, the states don't have authority to require it, even though, their state legislature has not approved the UCR. Missouri, in particular, wants their carriers to register in adjoining states until their legislature passes it. They say they will not ticket carriers for now.

What are you doing with the non participating states that are not clear on whether they will ticket or not?? Are you registering with them?

Since the single state registration is federal, and uninforcable (technically), since the FMCSA is changing to the UCR, I guess the non participating states could pass their own registration requirement for carriers not based in their state....?, but I don't see how they can enforce a federal law that has been repealed.

I wish they would stop using the term "registration", which is the same term they use for the IRP plates. Just when you pay for IRP registration for a particular state, they come after you for a single state registration.

It just causes more confusion. Also, I don't understand why they don't have a UCR sticker if they are so concerned about this registration.

I think I have the IRP and single state registration confused.

My IRP registration is one piece of paper, issued in Texas, with multiple states listed on that registration. Does that suppercede the individual state registrations (48 pages), or was the multiple pages the single state registration?

I've not been able to get a straight answer on this from any agency I've talked to. I've not been around long enough to watch this transition unfold.

jonboy

[Dispatch_This]

SSRS participation was voluntary. States were not required to join, The feds had nothing to do with it. I have a sneaking suspiscion that the UCR will be a far-reaching program sometime in the future. IRP, IFTA, HVUT, and SSRS will be combined in a one-size-fits-all program.

[GMAN]

The Single State Registration program hasn't existed since January of this year. Not all states participated in that program either. As I recall I paid about $256/year per truck for the SSR. The UCR is basically the same program with a slightly different spin. It is prorated based upon the number of units you own or run under your authority. You now pay a fee for each truck and trailer. Previously we paid only for each truck or power unit. For two vehicles, either one truck and one trailer or a single truck and trailer the fee is $39/year. For 3-5 the fee is $116. There have been a number of delays this past year. Eventually the Feds hope to have every state participate in the UCR. According to what I have been told, the delays have been primarily due to states computers not being able to communicate through common software. OK, it sounds like a crock to me, but that is what I was told. My guess is that they were trying to see who could get the biggest piece of the pie. If you are registered in a non-participating state, you will need to register in a state which does participate in the UCR program. States are supposed to be able to check your insurance, etc., using your DOT number as you pass through the scales. Beginning next year Mexico will be able to check your information by the DOT number and will no longer issue the annual paper permits for the truck, according to an official I spoke with about a month ago. Of course, the fee still has to be paid. They check as you roll through their scale.

[pepe4158]

Ummm why didnt you just use a tax and license company, sure I pay aout 250 more a year to use the one I got but its been worth the headaches.