With kinks still be worked out in its new Unified Registration System, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has extended the implementation date of the final stage. The bottom line for carriers: Follow the same procedures and forms used to submit information to FMCSA as they do today.
According to the notice published Tuesday in the Federal Register, the agency needs additional time to securely migrate data from multiple legacy platforms into a new central database. FMCSA recently moved its information technology systems to a “cloud” environment “to provide a foundation to successfully implement URS.”
By moving the implementation date (most recently, Jan. 13) FMCSA says it is providing its state partners more time “to develop, update, and verify data connectivity and system reliability.” The additional time will also enable the agency to conduct more thorough training and to implement broader outreach and education activities that will provide for a seamless transition, according to the notice.
Due to the numerous revisions and corrections that have been made to the URS 1 final rule since it was issued in August 2013, FMCSA, in consultation with the Office of the Federal Register (OFR), is allowing the URS 1 rule to come into effect, immediately suspending it, and replacing it with temporary regulations. FMCSA intends to lift the suspension once the technology to implement URS 1 is complete, and effectively replace the temporary regulations with the URS 1 final rule, the notice states.