WASHINGTON The new Unified Carrier Registration Agreement that replaces the Single State Registration System went online last week, and states began rushing to adopt the new system and collect its fees.

Under procedures approved by the UCRA board of directors, states could begin collecting registration fees as of Sept. 10 and enforcing the system as of Nov. 15.

The Indiana Department of Revenue is hosting the national online UCRA registration and payment system for all 36 states participating in the program.

All UCRA-member states are required to use the Indiana system, although they may run parallel systems of their own. For that reason, any coach operator or trucker, no matter where it is based, could register and pay UCRA fees as early as Sept. 10.

The system is at www.ucr.in.gov.

However, one coach industry executive urged caution by operators in jumping in and registering right away.

"I have concerns that some operators will simply complete the online form and make the payment before receiving notice (from their home state).

"Potentially, the payment may never get posted correctly. Meanwhile, the state sends the operator a notice. If operators wait until they receive a notice from their home state that means they are in the system," said the executive.

He also expressed concern that information from MCS-150 forms in the USDOT database may be incorrect or outdated. He predicted states will be looking at the MCS 150 information closely because Unified Carrier Registration Agreement fees are based on fleet size.

"It is imperative that the message gets to operators to make sure their MCS-150 is correct and that it matches their UCR submissions."

For most operators, the UCRA fees are less than the old system and the program less burdensome.