WASHINGTON Fees under the Unified Carrier Registration system would more than double under a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration proposal published this month in the Federal Register.

The minimum fee, which applies to a one- or two-bus or -truck operation would go from $39 to $87 annually, while the maximum registration fee for private bus and truck operators with more than 1,000 vehicles would rise from $37,500 to $83,412.

In its proposed rulemaking, the FMCSA cites several factors driving the need to increase the Unified Carrier Registration fees to come up with the $113 million in revenue that states received under the old Single-State Registration System.

One was a change in federal law last year that eliminated trailers from the calculation of UCR fees. That change alone requires increasing overall fees by 61 percent to maintain the $113 million in revenue -- even if every single carrier complied.

But compliance with the UCR system has been far from 100 percent.

Between 80 and 90 percent of carriers operating 100 or more vehicles have registered under the plan. But the compliance rate among single-vehicle operations is less than 60 percent.

In 2008, the overall compliance rate was 62.5 percent.

While private industry representatives on the UCR board believe the fees should continue to be based on 100 percent compliance, FMCSA is choosing a compliance rate of about 86 percent.

On top of those issues is a phenomenon FMCSA calls "bracket shift," where motor carriers end up registering fewer buses or trucks than anticipated based on the federal motor carrier database.

The cumulative effect of these factors is that states have not received the UCR revenue required by law during the 2007-2009 registration years, the FMCSA says.

The rulemaking was proposed as a way to make up for that revenue through a fee increase. The FMCSA also hopes states will ramp up enforcement of the UCR-fee rule. That seems problematic given the financial situation of most states and the cost of trying to enforce the rule against very small operators.

Bottom line: Honest bus and truck operators will continue to foot the bill for the scofflaws.

Here are the current and proposed 2010 fees for the other four UCR brackets:

3-5 vehicles: Current fee $116; proposed 2010 fee $258.

6-20 vehicles: Current fee $231; proposed 2010 fee $514.

21-100 vehicles: Current fee $806; proposed 2010 fee $1,793.

101-1,000 vehicles: Current fee $3,840; proposed 2010 fee $8,541.

The FMCSA gave industry only 15 days to comment on the proposed rule. To comment, go to www.Regulations.gov.