UCR Tiers & Fee Math

UCR uses a six-tier fee structure based on fleet size. Each tier has a flat annual federal fee - getting the count right is the difference between the $55 floor and the $54,165 ceiling (2027 schedule). The cluster below covers the tier table, what to count, and how to handle edge cases (intrastate vehicles, leased equipment, dollies).

Tier 1 covers carriers with 0-2 power units; Tier 2 covers 3-5; Tier 3 covers 6-20; Tier 4 covers 21-100; Tier 5 covers 101-1,000; Tier 6 covers 1,001+. Fees scale sharply across the tiers - a Tier 3 carrier (6-20 vehicles) pays $333, six times the $55 a Tier 1 carrier pays.

Vehicle counting rules: include power units operated in interstate commerce (whether owned or leased), straight trucks, tractors. Exclude trailers, intrastate-only vehicles, and vehicles below the CMV threshold. Leased equipment counts toward the lessee's tier, not the lessor's.

Edge cases: a carrier with 5 owned trucks + 3 leased-on owner-operators is Tier 3 (8 power units total). A carrier with 20 owned trucks + 5 trailers is Tier 3 (20 power units; trailers don't count). A carrier with 19 owned + 2 intrastate-only is Tier 3 (interstate-only count is 19, but intrastate units don't go in the count).

The cluster below covers the full tier table, the most common counting errors, and the operational impact of mis-categorizing a fleet for UCR purposes.

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