Transportation

Farm Bureau

Winnebago-Boone

Do you have a USDOT number for your operation?

Are you being solicited by email to do various clerical updates related to USDOT compliance? USDOT and FMCSA do NOT send out reminders. Any reminder email you may receive is a solicitation from an outside compliance company for their services. Outside companies do a tremendous job of selling their services and sometimes make themselves sound like they are part of the USDOT system.

While these emails may be a little misleading they can serve as a reminder that you may be out of compliance or need to update some information. These updates do not require an outside source to do so and can be done by you. The information below are common areas where you could be noncompliant.

Every holder of a USDOT number must update their information every two years by filing form MCS-150. Information can be found at https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/registration/updating-your-registration. If the next-to-last digit of the USDOT Number is odd, the motor carrier shall file its update in every odd-numbered calendar year. If the next-to-last digit of the USDOT Number is even, the motor carrier shall file its update in every even-numbered calendar year. The last number of the USDOT number determines the month it is due in, 1=January, 2=February, 3=March, etc.

UCR Registration for the 2021 year begins on October 1st and must be paid before January 1st of 2021. This can be done at https://www.ucr.gov/. This can be an extremely busy time of the year, so do not forget to mark your calendars.

For those that are traveling outside of Illinois another area of compliance is IFTA. If you operate one or more qualified motor vehicles in at least one other IFTA-member jurisdiction, you can apply for an IFTA license and decals. If you qualify as an IFTA licensee but do not wish to participate in the IFTA program, you must obtain single trip permits to travel through member jurisdictions. More information can be found at https://www2.illinois.gov/rev/research/taxinformation/motorfuel/mfut/Pages/licensereg.aspx.

Lastly, anyone who registers a heavy highway motor vehicle in their name with a gross weight of 55,000 pounds or more must file Form 2290 and pay the tax. Trucks that are used for 5,000 miles or less (7,500 for farm trucks) are required to file a return but are excluded from paying the tax. For more information on how to file go to https://www.irs.gov/e-file-providers/e-file-form-2290. This form is due August 31st! To expedite the process, you can e file through a participating commercial software provider and a link to a list of those companies is provided on the website.