What Does The MCMIS "Active" Status Really Mean?

Unregistered Carriers on 01/28/2009 - 1040
Unregistered Carriers on 01/29/2010 - 1031

Illinois - 95.22%
Maine - 93.31%

Perhaps the question should include the words "... and to whom"?

We are on the verge of trying to answer this question with both the FMCSA office here in Illinois and the folks in Washington. I'm going to venture a couple of observations that are strictly my own - nobody told me this stuff.

From Washington's perspective, it seems to me that they are trying to figure out whether they have 750,000 carriers ... or 650,000 carriers ... or 550,000 carriers ... you get the idea. Maybe the last time they heard from a guy was 1992, but their default mode is to assume he's still active unless they hear otherwise from the carrier. Not only that, but when it comes to funding, probably look better. Again, my observation ... not a criticism and not necessarily fact. Err on the side of keeping the carrier active because once he's gone, he's off the radar.

From the state FMCSA office perspective, they are trying to figure out how many carriers they are responsible for ... and exactly who and where they are. Illinois has over 30,000 MCMIS records - notice I didn't say carriers - domiciled here. How'd you like to be the person responsible for making sure that all 30,000+ of them are safe and up-to-date on their safety records, etc. The state office doesn't necessarily want to see "ambiguous" carrier records deactivated, because deactivation "takes them out of the program", to use their words.

From our perspective, we're responsible for registering all of the "active" carriers that have shown certain kinds of activity in the last year. Those carrier records "count against us" if we don't register them, so we have a vested interest in identifying and deactivating any carriers in our UCR Universe who "aren't really there". Defining "aren't really there" is frequently done from the perspective of the beholder, which has been a point of disagreement in many states.

Finally, there are the "active" MCMIS records that haven't had any activity in two years ... or more. Those are the guys I wrote about the other day. We have 11,000+ of them here in Illinois! Are they really active or not?

As I said, we are on the verge of moving this discussion forward. From my perspective, it's all good!