Unregistered Carriers on 01/19/2009 - 1091
Unregistered Carriers on 01/20/2010 - 1091
Illinois - 94.93%
Maine - 93.34%
At the UCR Board meeting last week, I showed a few people the latest list of State UCR Registration Percentages sorted from highest percentage to lowest percentage. Interestingly, most people looked for their state and then looked to see which state had the lowest percentage. Several of them exclaimed, "Look at South Carolina! 56%! What's wrong with them???" NOBODY looked up a few lines to North Carolina and said "Look at North Carolina! 63%! What's wrong with them???"
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with North Carolina ... or South Carolina, for that matter. In fact, I'm kind of wondering if anybody would have said anything about South Carolina if another state had been in the 40+% range.
By the same token, nobody looked at the highest percentage and said, "Well, I'm not at the top, so I must not be doing very well." But they did say things to the effect of "I'm at 71% (15 points higher than South Carolina). That's better than I thought we were doing! I guess we're OK."
The moral of the story is that everybody seems to want to punish SOMEBODY, but lacking a specific standard of performance, I would hazard a guess that the "punishers" will want to punish the states who are registering carriers at a pace somewhat below their own percentage (except for South Carolina, of course, who would probably wonder why we can't all just get along).
So, instead of chastising South Carolina, I think we should all be saying "Thank God for South Carolina!!!" To paraphrase an old adage, "First, they come for South Carolina, then they come for me." Or how about the old joke that ends with the punch line, "I don't have to run faster than the bear. I just have to run faster than you!"
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Can Your State Achieve "Top State" Status?
Unregistered Carriers on 01/18/2009 - 1094
Unregistered Carriers on 01/19/2010 - 1091
Illinois - 94.93%
Maine - 93.34%
In order to answer the question I posed in the title of this post, we have to first define what "Top State" means - which takes us directly to the issue of UCR "performance".
As I mentioned at the last Board meeting, there are rumblings about punishing states that aren't performing. In my Board comments, I maintained that we needed to be careful with that idea, because we have never defined performance. The closest definition we seem to tacetly agree on is State Registration Percentage. To be clear, this is the percentage of the carriers domiciled in your own state that have registered. Everybody's on equal footing with that definition.
So, the question becomes: could your state achieve the highest registration percentage? The answer for your state - in theory, at least - is "Yes".
Personally, I like this definition, because it means that all of the elements of performance are in our hands. We have a registration mechanism, we have a list of unregistered carriers in our state (if we choose to avail ourselves of that list) and we have at least a few resources to get the job done. Some of us have other "advantages" like IRP and IFTA.
So, I'll ask the question again. "Could your state achieve the highest registration percentage of any state?"
If your answer is "Yes", good for you. Call me if you need help.
If your answer is "No", ask yourself "why?" If the answer to that question is "because I'm not really into UCR registration", maybe you're a candidate for penalties.
Unregistered Carriers on 01/19/2010 - 1091
Illinois - 94.93%
Maine - 93.34%
In order to answer the question I posed in the title of this post, we have to first define what "Top State" means - which takes us directly to the issue of UCR "performance".
As I mentioned at the last Board meeting, there are rumblings about punishing states that aren't performing. In my Board comments, I maintained that we needed to be careful with that idea, because we have never defined performance. The closest definition we seem to tacetly agree on is State Registration Percentage. To be clear, this is the percentage of the carriers domiciled in your own state that have registered. Everybody's on equal footing with that definition.
So, the question becomes: could your state achieve the highest registration percentage? The answer for your state - in theory, at least - is "Yes".
Personally, I like this definition, because it means that all of the elements of performance are in our hands. We have a registration mechanism, we have a list of unregistered carriers in our state (if we choose to avail ourselves of that list) and we have at least a few resources to get the job done. Some of us have other "advantages" like IRP and IFTA.
So, I'll ask the question again. "Could your state achieve the highest registration percentage of any state?"
If your answer is "Yes", good for you. Call me if you need help.
If your answer is "No", ask yourself "why?" If the answer to that question is "because I'm not really into UCR registration", maybe you're a candidate for penalties.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Making a Hard Push to 95% Registration
Unregistered Carriers on 01/15/2009 - 1152
Unregistered Carriers on 01/18/2010 - 1094
Illinois - 94.92%
Maine - 93.34%
We are about 20 carriers shy of 95% thanks to a busy week here in IL. We had 15 new "sideways" adds since Friday, which is a lot compared to what we get most days. Hopefully we'll push into the 95's this week. I'd also like to get that unregistered number below 1,000 in the next week or two.
For analytical purposes, I want to point out Maine has hardly left the gate since my post a couple of months ago when I predicted they wouldn't get much above 93.29 or 93.32 or whatever it was. The reason is that there are no more "forced" registrations for 2009 - in other words, new USDOT carriers don't have to register for 2009, so the only way they are going to meaningfully improve their percentage is to work their 2009 unregistered list .... which I don't believe they have. In fact, if they are not careful, they may go backward because of future "sideways" additions.
Unregistered Carriers on 01/18/2010 - 1094
Illinois - 94.92%
Maine - 93.34%
We are about 20 carriers shy of 95% thanks to a busy week here in IL. We had 15 new "sideways" adds since Friday, which is a lot compared to what we get most days. Hopefully we'll push into the 95's this week. I'd also like to get that unregistered number below 1,000 in the next week or two.
For analytical purposes, I want to point out Maine has hardly left the gate since my post a couple of months ago when I predicted they wouldn't get much above 93.29 or 93.32 or whatever it was. The reason is that there are no more "forced" registrations for 2009 - in other words, new USDOT carriers don't have to register for 2009, so the only way they are going to meaningfully improve their percentage is to work their 2009 unregistered list .... which I don't believe they have. In fact, if they are not careful, they may go backward because of future "sideways" additions.
Friday, January 15, 2010
I'm Back --- Miss Me???
Unregistered Carriers on 01/05/2009 - 1235
Unregistered Carriers on 01/15/2010 - 1152
Illinois - 94.66%
Maine - 93.52%
Hello, again! I just flew in from San Diego .... and my arms are really tired! Sorry, every once in a while I accidentally channel Red Skelton.
A lot has happened since we talked last. Perhaps the most important thing is that the Office and Management and Budget has decided the 2010 fee rulemaking is "significant" after all ... and this will result in a further delay of 2010 fees while they do their own analysis.
If there's any good news to this --- and I'm "scraping the bottom of the barrel" for good news here --- it's that we (here in Illinois) can now devote more of our UCR efforts to "getting to zero".
On another note, we are hoping to get the Collaboration site up and running next week. Once we get operational, the first thing we're going to do is start posting some daily UCR reports there. Heck, I might even move the blog there! I'm looking forward to putting more supporting documents out there that I can then refer to in the blog.
Have a great weekend!
Unregistered Carriers on 01/15/2010 - 1152
Illinois - 94.66%
Maine - 93.52%
Hello, again! I just flew in from San Diego .... and my arms are really tired! Sorry, every once in a while I accidentally channel Red Skelton.
A lot has happened since we talked last. Perhaps the most important thing is that the Office and Management and Budget has decided the 2010 fee rulemaking is "significant" after all ... and this will result in a further delay of 2010 fees while they do their own analysis.
If there's any good news to this --- and I'm "scraping the bottom of the barrel" for good news here --- it's that we (here in Illinois) can now devote more of our UCR efforts to "getting to zero".
On another note, we are hoping to get the Collaboration site up and running next week. Once we get operational, the first thing we're going to do is start posting some daily UCR reports there. Heck, I might even move the blog there! I'm looking forward to putting more supporting documents out there that I can then refer to in the blog.
Have a great weekend!
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
2010 Fits and Starts
Unregistered Carriers on 01/05/2009 - 1235
Unregistered Carriers on 01/06/2010 - 1229
Illinois - 94.30%
Maine - 93.42%
We have had a bunch of people calling about 2010 UCR registration. Considering all the work that the Board, the R&F Committee and FMCSA did to make sure that we had a timely registration year, I think it's unconscionable that the rulemaking is hung up "somewhere" in Washington.
We've also had several calls from carriers who have been stopped and either ticketed or threatened with tickets for not having a 2010 UCR registration. Apparently, the CVSA bulletin hasn't reached everybody yet.
Finally, we've had quite a few carriers who got USDOT numbers in 2010 who sent in 2009 UCR registrations. I'm not aware of any prohibitions against registering these carriers, but I can certainly understand a "take no chances" approach on the part of carriers and permit agents who would rather be "safe than sorry". We're accepting the registrations since we didn't solicit them. Oddly enough, they don't reduce our unregistered list for 2009.
Unregistered Carriers on 01/06/2010 - 1229
Illinois - 94.30%
Maine - 93.42%
We have had a bunch of people calling about 2010 UCR registration. Considering all the work that the Board, the R&F Committee and FMCSA did to make sure that we had a timely registration year, I think it's unconscionable that the rulemaking is hung up "somewhere" in Washington.
We've also had several calls from carriers who have been stopped and either ticketed or threatened with tickets for not having a 2010 UCR registration. Apparently, the CVSA bulletin hasn't reached everybody yet.
Finally, we've had quite a few carriers who got USDOT numbers in 2010 who sent in 2009 UCR registrations. I'm not aware of any prohibitions against registering these carriers, but I can certainly understand a "take no chances" approach on the part of carriers and permit agents who would rather be "safe than sorry". We're accepting the registrations since we didn't solicit them. Oddly enough, they don't reduce our unregistered list for 2009.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Making the Registration Numbers Move Some More - January Plan
Unregistered Carriers on 01/04/2009 - 1257
Unregistered Carriers on 01/05/2010 - 1235
Illinois - 94.27%
Maine - 93.42%
We are now in a very interesting period with regard to 2009 UCR registration. I like to call it the "haymaking period".
First, we are no longer adding new 2009 USDOT numbers. All of the "new" numbers are 2010 USDOT numbers. The only adds we are seeing are the "sideways" adds that we've discussed at length in past posts. 2010 USDOT numbers will not, in most cases, need to register for 2009 - although we probably won't turn them away if they want to register because of potential enforcement hassles on the road.
Second, you can't meaningfully increase your registration percentage without going after your unregistered list ... which means you have to HAVE an unregistered list in front of you to go after. Most states still aren't working off an unregistered list.
So .... here's my plan: go after the unregistered list with gusto.
You may have noticed that we have quietly put almost a percentage point of distance between ourselves and Maine. That's because Maine, as predicted, hardly moved last month, while we increased our registration percentage about 1.5%.
Look for more of the same this month.
Unregistered Carriers on 01/05/2010 - 1235
Illinois - 94.27%
Maine - 93.42%
We are now in a very interesting period with regard to 2009 UCR registration. I like to call it the "haymaking period".
First, we are no longer adding new 2009 USDOT numbers. All of the "new" numbers are 2010 USDOT numbers. The only adds we are seeing are the "sideways" adds that we've discussed at length in past posts. 2010 USDOT numbers will not, in most cases, need to register for 2009 - although we probably won't turn them away if they want to register because of potential enforcement hassles on the road.
Second, you can't meaningfully increase your registration percentage without going after your unregistered list ... which means you have to HAVE an unregistered list in front of you to go after. Most states still aren't working off an unregistered list.
So .... here's my plan: go after the unregistered list with gusto.
You may have noticed that we have quietly put almost a percentage point of distance between ourselves and Maine. That's because Maine, as predicted, hardly moved last month, while we increased our registration percentage about 1.5%.
Look for more of the same this month.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Happy New Year! Reviewing December and 2009
Unregistered Carriers on 12/31/2009 - 1302
Unregistered Carriers on 01/04/2010 - 1257
Illinois - 94.17%
Maine - 93.42%
I hope everybody had a safe and fun New Year. 2009 is now in the record books ... except, of course, for 2009 UCR registration, which is still alive and well!
For December, we registered 371 carriers and collected $27,765 for an average registration of just under $75. Always very consistent.
For the 2009 registration year, we have registered 20,295 Illinois carriers and, as you can see, we still have 1,257 unregistered carriers.
If there's any good news in the 2010 fee delay - and I'm stretching here - it's that we can continue to focus on 2009 registrations. Part of me really wants to "get to zero" ---- but most of me wants to get those fees and get moving!
Unregistered Carriers on 01/04/2010 - 1257
Illinois - 94.17%
Maine - 93.42%
I hope everybody had a safe and fun New Year. 2009 is now in the record books ... except, of course, for 2009 UCR registration, which is still alive and well!
For December, we registered 371 carriers and collected $27,765 for an average registration of just under $75. Always very consistent.
For the 2009 registration year, we have registered 20,295 Illinois carriers and, as you can see, we still have 1,257 unregistered carriers.
If there's any good news in the 2010 fee delay - and I'm stretching here - it's that we can continue to focus on 2009 registrations. Part of me really wants to "get to zero" ---- but most of me wants to get those fees and get moving!
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