The North Carolina State Highway Patrol’s Motor Carrier Enforcement division will begin implementation of a new program for intrastate commercial motor vehicles that they say is designed to make state roads and highways safer.

The Motor Carrier Registration program will require all intrastate motor carriers to obtain an Intrastate USDOT number, then display that number on all of their commercial vehicles.

There is no cost to the companies to obtain the numbers.

“This is not a new law,” stated First Sergeant Jeff Gordon.  “This was adopted by North Carolina when the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations were adopted.”

At that time, officials say, the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) did not have the technology to process intrastate numbers. That technology is now in place and the law will be enforced.

Registering commercial vehicles through the USDOT Systems is one of the components of a quality program that does not subject intrastate commercial motor carriers to additional or different safety requirements. This allows law enforcement to efficiently assess and track a commercial motor carrier’s safety rating by tying the vehicles in a fleet to a common identifying number.

Only those companies doing business solely within North Carolina – intrastate – are required to obtain Intrastate USDOT numbers. Companies that operate in multiple states- interstate – are required to have USDOT numbers.

A company would be required to obtain a USDOT number if it operates a commercial motor vehicle in intrastate commerce that:

• Has a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR), a gross combination weight rating (GCWR), a gross vehicle weight (GVW) or gross combination weight (GCW) of 26,001 pounds or more: or
• Is designed or used to transport more than 16 passengers, including the driver, or
• Is used in transporting hazardous materials in a quantity requiring placarding pursuant to 49 C.F.R. Parts 170 through 185.

This requirement is not limited to “trucking companies.”  As defined by law, a “motor carrier” is any commercial enterprise that uses such vehicles in its business operation and as a result it is subject to Federal Motor Carrier Safety regulations.

This program went into effect on December 1. However, enforcement of this program will not begin until December 1, 2013.

This will allow the affected companies to obtain the Intrastate USDOT number and mark their vehicles, officials said.