A new system that standardizes and simplifies registration fees for nearly every vehicle owner in Texas begins September 1.
Currently, Texas has 1,745 fee categories for registration. That number is being reduced to nine weight classifications. The simplified structure makes it easier for Texans to know what they owe, and reduces administrative costs for the state, counties and private businesses.
“Under this new fee structure, Texas’ registration fees are among the lowest when compared to the country’s 12 largest states,” said Executive Director Ed Serna of the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles. “At the same time this new, simplified fee structure will ensure the state does not lose any of its current registration revenue.”
Registration fees contribute more than $1 billion each year to the state highway fund, which is used to build and maintain Texas’ roads and bridges. There are more than 21 million registered vehicles in Texas.
Those with heavy vehicles (more than 6,000 pounds) where registration fees were previously calculated by 100-pound weight increments in 1,600 fee categories will now find their registration fees fall into seven weight classifications.
“This fee modification will save time and money, positively affecting the more than 15,000 trucking companies across the state as well as the hundreds of thousands of professional truck drivers who live and work in Texas,” said John D. Esparza, president and chief executive officer of the Texas Motor Transportation Association. “We are pleased that this new structure simplifies and standardizes a convoluted system and modernizes an outdated process.”
Fees also change for trailer owners. The 75 different trailer categories, which include travel trailers, are reduced to one annual fee. It will cost $45 to register any trailer or travel trailer up to 6,000 pounds.
Car and truck owners whose vehicles weigh 6,000 pounds or less will pay a base vehicle registration fee of $50.75. This is a slight reduction, about $8, from the previous registration fee for new vehicle owners, and a small increase, around $10, for those with older vehicles.
Some Texans also will pay a new $1 automation fee. This fee was assessed in Texas’ largest 60 counties, but now applies statewide. The automation fee is used for improvements to the registration and titling computer system. Vehicle owners will continue to pay the $1 Department of Public Safety fee for TexasSure, the electronic insurance verification program, and any local county fees.
“This creates consistency for every vehicle owner in the state,” said Deborah Hunt, the Williamson County tax assessor-collector. “Vehicle owners will no longer have to contend with the fluctuations that were part of the previous fee schedule and no matter which of the 254 counties you live in or move to in Texas, the base state registration fee is going to be the same.”
Fees being eliminated include the annual 30-cent reflectorization fee (used to purchase the reflective license plate sheeting) that was on every registration renewal, and the $5 charge for license plate transfers. Texans who transfer their plates when they sell or trade in their vehicle to the new one they buy are protected from anyone running up toll charges or committing criminal activity that traces back to their name.
This fee simplification structure was passed by the state legislature two years ago. It represents the first change in Texas’ base vehicle registration fee since 1985.
The new law also standardizes the license plate replacement fee at $6, and eliminates the fee for classic, cotton, forestry, volunteer firefighter, tow truck, and radio operator license plates.
Printer Friendly Version
Email This Story
RSS
Government/Regulations: Related News
8/26/2011 – Texas Simplifies Vehicle Registration Fee Structure
A new system that standardizes and simplifies registration fees for nearly every vehicle owner in Texas begins September 1….
More
8/26/2011 – DOT to Revise Dozens of Regulations
The Department of Transportation is eliminating or revising dozens of rules in response to President Obama’s call for a review of burdensome regulations….
More
8/26/2011 – Pennsylvania Gets $8 Million for Truck and Bus Safety
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced more than $8 million in federal grants to improve commercial truck and bus safety across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania….
More
8/23/2011 – FMCSA Redefines Hazardous Materials Threshold
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration changed criteria for the Hazardous Materials intervention threshold.
In the August 3 Safety Measurement System release, FMCSA refined the criteria that determines which motor carriers are subject to the more stringent Hazardous Materials intervention threshold. …
More
8/23/2011 – New Illinois Law to Improve Oversize/Overweight Permits
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation allowing the state Department of Transportation to issue permits for loads that previously exceeded size and weight restrictions for travel on state highways if specific conditions are met….
More
8/19/2011 – Senate Highway Reauthorization Draft Addresses Truck Safety Issues
The Senate is considering truck safety legislation that would buttress a number of regulatory reforms under way at the Department of Transportation, such as an electronic onboard recorder mandate and mandatory 65-mph speed limiters, and give the agency more authority in a number of areas….
More
8/15/2011 – NAFA Urges EPA To Reconsider E15 Waiver Decision
The NAFA Fleet Management Association disputes the Environmental Protection Agency’s two partial waivers under the Clean Air Act that allow E15 to be sold for use in model year 2001 and newer cars and light trucks….
More
8/15/2011 – Illinois Governor Signs Legislation Requiring Truck Route Info
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation requiring local governments to provide the most up-to-date truck route information for the Illinois Department of Transportation to post online….
More
8/12/2011 – Canada Working to Address Emissions from Heavy-Duty Vehicles
Canada’s Environment Minister released a consultation paper on the development of proposed regulations to limit greenhouse gas emissions from new on-road heavy-duty vehicles….
More
8/11/2011 – Survey Finds Drivers Still Don’t Understand CSA
Truck drivers may not have a solid understanding of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s new CSA enforcement program, and a majority are concerned that it could cause them to lose their jobs, according to a new survey from the American Transportation Research Institute….
More
8/11/2011 – Shippers Oppose FMCSA Efforts to Regulate Waiting Time
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s five-year strategic plan calls for expanding its reach in the supply chain to shippers and receivers, and shippers’ groups aren’t happy about it….
More
8/9/2011 – Obama Administration Announces First Fuel Economy Standards for Medium and Heavy Trucks
President Obama today announced first-of-their-kind fuel efficiency standards for trucks, buses, and other heavy-duty vehicles, saying the new rules will save American businesses who operate and own these commercial vehicles approximately $50 billion in fuel costs over the life of the program….
More
8/3/2011 – Better Stopping Performance Now Built Into Highway Tractors as New Rules Take Effect
Emerging from truck factories in the U.S. right now are road tractors that can stop in substantially shorter distances than those built last week. That’s because new government stopping-distance requirements took effect August 1st….
More
8/1/2011 – Snowe Introduces Bill to Allow Trucks Over 80,000 Pounds
Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine proposed legislation that will allow six-axle trucks weighing up to 100,000 pounds on all interstates highways in the state.
Currently, trucks weighing more than 80,000 pounds are restricted to secondary roads except for the Maine Turnpike from Kittery to Augusta. The Maine Republican’s bill would allow states to bypass Congress and seek individual waivers of the interstate restrictions from the U.S. DOT….
More
8/1/2011 – President Announces 54.5 mpg Fuel Efficiency Standard
President Obama announced an agreement with 12 major auto makers to pursue the next phase in the administration’s national vehicle program, increasing fuel economy to 54.5 mpg for cars and light-duty trucks by model year 2025 — but one group says the move will mean billions in lost revenue for transportation infrastructure funding….
More
7/29/2011 – Illinois Simplifies State Truck Laws
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn this week signed laws that simplify trucking rules in the state….
More
7/29/2011 – City of Vancouver Considering Parking Fees for Loading Zones
Metered loading zones could become a reality in Vancouver.
The city is looking at how to better use road space as part of its Greenest City Action Plan, a ten-year action plan addressing Vancouver’s environmental challenges. Perhaps the biggest adverse effect will be on businesses and truck drivers….
More
7/20/2011 – Obama Administration Steps Up Action Against Unsafe Motor Carriers
The U.S. Department of Transportation announced that in the last two years, the Obama Administration has issued as many imminent hazard orders placing unsafe bus and truck companies out of service as in the previous 10 years combined….
More
7/20/2011 – New York Law Requires Convex Mirrors on Trucks in Big Apple
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a law Monday that requires convex mirrors, or “crossover mirrors,” to be placed on the front of trucks being driven in New York City to eliminate blind spots directly in front of the truck….
More
7/19/2011 – IRS Gives Truckers Three-Month Extension; Highway Use Tax Return Due Nov. 30
The Internal Revenue Service advised truckers and other owners of heavy highway vehicles that their next federal highway use tax return, usually due Aug. 31, will instead be due on Nov. 30, 2011….
More
7/18/2011 – FMCSA Working on Plan to Correct CSA Scores for No-Fault Crashes
From where Davelene Huellinghoff sits, it makes no sense. She runs a small fleet out of Union, Mo., with a good safety record, yet her CSA crash indicator score jumped from 0% to 44% as a consequence of two accidents that were not the company’s fault.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration intends to build a system that screens out no-fault crashes before they are entered into CSA scores, said senior transportation specialist Bryan Price. But it’s not easily done, he said, so the agency is working on a near-term remedy….
More