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TRALA Urges IRP to Approve Proposals That Will Benefit Renting and Leasing

TRALA is urging the IRP to pass pending proposals that will make it easier for rented and leased trucks to operate in interstate commerce under the International Registration Plan (IRP). In written statements submitted to the IRP, TRALA pushes for the adoption of the Base Jurisdiction for Rental Fleets proposal and the Full Reciprocity Plan proposal.
 
The Base Jurisdiction for Rental Fleets proposal would eliminate a requirement that vehicles leased for periods of 60 days or more must be registered where the lessee has a place of business.  This current requirement subjects leased vehicles registered under the IRP to different requirements than all other IRP-registered vehicles. TRALA's comments in support of the ballot note that "...unlike other registrants, lessors are required to register apportioned vehicles where the lessee has an established place of business when the vehicles are leased for a period greater than 60 days. This puts an unfair and unnecessary administrative burden on lessors to which other registrants are not subject." Currently, non-rental fleets are allowed to be based in a jurisdiction where they may never actually operate, as long as at least one vehicle in the fleet accrues distance in the base jurisdiction, and the records are maintained in that jurisdiction. If the ballot is approved, lessors would be able to select a base jurisdiction for their fleet, just as other non-leasing and rental fleets do currently.
 
The Full Reciprocity Plan (FRP) proposal would grant full reciprocity for all apportioned vehicles in all member jurisdictions, as well as remove from the IRP provisions relating to estimating distance. If the FRP is adopted, a motor carrier would not need to declare the jurisdictions it expects to travel in during the coming year and a motor carrier would not need to estimate mileage for those jurisdictions. "Renting and leasing companies often are responsible for tax compliance on behalf of their lessee customers. However, since they are not operating the vehicles and are not involved in driver and routing decisions, it is sometimes difficult to ensure jurisdictional compliance based on expected miles traveled."All jurisdictions would appear on IRP cab cards, meaning the carrier would have the ability to enter any jurisdiction without having to worry about adding jurisdictions to the cab card or purchase trip permits.
 
The Full Reciprocity Plan ballot can be seen here, and the Base Jurisdiction for Rental Fleet ballot can be seen here. TRALA's letter in support of the FRP can be seen here, while comments supporting the Base Jurisdiction for Rental Fleet can be seen here.
  
It will not be immediately clear if the ballots will be approved, because voting by IRP Board members will begin about 60 days following the IRP annual meeting on June 3. TRALA will keep its membership updated on these two initiatives. For questions, contact TRALA's Joe Sculley at jsculley@trala.org or by calling (703) 299-9120.