ORS Chapter 826
Chapter 826 — Registrationof Commercial Vehicles
2009 EDITION
REGISTRATIONOF COMMERCIAL VEHICLES
OREGONVEHICLE CODE
826.001 Definitions
826.003 Rules
826.005 Authorityfor reciprocal registration agreements; permitted provisions; requirements; limitations
826.007 Authorityfor proportional registration agreements; permitted provisions; requirements;limitations; rules
826.008 Certainrecords not public
826.009 Proportionalregistration of commercial vehicles
826.010 Quarterlypayment of registration fees for vehicles registered under ORS 826.009
826.011 Proportionalfleet registration
826.013 Registrationweight
826.015 Declarationof weight
826.017 Registrationfees for proportionally registered vehicles
826.019 InternationalRegistration Plan fee
826.021 Prorationof fees for proportionally registered vehicles; adjustment of fees andregistration periods by department; rules
826.023 Feesfor cards, plates and stickers
826.025 Duplicateor replacement registration cards
826.027 Transferof registration; withdrawal of vehicle from fleet
826.029 Temporaryproportional registration permits
826.031 Registrationfor certain vehicles subject to weight mile tax and not otherwise registered
826.033 Applicationof other registration provisions of Oregon Vehicle Code to vehicles registeredunder this chapter
826.035 Registrationidentification devices and cards for vehicles registered under ORS 826.031
826.037 Annualor quarterly registration under ORS 826.031
826.039 Refundof certain registration fees
826.041 Agentsfor issuance of registration and collection of fees
826.001Definitions.As used in this chapter:
(1)“Combined weight” means the total empty weight of all vehicles in a combinationplus the total weight of the load carried on that combination of vehicles.
(2)“Commercial vehicle” means a vehicle that:
(a)Is used for the transportation of persons for compensation or profit; or
(b)Is designed or used primarily for the transportation of property.
(3)“Department” means the Department of Transportation. [Formerly 768.001]
826.003Rules.The Department of Transportation may adopt rules regarding registration recordsfor vehicles registered under this chapter. [1995 c.733 §82b]
826.005Authority for reciprocal registration agreements; permitted provisions;requirements; limitations. (1) The Department of Transportation may enter intoagreements with the duly authorized representatives of any jurisdiction thatissues registration to establish reciprocal privileges or registrationexemptions for vehicles as described in this section. An agreement entered intoby the department under the authority granted by this section may establishexemptions from proportional registration fees.
(2)An agreement shall only grant the privileges, benefits and exemptions to avehicle or the registrant of a vehicle if the vehicle is any of the following:
(a)Registered in the jurisdiction where the person registering the vehicle has alegal residence.
(b)A commercial vehicle registered in a jurisdiction where the commercialenterprise in which the vehicle is used has a place of business. To qualifyunder this paragraph, the vehicle must be assigned to the place of business andthe place of business must be the place from which or in which the vehicle ismost frequently dispatched, garaged, serviced, maintained, operated orotherwise controlled.
(c)A commercial vehicle registered in a jurisdiction where the vehicle has beenregistered because of an agreement between two jurisdictions or a declarationissued by any jurisdiction.
(3)An agreement shall retain the right of the department to make the finaldetermination as to the proper place of registration of a vehicle when there isa dispute or doubt concerning the proper place of registration. An agreementshall retain the right of the department to confer with the departments ofother jurisdictions affected when making a determination under this subsection.
(4)An agreement shall not provide for any benefit, exemption or privilege withrespect to fuel taxes, use fuel taxes, weight mile taxes or any other fees ortaxes levied or assessed against the use of highways or use or ownership ofvehicles except registration taxes, fees and requirements.
(5)An agreement must provide that any vehicle registered in this state willreceive a similar kind or degree of exemptions, benefits and privileges whenoperated in another jurisdiction that is party to the agreement as vehiclesregistered in the other jurisdiction receive when operated in this state.
(6)An agreement, in the judgment of the department, shall be in the best interestof this state and its citizens, shall be fair and equitable to this state andits citizens and shall be determined on the basis and recognition of benefitsthat accrue to the economy of this state from the uninterrupted flow ofcommerce.
(7)An agreement may authorize a vehicle that would otherwise be required to beregistered in one jurisdiction to be registered in another jurisdiction withoutlosing any benefit, exemption or privilege under the agreement if the vehicleis operated from a base located in the other jurisdiction.
(8)An agreement may allow the lessee or lessor of a vehicle, subject to the termsand conditions of the lease, to receive benefits, exemptions and privilegesunder the agreement.
(9)An agreement may authorize the department to suspend or cancel any exceptions,benefits or privileges granted to any person under the agreement if the personviolates any of the terms or conditions of the agreement or violates any law orrule of this state relating to vehicles.
(10)All agreements shall be in writing and filed with the department within 10 daysafter execution or the effective date of the agreement, whichever is later.
(11)An agreement may be a limited type agreement with any state bordering thisstate as described in this subsection. An agreement described under thissubsection is subject to all of the following:
(a)The benefits, exemptions and privileges under the agreement shall only beextended to vehicles or a class of vehicles as specified in the agreement.
(b)The agreement shall be applicable only within an area in each state that issituated along the boundary between the states and that is substantially equalin size.
(c)The usage permitted of the vehicles in the two areas shall be as substantiallyequal as may be practicable.
(d)The areas and usage subject to the agreement shall be described in theagreement.
(e)Proportional registration shall not be required under the agreement.
(f)The agreement shall comply with other mandatory provisions of this section andmay contain any other provisions described under this section.
(g)A vehicle operating under the agreement may be required to obtain a permitunder ORS 803.610.
(12)An agreement may require the display or submission of evidence of registrationfor any vehicle operating under the agreement. [Formerly 768.003]
826.007Authority for proportional registration agreements; permitted provisions;requirements; limitations; rules. The Department of Transportation mayenter into agreements with the duly authorized representatives of anyjurisdiction that issues out-of-state registration to provide for proportionalregistration of vehicles and for the apportionment of registration fees andother fixed fees and taxes on vehicles proportionally registered in this stateand the other jurisdiction. All of the following apply to an agreementestablished under authority granted by this section:
(1)An agreement may provide proportional registration only for commercial vehiclesthat are engaged in interjurisdictional commerce or combinedinterjurisdictional and intrajurisdictional commerce.
(2)An agreement may provide for proportional registration for vehiclesindividually or in fleets but must comply with the requirements forproportional registration under ORS 826.009 for all proportionally registeredvehicles and with the requirements under ORS 826.011 for all proportionallyregistered fleets.
(3)An agreement may include provisions necessary to facilitate the administrationof proportional registration.
(4)Any apportionment of registration fees and other fixed vehicle fees or taxesmay be made on a basis commensurate with and determined on the miles traveledon and use made of the highways of this state as compared with the milestraveled on and use made of other jurisdictions’ highways, or may be made onany other equitable basis of apportionment.
(5)No agreement shall contain any provision that requires a vehicle to beproportionally registered if the vehicle is:
(a)Registered by this state;
(b)Operating in this state under any vehicle permit that allows operation of anunregistered vehicle; or
(c)Legally operated in this state under an exemption provided under ORS 803.305.
(6)Nothing in an agreement shall affect the right of the department to adopt rulesas described in this subsection. The department may adopt any rules thedepartment deems necessary to effectuate and administer the provisions of theagreement.
(7)An agreement shall only provide for proportional registration of vehicles ifthe vehicle is any of the following:
(a)Registered in the jurisdiction where the person registering the vehicle has alegal residence.
(b)Registered in a jurisdiction where the commercial enterprise in which thevehicle is used has a place of business where the vehicle has been assigned andfrom which or in which the vehicle is most frequently dispatched, garaged,serviced, maintained, operated or otherwise controlled.
(c)Registered in a jurisdiction where the vehicle has been registered because ofan agreement between two jurisdictions or a declaration issued by anyjurisdiction.
(8)An agreement shall retain the right of the department to make the finaldetermination as to the proper place of registration of a vehicle when there isa dispute or doubt concerning the proper place of registration. An agreementshall retain the right of the department to confer with the departments ofother jurisdictions affected when making a determination under this subsection.
(9)An agreement may provide that the department may deny any person furtherbenefits under the agreement until all fees or taxes have been paid if thedepartment determines that the person should have proportionally registeredmore vehicles in this state or paid additional fees or taxes on vehiclesproportionally registered in this state.
(10)An agreement may provide for arrangements with agencies of this state or otherjurisdictions for joint audits of registrants of proportionally registeredvehicles and for the exchange of audit information on persons who haveproportionally registered vehicles.
(11)An agreement may authorize a vehicle that would otherwise be required to beregistered in one jurisdiction to be registered in another jurisdiction withoutlosing any benefits under the agreement if the vehicle is operated from a baselocated in the other jurisdiction.
(12)An agreement may allow the lessee or lessor of a vehicle, subject to the termsand conditions of the lease, to receive benefits of proportional registrationunder the agreement.
(13)An agreement may authorize the department to suspend or cancel any benefitsunder the agreement if the person violates any of the terms or conditions ofthe agreement or violates any law or rule of this state relating to vehicles.
(14)All agreements shall be in writing and shall be filed with the departmentwithin 10 days after execution or the effective date of the agreement,whichever is later.
(15)Vehicles that are proportionally registered under an agreement, whetherindividually or in a fleet, are fully registered in this state for purposes ofORS 803.300 and any other portion of the vehicle code and are accorded the sameprivileges and duties as other vehicles registered in this state even thoughthe vehicle may have primary registration in some other jurisdiction. Thissubsection does not grant authority required for intrastate movement where suchauthority is required under ORS chapter 825. Such authority must be granted inaccordance with ORS chapter 825.
(16)An agreement may only provide the benefits of proportional registration to avehicle that is registered either proportionally or otherwise in at least oneother jurisdiction in addition to this one.
(17)Nothing in an agreement shall affect the right of the department to act underthis subsection. The department may refuse to issue proportional registrationin this state for vehicles from jurisdictions that do not grant similarprivileges for vehicles from this state.
(18)An agreement shall not provide for any benefit, exemption or privilege withrespect to fuel taxes, use fuel taxes, weight mile taxes or any other fees ortaxes levied or assessed against the use of highways or use or ownership ofvehicles except registration taxes, fees and requirements.
(19)An agreement may control the requirements for type, manner of display, numberand other provisions relating to registration plates, registration cards orother proof of registration for vehicles that are subject to the agreement. [Formerly768.005]
826.008Certain records not public. (1) The following are not public records unless thepublic interest requires disclosure in the particular instance:
(a)Mileage information required to be filed with the Department of Transportationunder agreements authorized by ORS 826.007.
(b)Information collected by the department from a motor carrier for the purpose ofconducting an audit under an agreement authorized by ORS 826.007.
(2)A motor carrier to whom the information pertains, or a person who has writtenpermission from the carrier, may inspect information described in subsection(1) of this section.
(3)The department, upon request or as required by law, shall disclose informationfrom the records described in subsection (1) of this section to a governmentagency for use in carrying out its governmental functions. [1997 c.501 §4]
826.009Proportional registration of commercial vehicles. Proportionalregistration allows commercial vehicles to comply with registrationrequirements of more than one jurisdiction and to have registration fees, taxesor other fixed fees apportioned among the jurisdictions in which the vehiclesare being operated. A vehicle may be registered under proportional registrationif the vehicle qualifies for proportional registration under an agreemententered into under ORS 826.007. If a vehicle is going to be proportionallyregistered as part of a fleet, ORS 826.011 must be complied with in addition tothis section. A vehicle is registered in this state if the vehicle isproportionally registered under this section. The following apply toproportional registration:
(1)The terms of an agreement established under ORS 826.007 control all of theprovisions of proportional registration, including but not limited to thefollowing, except as otherwise provided by this section:
(a)Qualification.
(b)Apportionment of fees, taxes and other fixed fees.
(c)Application and information required.
(d)Requirements for type, manner of display, number or any other provisionrelating to registration plates, registration cards and other proof ofregistration.
(e)Any other provision relating to the registration of proportionally registeredvehicles.
(2)When initially registered, the registration fees for vehicles registered underthis section may be reduced according to the schedule provided under ORS826.021.
(3)The registration period for proportionally registered vehicles is a period offour consecutive quarters. The period begins on the first day of any calendarquarter and ends on the last day of the fourth consecutive quarter. Allvehicles within a proportionally registered fleet shall be registered for thesame registration period. Each carrier may select the calendar quarter in whichthe registration will begin except that, if necessary for administrativeconvenience, the Department of Transportation may require a carrier to adopt aregistration year chosen by the department.
(4)The department may issue appropriate registration cards, stickers, permits,tabs, plates or other suitable identification devices the department considersconvenient for proportionally registered vehicles. The fees for such stickers,permits, tabs or plates are as provided under ORS 826.023.
(5)Any applicant whose application for proportional registration under thissection has been accepted by the department shall preserve the records on whichthe application is based for a period of four years following the year or theperiod upon which said application is based. Upon request of the department,the applicant shall make such records available to the department at its officefor audit as to accuracy of mileage, number of vehicles, weights, computationsand payment of fees or shall pay the reasonable costs of an audit at the homeoffice of the applicant by a duly appointed representative of the department.An applicant shall comply with any audit provisions under the agreementallowing the registration.
(6)If a provision concerning the registration of vehicles is not provided underthe agreement or under this section, provisions of the vehicle code applicableto registration shall be applicable to proportionally registered vehicles.
(7)If a vehicle qualifies for proportional registration, the department may issuetemporary proportional registration permits under ORS 826.029 to allowoperation of the vehicles pending issuance of evidence of proportionalregistration.
(8)The department may allow a carrier to operate on expired registration platesand registration for up to one extra quarter if the renewal application hasbeen submitted and the required fees for registration have been paid on orbefore the last day of the registration period for the vehicles. The extensionof time allowed by this subsection shall be granted only if the departmentdetermines that the extension is necessary for the administrative convenienceof the department.
(9)Vehicles registered and identified under this section shall be deemed to befully registered in this state for any type of movement or operation, exceptthat in these instances in which a grant of authority is required forintrastate movement or operation, no such vehicle shall be operated inintrastate commerce in this state unless the owner thereof has been grantedintrastate authority or right by the department and unless said vehicle isbeing operated in conformity with such authority and rights.
(10)Registration cards may be issued for proportionally registered vehicles.Registration cards issued for proportionally registered vehicles shall becarried on the vehicle at all times or, in the case of a combination ofvehicles, the registration card for a trailer may be carried in the vehiclesupplying the motive power.
(11)In accordance with provisions of the agreement establishing proportionalregistration, the department may suspend or cancel the exemptions, benefits orprivileges granted thereunder to a person who violates any of the conditions orterms of such agreements or arrangements or who violates the laws of this staterelating to vehicles or regulations lawfully promulgated thereunder.
(12)A vehicle may be registered under this section prior to issuance of acertificate of title for the vehicle. [Formerly 768.007]
826.010Quarterly payment of registration fees for vehicles registered under ORS826.009.(1) Registration fees for commercial vehicles registered under the proportionalregistration provisions of ORS 826.009 may be paid quarterly provided that:
(a)The amount of Oregon apportioned registration fees for the carrier exceeds$1,000 per year; and
(b)The registration fees are paid in equal quarterly installments.
(2)A carrier that pays in quarterly installments under this section shall pay a $4administrative processing fee with the first quarter payment for each year thatthe carrier pays in quarterly installments.
(3)Authorization for quarterly payment does not affect the registration periodspecified in ORS 826.009. [2003 c.618 §35]
826.011Proportional fleet registration. Any registrant of a fleet of commercialvehicles that are operated in this state and in other jurisdictions mayregister the fleet under proportional fleet registration under this section inlieu of registering the vehicles as provided under the vehicle code if thefleet qualifies for proportional fleet registration under this section.Proportional fleet registration allows fleets of commercial vehicles to complywith registration requirements of more than one jurisdiction and to haveregistration fees, taxes or other fixed fees apportioned among thejurisdictions in which vehicles from the fleet are being operated. Thefollowing apply to proportional fleet registration:
(1)A vehicle may be registered under proportional fleet registration if thevehicle qualifies for proportional registration under an agreement entered intounder ORS 826.007 and if the vehicle is part of a fleet that qualifies underthis section.
(2)Except as provided in this section, the terms of an agreement established underORS 826.007 and the provisions of ORS 826.009 control all of the provisions ofproportional fleet registration, including but not limited to, the following:
(a)Qualification.
(b)Apportionment of fees, taxes and other fixed fees.
(c)Application and information required.
(d)Requirements for type, manner of display, number or any other provisionrelating to registration plates, registration cards and other proof ofregistration.
(e)Any other provision relating to the registration or titling of proportionallyregistered vehicles.
(3)In order to register vehicles under proportional fleet registration under thissection, the vehicles must be part of a fleet that includes one or morecommercial vehicles as designated by the Department of Transportation.
(4)The initial application for proportional fleet registration shall be completedaccording to interstate agreements or administrative rules.
(5)The department may issue any distinctive proof of registration under thissection the department considers convenient. The fee for the issuance ofplates, stickers or other suitable identification for proportionally registeredfleets is as provided under ORS 826.023.
(6)Vehicles acquired by the registrant after the commencement of the registrationperiod and subsequently added to a proportionally registered fleet shall beproportionally registered according to interstate agreements or administrativerules.
(7)If any vehicle is withdrawn from a proportionally registered fleet, theregistrant of such fleet shall so notify the department on appropriate forms tobe prescribed by the department. The department may require the registrant tosurrender proportional registration cards and such other identification devicesissued with respect to such vehicle as the department may deem advisable. Proceduresfor obtaining credit for fees paid on vehicles that are withdrawn from aproportionally registered fleet are provided under ORS 826.027.
(8)In addition to any grounds for denial of proportional registration benefitsunder ORS 826.009, or an agreement under ORS 826.007, the department may denythe registrant of a proportionally registered fleet the right of any furtherbenefits under proportional registration if the department determines that theperson should have prorated more vehicles in this state. The denial under thissubsection may continue until the fees for such additional vehicle or vehiclesthat have been prorated have been paid. [Formerly 768.009]
826.013Registration weight.(1) Vehicles registered under ORS 826.009, 826.011 or 826.031 are required toestablish a registration weight.
(2)Registration weight is established for the following purposes:
(a)The registration weight is the weight used in the declaration of weight underORS 826.015 to determine the registration fees under ORS 826.017 and ORS803.420 for vehicles required to establish registration weight under thissection.
(b)A vehicle that is required to establish registration weight by this section isin violation of ORS 803.315 if the vehicle is operated on a highway of thisstate at a weight in excess of the registration weight except when carrying aload: