Committee defers fleet-registration bill after industry and DMV say more data needed

The Senate committee held a discussion on Senate Bill 191, a proposal to create a registration system for commercial motor vehicles that industry representatives say would centralize town fee collection and return revenues to municipalities.

Bob Scaglia of the New Hampshire Motor Transport Association told the committee the association seeks a model similar to the International Registration Plan (IRP) so the state can collect fees from out‑of‑state truckers that currently travel through without paying local fees. “We are very much interested in trying to get to an endpoint which would allow us to register commercial motor vehicles in New Hampshire,” Scaglia said. He told the panel the association needs definitive data from the Division of Motor Vehicles to estimate how much revenue towns would receive and whether a surplus should flow to the highway fund.

Scaglia said South Carolina recently completed a similar program and reportedly saw larger collections than anticipated, but he did not bring the state’s data to the meeting. Committee members agreed more complete DMV data were needed before the legislature advances a structural change to registration and fee distribution.

After discussion, a member moved and the committee voted to place SB 191 into interim study so stakeholders and DMV staff can provide the detailed data needed to craft specific fee and revenue distribution language.

What happens next: The interim study will give the committee time to obtain DMV data on commercial vehicle traffic and fee estimates and to consider any impacts on municipalities and the highway fund.