New Mexico Statutes
Article 2A - Motor Carrier Act
Section 65-2A-16 - Interstate motor carriers.

A. Foreign and domestic motor carriers, motor private carriers, leasing companies, brokers and freight forwarders shall not operate in interstate commerce in this state without first registering with a base state and paying all fees as required under the federal Unified Carrier Registration Act of 2005. The commission is authorized to register applicants and collect all fees without notice or a public hearing.
B. The commission is authorized to follow rules and collect fee assessments set by the federal secretary of transportation from foreign and domestic motor carriers, motor private carriers, leasing companies, brokers and freight forwarders and do all things necessary to enable New Mexico to participate in the federal unified carrier registration system pursuant to the federal Unified Carrier Registration Act of 2005, including the collection of an equal amount of revenue as was collected by the commission in the last registration year under Section 4005 of the federal Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 and the collection of an equal amount of revenue annually from all other sources allowed under the federal Unified Carrier Registration Act of 2005 in the last year that such collections were not prohibited by federal law.
C. The commission is the state agency in New Mexico responsible for operation of the federal Unified Carrier Registration Act of 2005, including participating in the development, implementation and administration of the unified carrier registration agreement. The commission is authorized to follow rules governing the unified carrier registration agreement issued under the unified carrier registration plan by its board of directors.
D. Revenue remitted to the state from fees imposed by the federal Unified Carrier Registration Act of 2005 shall be remitted to the state treasurer, who shall deposit the revenue in the motor transportation fee fund.
E. Compliance by an interstate motor carrier with the provisions of the federal Unified Carrier Registration Act of 2005 shall not authorize a carrier to provide intrastate transportation services in New Mexico. An interstate motor carrier wishing to provide compensated transportation in intrastate commerce shall apply for the appropriate intrastate operating authority from the commission. A taxicab service or shuttle service traveling to or from a federally licensed airport terminal facility located in the state of New Mexico is engaged in nonexempt intrastate business within the state regardless of a prior exemption if its service provides, with regard to any service run, for both:
(1) initiation of the transportation of one or more passengers within this state; and
(2) delivery to a departure point within this state of one or more passengers whose transportation on that service run was initiated at a point within this state.
History: Laws 2003, ch. 359, § 16; 2006, ch. 71, § 1; 2013, ch. 73, § 15; 2013, ch. 77, § 15; 2021, ch. 32, § 1.
Cross references. — For the federal Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, see Title 23 of the U.S. Code.
For the federal Unified Carrier Regulations Act of 2005, see 49 U.S.C. § 14504a.
The 2021 amendment, effective June 18, 2021, provided that the fees imposed by the federal Unified Carrier Registration Act of 2005 shall be deposited in the motor transportation fee fund; and added a new Subsection D and redesignated former Subsection D as Subsection E.
The 2013 amendment, effective July 1, 2013, clarified the nonexempt status of taxicab service with respect to federally licensed airports; and in Subsection D, in the third sentence, after "taxicab service or", deleted "terminal" and after "shuttle service", added "traveling to or from a federally licensed airport terminal facility located in the state of New Mexico".
Laws 2013, ch. 73, § 15 and Laws 2013, ch. 77, § 15, both effective July 1, 2013, enacted identical amendments to this section. The section was set out as amended by Laws 2013, ch. 77, § 15. See 12-1-8 NMSA 1978.
The 2006 amendment, effective January 1, 2007, deleted former Subsection A, which required a state registration receipt from a base state; deleted former Subsection B, which authorized the commission to collect an annual per vehicle fee, enter into agreements with other states and promulgate rules to participate in the single state registration system; deleted former Subsection C, which required an application, proof of financial responsibility and a single state registration receipt; added a new Subsection A to require registration with a base state and payment of fees; added a new Subsection B to authorize the commission to follow rules and collect fee assessments set by the federal secretary of administration; added a new Subsection C to designate the commission as the state agency in New Mexico to operate the Unified Carrier Registration Act; and changed the reference in Subsection D from the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act to the Unified Carrier Registration Act.
Contingent effective date. — Laws 2006, ch. 71, § 3 made Laws 2006, ch. 71 effective January 1, 2007, unless congress or the United States department of transportation delays the implementation of the federal Unified Carrier Registration Act of 2005. The New Mexico compilation commission was not notified of a delay as required by Laws 2006, ch. 71, § 3.