Registration of household goods carriers (HGC)

- Household goods carriers (HGC) using equipment leased from service representatives have the option to base such equipment in the base jurisdiction of the service representative, or that of the carrier.
- A “service representative” is one who provides facilities and services including sales, warehousing, and drivers under contract or other arrangements to a carrier for transportation of property by a household goods carrier.
- For equipment owned and operated by owner-operators, (not a service representative), and used to transport cargo for an HGC only, the equipment must be registered by the HGC in their base jurisdiction.
Household goods carriers (HGC) using equipment leased from service representatives have the option to base such equipment in the base jurisdiction of the service representative, or that of the carrier. A “service representative” is one who provides facilities and services including sales, warehousing, and drivers under contract or other arrangements to a carrier for transportation of property by a household goods carrier.
If the HGC decides to register the equipment in the base jurisdiction of the service representative, the equipment must be registered in both the service representative’s name and that of the carrier as lessee. The apportionment of the fees is determined by the combined records of the service representative and those of the carrier, but should the records need to be audited, they all must be available at the service representative’s base jurisdiction.
If the HGC elects to register vehicles in HGC base jurisdiction, the equipment should be registered to reflect the name of the carrier as lessee. Here too, the combined records of both the lessee and lessor are used to determine the apportioned fees, and in the case of an audit, the records must be available in the base jurisdiction of the carrier as lessee.
For equipment owned and operated by owner-operators, (not a service representative), and used to transport cargo for an HGC only, the equipment must be registered by the HGC in their base jurisdiction, however, the registration should reflect both the owner-operator’s name as lessor, and the HGC as lessee. The apportionment of fees in this case is determined by the records of the carrier.