Nebraska is a member of the Performance Registration Information Systems and Management (PRISM) program; PRISM is a federal/state partnership to identify motor carriers with deficient safety records, and to tie a carrier's safety fitness to the ability to register trucks. PRISM links the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrations (FMCSA) motor carrier safety information with the state's motor vehicle registration process to achieve two purposes:

1. To determine the motor carrier's safety fitness prior to issuing a registration plate.
2. To cause the unsafe carrier to improve its safety performance through an improvement process and, where necessary, the application of registration sanctions.

The USDOT number is used to identify both the motor carrier responsible for safety and the individual vehicle registrant (if different). The carrier's safety fitness is checked prior to issuing vehicle registrations. Unfit carriers may be denied the ability to register their vehicles.

You must report, for each power unit, the USDOT number of the motor carrier responsible for the safe operation of the vehicle for the registration year. If you do not have a USDOT number, you are able to apply on-line at http://safer.fmcsa.dot.gov. The motor carrier responsible for safety is the entity that the USDOT ultimately holds accountable for things like hours-of-service, compliance, drug and alcohol testing, and vehicle maintenance. In order to accurately identify responsibility for each vehicle, the USDOT and Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) must be captured at the time of registration.

If you, the Registrant, hold that responsibility on all your vehicles, you will be required to list your USDOT number and TIN number for each power unit. If you are renting or leasing vehicles in your fleet to an interstate motor carrier, in other words, if you are running under someone else's authority who will be responsible for the safe operation of the vehicle, provide the USDOT number and TIN according to the following:

• Short Term Lease-if the vehicle will be rented or leased for 30 days or less to an interstate motor carrier: Enter your (Registrant) USDOT number and TIN.
• Long Term Lease-if the vehicle will be leased for more than 30 days to an interstate motor carrier: Enter the USDOT number and TIN of the motor carrier responsible for the safety of the vehicle.

The application will ask for the USDOT number and TIN assigned to the power unit and if the safety responsibility of the vehicle will change during the registration year.

PRISM requires that the USDOT number(s) associated with your vehicles be active. To maintain an active DOT number, carriers must update their information with FMCSA every two years according to the following schedule:

If the next-to-last digit of the USDOT number is odd, the update is required every odd-numbered year. If the next-to-last digit is even, the update is required every even-numbered year. To determine the correct month, follow the schedule below: