What is permits and licensing in trucking?

Compliance

Permits and licensing

Permits and licensing are the recurring registrations an interstate carrier must maintain, including apportioned plates, the IFTA licence, the UCR registration and the federal heavy vehicle use tax.

Last reviewed 31 July 2026 · by the fleetchart dispatch desk

These arrive annually or quarterly rather than monthly, which is why they are frequently missing from per-mile cost calculations.

Apportioned registration distributes plate fees across the jurisdictions a carrier operates in, based on miles run in each.

Amortising the annual total across expected miles is the only way to see their real weight on a load.

Related terms

IFTA
IFTA is an agreement among US states and Canadian provinces that lets an interstate carrier file one quarterly fuel tax return, redistributing fuel tax to the jurisdictions where miles were actually driven.
Fixed costs
Fixed costs are the expenses a trucking business incurs whether or not the truck moves, such as the truck payment, insurance, permits, authority fees and software subscriptions.
Operating authority
Operating authority is federal permission to operate as a for-hire motor carrier, defining the type of freight a company may haul and the geography it may serve.
Heavy vehicle use tax
The heavy vehicle use tax is an annual US federal tax on vehicles at or above 55,000 pounds gross weight, reported on Form 2290, with proof of payment required to register the vehicle.

See this on your own loads.

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Permits and licensing

Related terms

IFTA

Fixed costs

Operating authority

Heavy vehicle use tax

See this on your own loads.

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