If you operate a qualified vehicle outside of your base jurisdiction, you have to pay fuel taxes. But there’s an alternative to tracking every mile driven, keeping every fuel receipt, filing quarterly returns, and keeping records for potential audits. That alternative is fuel trip permits.

What’s a qualified vehicle?

IFTA applies to qualified motor vehicles operating in more than one jurisdiction. A “qualified motor vehicle” is a motor vehicle used, designed, or maintained for transportation of persons or property, and that:

• Has two axles and a gross vehicle weight or registered gross vehicle weight exceeding 26,000 pounds or 11,797 kilograms; or
• Has three or more axles regardless of weight; or
• Is used in combination, when the weight of such combination exceeds 26,000 pounds or 11,797 kilograms gross vehicle weight.

Trip permits

In lieu of motor fuel tax licensing under the International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA), you may elect to satisfy motor fuels use tax obligations on a trip-by-trip basis.

Trip permits are generally purchased individually by state and are needed before the travel takes place. They must be obtained from the intended state(s) of operation.

Depending on the state, trip permits are valid for a defined period of time (48 hours, for example) or for a single trip. The fee is determined by each state.

When would you need this?

Fuel permits can be a good solution when:

• You need to make an occasional trip into one or more jurisdictions outside of your base jurisdiction. For example, your truck is based in Texas but you need to pick up a load in Arizona. You’ll need credentials for travel into or through New Mexico and Arizona.
• A vehicle will temporarily operate in a jurisdiction other than the base jurisdiction. For example, one of your trucks based in Wisconsin will operate out of your Minnesota location for a couple of weeks. You’ll need credentials to cover the operations in Minnesota.
• You recently acquired a vehicle in another state and need to drive it back to your base jurisdiction. You’ll need credentials for each state on your return trip.

How to get your permit

As noted earlier, you’ll need permits that cover the dates of your operations in each state on your planned route. You can:

• Obtain permits directly from each state on your route, or
• Use wire services to arrange the permits for you, for a fee.

To obtain your trip permit, you’ll need:

• Company information:
  • USDOT and federal ID numbers
  • Legal company name and DBA (if applicable)
  • Physical address
  • Billing address (if different)
  • Caller name and phone number
  • Fax or email to send permit to
• Power unit information:
  • Combined gross registered weight
  • License plate number and state
  • License plate expiration date
  • Unit number
  • Year and make of vehicle
  • Complete VIN
  • Unit type (tractor, straight truck, etc.)
• States you are ordering permit for
• Date permit needs to be effective

Note that some states may ask for additional information.

How to choose: Pros and cons

Advantages of using fuel permits include:

• Valid for a defined period of time or for a single trip.
• Can be obtained through wire services.
• Avoid extensive recordkeeping and the possibility of audits.

Disadvantages of using fuel permits include:

• Must be obtained from each state on your route of travel.
• Fees are determined by each state and wire services charge an additional fee.
• Some states limit the number of permits you can use each year.

Ultimately, you’ll need to weigh the cost of purchasing temporary permits against the resources needed to satisfy the administrative requirements of permanent credentials.

Our general guideline is five interstate trips per year. If you rarely exceed that number of trips out of state, fuel permits are probably the best option.