Authority, Registration & Taxes

A new carrier files things in a rough order, and each step has its own page. The USDOT number comes first; for-hire work across state lines adds operating authority, and USDOT vs MC number settles which of the two you actually need. Brokers add the $75,000 BMC-84 bond. The USDOT record then has to be refreshed on a fixed cycle, worked out from the number itself by the biennial update calculator.

Next come the annual registrations. UCR is a flat fee by fleet size (the UCR fee calculator finds your bracket), IRP apportioned plates split registration fees by miles, and IFTA reconciles fuel tax every quarter — the two are easy to confuse, so IFTA vs IRP lays them side by side. A heavy truck also owes the federal heavy vehicle use tax, which the Form 2290 calculator works out.

To price the whole set before you file, the registration cost calculator covers the filings and the startup cost calculator adds the truck, insurance and first month. The quarterly fuel return has its own IFTA calculator and a comparison of ways to file it, and lease purchase vs owner-operator looks at the two ways into the truck itself.