IRP Registration

What is IRP?

IRP stands for the International Registration Plan. The International Registration Plan is a program for licensing commercial vehicles that run interstate. IRP allows an interstate trucking or bus company to register their fleet in a multiple states or provinces at one time.

Where can I run on IRP?

It depends on where on you plan to run. All forty-eight contiguous United States, the District of Columbia, and eight provinces are members of IRP, making fifty-seven IRP jurisdictions. You can register for two States or all fifty-seven jurisdictions, depending on where you need to operate.

We recommend that you only register for the States you know you will need to operate because it will keep your registration costs lower. For example, if you are just starting a bus company and are planning on taking people from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, you should just register for California and Nevada. Likewise, if you operate a trucking route from the Port of Long Beach to a distributor in Houston, you should register for California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. You can always add more States as your company grows and you add more routes.

What is Apportioned Registration?

All interstate bus and trucking companies that operate under IRP have apportioned registration. With apportioned registration, commercial fleets have one base jurisdiction that collects registration fees, processes the registration for all states, and issues the appropriate license plate, decals, and cab card.

Commercial fleets pay one registration fee to the base state (based on distances traveled within a state relative to total distances traveled in all states.) For example, if California is your base state and 50% of your miles are in California, 25% of your miles are in Nevada, and 25% of your miles are in Arizona, you would pay the California DMV the sum of 50% of the California registration fee, 25% of the Arizona registration fee, and 25% of the Nevada registration fee. The California DMV will send you a California Apportioned Plate with year stickers, weight decals with year stickers, and a cab card with all the state you travel in listed.

Benefits of Apportioned Registration

The three biggest benefits of Apportioned Registration are that you do not need trip permits to enter other States and your vehicles may be sales tax exempt.

No Trip Permits Necessary Will:

• Save Time
• Save Money

When you obtain a standard commercial registration for your vehicle in California, your registration is only valid in California. Each time you operate in another State you are required to obtain a trip permit from the other States’ DMV. If you do not obtain a trip permit, you can be ticketed for an invalid registration. Stopping at the different DMVs to obtain a trip permit takes a lot of time takes a lot of time. If you have a time sensitive load, wasting time gaining trip permits can lead to frustrated customers. Additionally, the cost of trip permits adds up. If you travel from California to Washington you 2 trip permits for Oregon (1 each direction) and 1 for Washington. If you make multiple interstate trips in one year you are likely to add hundreds of dollars to your registration costs.

If you have an IRP Registration, you do not need trip permits. You can enter freely into all IRP jurisdictions in which you are registered, meaning you do not have to deal with multiple DMVs, registration laws, and multiple fees.

Sales Tax Exempt Titles

• Saves Money

When you obtain a standard commercial registration for your newly purchased vehicle in California, you are liable for sales tax when you title the vehicle at the DMV. In California, there is a sales tax exemption for vehicles used continuously in interstate commerce and not exclusively in California. Generally, IRP vehicles meet this exemption.

This is important because most counties have a high sales tax in the neighborhood of 8.5%. If you buy a vehicle for $100,000.00 and sales tax is 8.5%, then you have to pay the DMV $8,500.00 + your registration fees to register your vehicles. If you register your vehicle IRP, you would not have to pay the DMV that $8,500.00.

Penalty Fees

The penalties listed below are in addition to all other fees due. On original or supplemental applications, if payment is delinquent for:

• 1 year or more, 40%
• more than 1 year to and including 2 years, 80%
• more than 2 years, 160% of the fee must be paid as a penalty

On renewal applications, if payment is delinquent for:

• 10 days or less, 10%
• more than 10 days to and including 30 days, 20%
• more than 30 days to and including 1 year, 60%
• more than 1 year to and including 2 years, 80%
• more than 2 years, 160% of the fee must be paid as a penalty