Trip Permits - IRP Permit - The International Registration Plan Permits
The International Registration Plan (IRP) is a reciprocal registration agreement between the contiguous (“lower 48”) United States and the ten Canadian provinces that provides equitable “apportioned payments” of registration fees. Each jurisdiction (state or province) has the responsibility of issuing IRP registrations for operators in its state, consequently, each state has its own IRP agency and its own guidelines and forms for submitting the IRP applications and annual filings.
Once registered, your truck may operate in all other member jurisdictions. If, however, your truck operates only between two states, then the registration fee collected is shared between only those states based on the states’ registration fees for your vehicle, and the number of miles driven in each state. These registration fees are collected every 12 months, when you renew your registration in your home jurisdiction. The goal of the IRP is to balance the registration fees across all jurisdictions involved—based on miles drive in each jurisdiction—since the states use those fees as part of their highway maintenance programs.
Under this program, an interstate carrier files an apportioned registration application in the state or province where the carrier is based (the base jurisdiction). The vehicle and the miles traveled in each state are listed on the application. The base jurisdiction collects the full license registration fee and distributes a portion of it to the other jurisdictions based on the percentage of miles the carrier has traveled in each jurisdiction. The base jurisdiction issues a license plate showing the word "APPORTIONED" and a cab card showing the weights for which the carrier has paid fees in all IRP member jurisdictions.
The apportioned plate and the cab card are the only registration credentials needed to operate in member jurisdictions. The registration credentials allow the carrier to operate both intrastate and interstate in all IRP jurisdictions. All member jurisdictions are automatically displayed on the cab card.
One of the more confusing aspects of IRP is the “Average Per Vehicle Distance” (APVD) calculation. Since IRP fees are based on the distance traveled within each jurisdiction, a new applicant has no established history of miles driven in any jurisdiction. New applicants must use the APVD calculation for the first year of filing.
The APVD calculation is based on the average distance vehicles from your jurisdiction traveled to all other IRP member jurisdictions during the previous calendar year. These data are used to calculate your IRP fee. In subsequent years, you will report the actual miles logged in each jurisdiction for your registration year. Note, the APVD computations are different for each state—it is important to use the APVD for your home jurisdiction.
Like IFTA, when filing the annual IRP registration fees, the operator must include the mileages driven in each jurisdiction, in this case for the 12 months covered by the filing, so that the registration fees can be distributed proportionately to each state in which the vehicle was operated.
This simplifies the filing process for each operator. Although mileage for each state must be reported, the operator writes only one check and files one registration per year. Operators are expected to keep monthly mileage records showing miles driven in each jurisdiction for the 12-month registration period.
An “Apportionable Vehicle” is “any Power Unit that is used or intended for use in two or more Member Jurisdictions and that is used for the transportation of persons for hire or designed, used, or maintained primarily for the transportation of property,” and:
(i) Has two Axles and a gross Vehicle weight or registered gross Vehicle weight in excess of 26,000 pounds, or
(ii) Has three or more Axles, regardless of weight, or(iii) Is used in combination, when the gross Vehicle weight of such combination exceeds 26,000 pounds.
Once your registration application is processed, you will be issued the special license plate marked “Apportioned,” “APP” or “PRP,” depending on your home jurisdiction, and you will be issued, and are required to keep, a Cab Card in the cab. IRP registration authorizes you to operate in any and all other jurisdictions with no additional applications for routine operations (i.e., it does not authorize operations such as oversize or overweight loads).
To determine the apportioned percentage of any given jurisdiction, divide the mileage driven (“Distance”) in the jurisdiction by the total mileage driven over the 12 month period covered in the filing. Multiply the apportioned “Percentage” by the respective jurisdiction’s “Annual Fee” to calculate the cost per vehicle.
Each year the operator is required to report the total distance per jurisdiction for a specified 12-month period, indicating actual distances driven in each of those jurisdictions. Depending upon your base jurisdiction, there may be additional administrative fees for plates, cab cards, etc. Also note that some states require the original cab card to be carried in the vehicle, while other states will accept either a copy or an electronic copy.
