By Haul Handbook editorial team· Updated Oct 6, 2026
Alabama sells three temporary credentials for vehicles that fall under IRP or IFTA but are not licensed for Alabama: an IRP trip permit for $20, an IFTA trip permit for $20, and a combined IRP and IFTA trip permit for $40. Each one lasts up to seven days and has to be bought before the vehicle enters the state. The Department of Revenue sells them online at any hour, and a permit agency selling for the state may add a processing fee.
The trip permit (registration side)
This credential answers for registration. Without it, a vehicle whose cab card does not list Alabama has no legal registration standing in the state.
- Fee
- $20 ($20 per permit, set by Department of Revenue rule. A permit agency selling for the state may charge a processing fee on top. The combined IRP and IFTA trip permit costs $40.)
- Who needs it
- Any vehicle or combination subject to IRP that is not apportioned for Alabama, before it enters the state. The permit covers one named vehicle, cannot be transferred, and has to be carried in that vehicle. It allows both interstate and intrastate operation inside Alabama.
- Where to buy
- Online at any hour through the Department of Revenue trip permit portal (alabamainteractive.org/dor_tfp), using a taxpayer ID or USDOT number; Through a permit agency acting for the state, which may add its own processing fee
The fuel permit (tax side)
This credential answers for the state's highway or fuel tax when there is no IFTA license (or, in the weight-distance states, no tax account) behind the truck.
- Fee
- $20 ($20 per permit, set by Department of Revenue rule, plus any processing fee a permit agency charges. Bought together with the IRP trip permit as one combined permit, the price is $40.)
- Who needs it
- Any vehicle subject to IFTA that is not licensed under IFTA, before it enters Alabama. Like the IRP trip permit, it names one vehicle and has to be carried in it.
- Where to buy
- Online at any hour through the Department of Revenue trip permit portal (alabamainteractive.org/dor_tfp), using a taxpayer ID or USDOT number; Through a permit agency acting for the state, which may add its own processing fee
Other temporary permits in Alabama
Short-term credentials Alabama issues beside the trip and fuel permits, for situations those two do not cover.
Worth knowing
Every Alabama trip permit names one vehicle and cannot be moved to another truck, so two trucks on the same trip need two permits. The state fee is the same online or through a permit agency; any difference in price is the agency's processing fee.
Where these fit in the Alabama permit stack
Temporary permits are the exception path. The standing credentials they replace are IRP apportioned registration and the Alabama IFTA license. Oversize loads use a different permit family entirely, covered in Alabama oversize and overweight permits, and the full picture of every state permit lives in Alabama trucking permits.