By Evan Reid, Founder of Haul Handbook · Updated Sep 28, 2026
Arizona issues no intrastate operating authority for property carriers. ADOT's own answer to a carrier that operates solely in Arizona is that it is an intrastate motor carrier, does not schedule a federal new-entrant safety audit, and should call ADOT (602.712.4388) to confirm the correct operating authority is recorded under the company's USDOT profile; no state application, certificate, carrier number, or fee is named. What Arizona does impose on an intrastate carrier is the motor carrier safety sections of A.R.S. Title 28 (28-5201 onward, under which ADOT adopts the safety rules), a USDOT number once a vehicle or combination is over 26,000 pounds in intrastate commerce, and its own financial responsibility schedule in A.R.S. 28-4033 ($750,000 over 26,000 pounds, $300,000 from 20,001 to 26,000 pounds, $1 million or $5 million for hazardous materials).
The Arizona requirements table
- Agency
- Arizona Department of Transportation (motor carrier safety rules under A.R.S. 28-5204, enforced with the Arizona Department of Public Safety; registration, IRP, and IFTA through the Motor Vehicle Division's Specialized Registration Services)
- Application
- There is no state intrastate authority application. The filings an Arizona-only carrier actually makes are the federal MCS-150 for the USDOT number, Arizona vehicle registration (which carries the annual motor carrier fee for vehicles over 12,000 pounds, see the state rules page), and a check with ADOT that the operating authority on its USDOT profile is correct.
- Filing fee
- Arizona charges no intrastate operating authority fee because no authority program exists. What an Arizona-based carrier pays the state instead rides on registration: the annual weight-based motor carrier fee (for example $800 at 75,001 to 80,000 pounds under A.R.S. 28-5854) added to registration, plus oversize and overweight permit fees and IFTA and IRP charges recorded in the other files.
- Renewal
- No authority renewal exists. The recurring state obligations are annual vehicle registration (with the motor carrier fee), the federal biennial MCS-150 update, and for interstate fleets the annual IRP renewal and calendar-year IFTA license renewal recorded in the state IRP page and the state IFTA page.
Application fee schedule by authority type
Arizona charges one application filing fee per class of authority, so what a carrier pays depends on the certificate being applied for rather than on a term or a fleet size.
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Who the requirement covers
- GVWR threshold
- 26,001 lbA.R.S. 28-5201(1)(a) makes a vehicle or combination used in intrastate commerce a commercial motor vehicle at a gross vehicle weight rating or gross weight of 26,001 or more pounds, whichever is greater (10,001 or more pounds for interstate commerce). ADOT's Motor Carrier Services page applies the same line to the USDOT number: a carrier operating a vehicle or combination of more than 26,000 pounds in intrastate commerce meets the motor carrier definition and must obtain one. There is no authority credential behind the threshold; it triggers the safety chapter, not a permit.
- For-hire only
- NoThe 28-5201 definition covers any vehicle designed, used, or maintained to transport passengers or property in the furtherance of a commercial enterprise, so private and for-hire carriers sit in the same safety regime; the 28-4033 insurance minimums likewise turn on weight and cargo, not on for-hire status.
- Passenger carriers
- Buses, school buses, and vehicles that transport passengers for hire with a design capacity of nine or more persons are commercial motor vehicles under 28-5201(1)(c) to (e); passenger carriers carry their own insurance tiers under 28-4033(A)(2).
- Household goods
- Not confirmedNo separate intrastate household-goods authority appears in the A.R.S. Title 28 motor carrier and financial responsibility sections read for this pass or on ADOT's Motor Carrier Services page; the FRP apportioned application simply offers household goods (private) and household goods (for hire) as operation types. Absence of a dedicated regime is how these sources read, not a verified legal confirmation.
- Hazmat
- YesA vehicle transporting hazardous materials in a quantity that must be placarded under 49 CFR 172.504 is a commercial motor vehicle at any weight (28-5201(1)(f)), and 28-4032(A)(2) brings hazardous materials, substances, and wastes into the financial responsibility article unless the carriage is incidental, non-commercial, or below the listed Table 2 quantity.
Arizona insurance minimums
State minimums can differ from the federal filing levels; the federal side is covered in our insurance filings guide.
- Liability minimum
- $750,000 (A.R.S. 28-4033(A)(1) requires combined single limit liability of $750,000 for nonhazardous property in a vehicle over 26,000 pounds gross vehicle weight and $300,000 for a vehicle of 20,001 to 26,000 pounds. The duty reaches anyone operating a vehicle or combination with a declared gross weight over 20,000 pounds in the furtherance of a commercial enterprise in Arizona (28-4032(A)(1)), private and for-hire alike, and the coverage must be maintained at all times with certification on the department's request (28-4034).)
Minimum liability by operation type
General freight is not the floor for every carrier. Hazmat and larger passenger operations carry higher minimums; buy against the row that matches what you haul.
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Other Arizona insurance requirements
Insurance filing forms
Your insurance company makes these filings with the state, not you.
- Note
- No state insurance filing form is named in 28-4033 or 28-4034 or on ADOT's Motor Carrier Services page. 28-4034(B) instead lets the department require a carrier to certify its financial responsibility in the form and at the times it deems necessary and forward the certification to the named insurer; for leased vehicles 28-4033(B) and (C) put the coverage duty on the lessor unless the lessee carries it, and on the lessee where its use needs a higher tier.
More Arizona authority rules
- USDOT prerequisite: note
- ADOT's Motor Carrier Services page states that a carrier must obtain a USDOT number if it generates revenue transporting property (for-hire), or operates a vehicle or combination over 10,000 pounds in interstate commerce or over 26,000 pounds in intrastate commerce as part of its business. Intrastate-only carriers do not schedule the new-entrant safety audit.
What an Arizona-only carrier owes instead
There is nothing to apply for. The filings an Arizona-only carrier actually makes are the federal MCS-150 for the USDOT number, Arizona vehicle registration with the annual motor carrier fee for heavier vehicles, and a phone check with ADOT that its USDOT profile shows the correct operating authority.
The state's hold on you is the motor carrier safety chapter. ADOT adopts the safety rules, the Department of Public Safety and certified local officers enforce them, and the financial responsibility article sets the insurance you must carry.
Who counts as an intrastate commercial vehicle
The state definition turns on weight and cargo. A vehicle or combination in intrastate commerce becomes a commercial motor vehicle at the intrastate weight line, rated or actual, whichever is greater. Buses, school buses, and for-hire passenger vehicles over the seating line count too, and so does any vehicle carrying hazardous materials that must be placarded, at any weight.
The definition reaches private and for-hire carriers alike. A contractor hauling its own equipment sits in the same safety regime as a carrier hauling for others.
Insurance minimums written into state law
Arizona sets its own liability floors in its financial responsibility statute, by weight and cargo rather than by for-hire status. Nonhazardous property carries two tiers, one for mid-weight trucks and a higher one above the intrastate weight line, and listed hazardous materials carry two higher tiers. Passenger carriers have their own tiers with uninsured motorist floors.
The statute sets no cargo minimum and names no state filing form. ADOT can instead require a carrier to certify its coverage when asked, and leased vehicles put the duty on the lessor unless the lessee carries it. Our Arizona insurance page lays out every tier.
The duties that recur
No authority renewal exists. The recurring state obligations are annual vehicle registration with the motor carrier fee, the federal MCS-150 update every two years, and, for interstate fleets, the annual IRP renewal and the calendar-year IFTA license renewal.
About the statute citations
The Arizona motor carrier chapter is a safety and enforcement chapter with no license section, so there is no authority statute to cite. The citations on this page point at the definitions section, the section that has ADOT adopt the safety rules, and the financial responsibility sections that set insurance.
Where this fits in the Arizona launch
A cell reading "Not confirmed" means the agency did not publish a figure we could verify, so we left it open rather than guessed. For the full launch order, work through start a trucking company in Arizona, then line up IRP registration and IFTA if you run beyond state lines. To compare every state at once, see the national intrastate authority table.