By Haul Handbook editorial team· Updated Oct 6, 2026
Colorado sells its temporary credentials through the State Patrol's Port of Entry section, not through CDOT permit offices. A 72-hour laden weight trip permit stands in for IRP apportioned registration and costs $60 to $80 depending on gross vehicle weight. A special fuel tax permit stands in for an IFTA license. Both are sold at the Port of Entry facilities and online through CDOT's COOPR permitting system.
The trip permit (registration side)
This credential answers for registration. Without it, a vehicle whose cab card does not list Colorado has no legal registration standing in the state.
- Fee
- Priced by gross vehicle weight rather than one flat fee: $60 for 10,001 to 30,000 pounds, $70 for 30,001 to 60,000 pounds, and $80 from 60,000 pounds up to the legal maximum.
- Who needs it
- A commercial vehicle that requires apportionment but is not apportioned for Colorado and only does business in the state now and then. A vehicle with no valid registration has to buy the permit before it enters Colorado.
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
- The State Patrol and CDOT pages that describe this permit do not publish its price, so no figure is shown here. The port or COOPR shows the charge at purchase.
- Valid for
- Neither the State Patrol nor the CDOT page states how long the special fuel tax permit lasts. CDOT lists it under one heading with the 72-hour laden weight permit but gives the 72-hour term only for the laden weight permit.
- Who needs it
- Vehicles subject to IFTA that have no IFTA license: a two-axle single unit over 26,000 pounds gross or registered weight, any single unit with three or more axles, or a combination over 26,000 pounds. The Colorado Department of Revenue adds that a vehicle bought outside its intended base jurisdiction may need a fuel tax permit for the trip home, because it cannot get IFTA credentials until it is registered there.
Worth knowing
The laden weight permit fee depends on the truck's gross vehicle weight, so the same trip can cost $60, $70 or $80. Port of Entry officers manage both permits even when they are bought online through COOPR.
Where these fit in the Colorado permit stack
Temporary permits are the exception path. The standing credentials they replace are IRP apportioned registration and the Colorado IFTA license. Oversize loads use a different permit family entirely, covered in Colorado oversize and overweight permits, and the full picture of every state permit lives in Colorado trucking permits.