By Haul Handbook editorial team· Updated Sep 28, 2026
A Connecticut carrier hauling general freight inside the state needs no state operating authority, but it does need a USDOT number once a vehicle reaches 18,001 pounds, a lower bar than many states and higher than the federal 10,001-pound interstate line. It must also report insurance to DMV once a year, and its drivers and vehicles fall under the federal safety rules Connecticut adopts in C.G.S. 14-163c. Household goods movers are the exception: they need a certificate of public convenience and necessity from CTDOT, with a $177 application fee.
The Connecticut requirements table
- Agency
- Connecticut Department of Transportation, Bureau of Public Transportation, Regulatory and Compliance Unit (household goods carrier certificates); Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles (intrastate USDOT number, insurance reporting and FMCSR enforcement)
- Program name
- Intrastate USDOT number (C.G.S. 14-163c), plus a CTDOT certificate of public convenience and necessity for household goods carriers
- State carrier number
- None for general freight (carriers use the FMCSA-issued USDOT number); household goods carriers receive a CTDOT certificate number
- Application
- No Connecticut application exists for general freight. Apply for the USDOT number online at FMCSA; updates are made on the FMCSA Form MCS-150, every 24 months or immediately after any change. To re-activate a Connecticut intrastate-only DOT number, the DMV says to call 860-263-5163. Household goods carriers file the CTDOT New Household Goods Carrier application with a Criminal History Record Request Form.
- Renewal
- The USDOT number must be updated every 24 months or immediately after any change, and proof of insurance goes to the DMV Insurance Compliance Unit once every year. Household goods certificates and motor contract carrier permits stay in effect until revoked or suspended (C.G.S. 13b-408), with the $17.50 per vehicle insurance filing fee due each year.
Authority fee schedule
Connecticut charges a fixed amount per filing rather than pricing registration by term. Each charge below is set by its own statute or rule section.
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Sector licences that still apply
Connecticut licenses some kinds of carrier separately, whatever the general authority answer above. If you move household goods, carry passengers, or haul waste, the licence below is the one that binds you.
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Who the requirement covers
- GVWR threshold
- 18,001 lbAn intrastate DOT number is needed for any motor vehicle engaged in intrastate commerce with a GVWR, GCWR, gross vehicle weight or gross combination weight of 18,001 pounds or more. The interstate trigger is 10,001 pounds. C.G.S. 14-163c(a)(1) uses the same 18,001-pound line for applying the federal safety regulations to intrastate vehicles.
- For-hire only
- NoThe USDOT number and FMCSR duties are written by vehicle weight, cargo and passenger count, so they reach private and for-hire carriers alike. The CTDOT certificate applies only to household goods carried for hire; a motor private carrier hauling its own property is excluded from Chapter 245c by C.G.S. 13b-387(4).
- Passenger carriers
- A USDOT number is required for a vehicle designed or used to transport more than eight passengers, including the driver, for compensation, or more than fifteen passengers, including the driver, not for compensation. Livery, taxicab and motorbus operators are regulated separately by the CTDOT Regulatory and Compliance Unit.
- Household goods
- No person may operate a motor vehicle carrying household goods for hire as a household goods carrier without a CTDOT certificate of public convenience and necessity. Holding oneself out as a household goods carrier without one, with intent to obtain a benefit or to injure or defraud, is a class B misdemeanor.
- Hazmat
- A USDOT number is required for any vehicle used to transport hazardous materials in a quantity requiring placarding, regardless of weight.
- Intrastate-only carriers
- A company whose interstate authority FMCSA has revoked cannot become an intrastate motor carrier in Connecticut until FMCSA lifts the revoked status.
- Carriers already filed under UCR
- C.G.S. 13b-410a bars any motor carrier, motor private carrier, leasing company, broker or freight forwarder (as Title 49 defines them) from operating on Connecticut highways without registering under the federal Unified Carrier Registration system and paying its fees. UCR applies to interstate operations, not intrastate-only carriers.
Connecticut 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 (The DMV page that requires intrastate carriers with vehicles of 18,001 pounds or more to report insurance once a year lists these minimum levels for commercial vehicles: $750,000 for non-hazardous freight vehicles of 10,001 pounds or more GVWR; $1,000,000 or $5,000,000 for hazardous cargo; $1,500,000 for any vehicle seating more than 8 passengers; $5,000,000 for 16 or more passengers. The page does not publish a separate intrastate schedule. Separately, the household goods regulation (Regs., Conn. State Agencies 16-304-D5(a)) sets split limits for intrastate carriers under CTDOT jurisdiction: $200,000 per person and $600,000 per accident for bodily injury, and $100,000 for property damage.)
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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Insurance filing forms
Your insurance company makes these filings with the state, not you.
- Liability proof
- Acord Certificate of Liability Insurance, sent to DMV once a year (DMV.CommercialAudit@ct.gov, or DMV Compliance Unit, 60 State Street, Room 305, Wethersfield, CT 06161). Household goods carriers under CTDOT file Form E, the Uniform Motor Carrier Bodily Injury and Property Damage Liability Certificate of Insurance, named in Regs., Conn. State Agencies 16-304-D4.
More Connecticut authority rules
- USDOT prerequisite: note
- For an intrastate freight carrier the USDOT number is itself the Connecticut requirement once a vehicle reaches 18,001 pounds, obtained online from FMCSA.
- Intrastate safety rules: detail
- C.G.S. 14-163c lets the DMV Commissioner adopt 49 CFR Parts 382 to 397 by reference for intrastate vehicles of 18,001 pounds or more, vehicles carrying more than 8 passengers for compensation or more than 15 not for compensation, and placarded hazmat vehicles. The DMV states both interstate and intrastate carriers are subject to these rules. Police officers and DMV inspectors may inspect vehicles, enter carrier premises to copy records, conduct compliance reviews and order a carrier with an unsatisfactory rating to cease operations. A first violation is an infraction; a later intrastate violation can bring a civil penalty of $1,000 to $10,000. Hours-of-service limits do not apply to drivers of utility service vehicles.
| Title | Detail |
|---|---|
| 18,001 pounds, not 26,001 | Connecticut's intrastate USDOT number and insurance reporting start at 18,001 pounds GVWR or actual weight, so a medium straight truck that needs no CDL can still need a USDOT number and annual insurance proof. |
| Driver skills certification at 18,001 pounds | C.G.S. 13b-415 bars a motor carrier from letting anyone drive a vehicle rated 18,001 pounds or more that is registered, or required to be registered, in Connecticut without an on-the-road skills test in that vehicle and a signed, dated written certification of the driver's skills and fitness. |
| A moving service changes the regime | A freight carrier that starts moving household goods for the public needs a CTDOT certificate, a filed tariff and its certificate number in every printed advertisement. |
Who needs a USDOT number in Connecticut
The trigger is the vehicle. The DMV requires the number on any vehicle in intrastate commerce whose weight rating or actual weight reaches the state line, on any vehicle hauling hazmat in placarded amounts at any weight, and on passenger vehicles above the federal passenger counts. Private fleets and for-hire carriers are covered alike, because the duty is written by weight, cargo and passengers.
The same line decides who falls under the federal safety rules Connecticut adopts by reference in C.G.S. 14-163c. One more point: a company whose interstate authority FMCSA has revoked cannot switch to intrastate work until FMCSA lifts the revocation.
Getting the number and reporting insurance
There is no Connecticut application for freight. You apply to FMCSA online and update the record on the biennial schedule or right after a change; an intrastate-only number is reactivated by phone with the DMV.
The state step is insurance. An intrastate carrier with a truck at the weight line sends an Acord certificate of liability insurance to the DMV Compliance Unit once a year, by email or mail. A carrier below all four DMV reporting criteria files a Commercial Affidavit with each new registration and renewal instead.
Safety rules and enforcement
Connecticut adopts the federal motor carrier safety regulations by reference for covered intrastate vehicles, so hours of service, driver qualification and vehicle rules follow the federal text. Police officers and DMV inspectors can inspect trucks, enter a carrier's premises to copy records, run compliance reviews and order a carrier with an unsatisfactory rating to stop operating.
A first violation is an infraction, and a later intrastate violation can bring a civil penalty. Drivers of utility service vehicles are exempt from the hours-of-service limits. Separately, a carrier may not let anyone operate its heavier Connecticut-registered trucks without first road-testing that driver in the vehicle and signing a written certification of the driver's skills.
When CTDOT does require authority
Household goods movers are the one freight sector with state authority. Operating as a household goods carrier without a CTDOT certificate of public convenience and necessity is a misdemeanor when done to gain a benefit or to defraud. The application goes to the CTDOT Regulatory and Compliance Unit with tariff, insurance, financial and organizational papers and a criminal history request. CTDOT notifies local officials and existing movers; a hearing is held only if real objections arrive, and a decision issues within a set number of days.
A mover working under individual contracts instead holds a motor contract carrier permit with a yearly decal. Both pay an application fee and a yearly per-truck insurance filing fee, and the certificate number goes in every printed ad.
Insurance: what Connecticut sets
The DMV insurance page lists minimum liability levels by vehicle and cargo type, and the general freight figure matches the federal amount. What differs is the reporting weight: Connecticut collects the proof from intrastate carriers at its own line, lower than the CDL line. CTDOT household goods carriers follow a separate regulation with split limits for bodily injury and property damage, filed on Form E. Neither agency publishes a cargo minimum. Our Connecticut trucking insurance page walks each row with its source.
Why there is no freight certificate
A 1995 public act rewrote Connecticut's motor carrier chapter, replacing the motor common carrier of property with the household goods carrier and taking general freight out of the certificate system. Federal law bars states from regulating the prices, routes and services of property carriers, with a carve-out for intrastate household goods moves. So the state keeps certificates for movers only, and the intrastate USDOT and safety duties rest on C.G.S. 14-163c instead.
Where this fits in the Connecticut 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 Connecticut, 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.