By Haul Handbook editorial team· Updated Oct 5, 2026
Delaware apportioned registration is handled by the DMV Motor Carrier Services Section in Dover. A Delaware base needs a real place of business in the state, distance run in Delaware, and records kept or available there, and every vehicle must carry a Delaware title. The state issues one apportioned plate and cab card per power unit and divides the fees among the jurisdictions by distance.
Delaware IRP administration
- Agency
- Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles (Department of Transportation), Motor Carrier Services Section
- Office
- Motor Carrier Services Section, 303 Transportation Circle, Dover, DE 19901 (mail: P.O. Drawer E, Dover, DE 19903). Delaware became an IRP member effective January 1, 1995.
- Process
- Email all checklist documents together to dot.motorcarrier@delaware.gov. New applications are reviewed in the order received; once accepted the office schedules an appointment where original documents, the original title and the mail envelopes are presented. Carriers must open the IRP account before title work, and a vehicle needs a Delaware title to be registered.
- Fee structure
- Fees are apportioned by the share of fleet distance run in each jurisdiction during the July 1 to June 30 period before the registration year. The DMV manual's worked example: a Delaware-based 62,000-pound for-hire tractor running 25,000 of 100,000 miles in each of Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia pays $244.40 to Delaware (25 percent of a $977.60 full-year fee) and $899.15 in total, plus trailer and other Delaware-only fees.
- Fees: refunds
- Delaware does not refund unused registration on a cancelled vehicle and gives no refund on a mid-year weight decrease. Refunds are made only for a billing error, duplicate payment, full-fee plates bought when apportioned registration was required, an audit overpayment, an owner entering the armed forces, or an owner 65 or older surrendering their license.
- Cab card
- Delaware issues a base apportioned plate and a cab card for each power unit. The cab card identifies the vehicle, lists the jurisdictions where it is apportioned and the weight and classification registered, and must be carried in the vehicle at all times. A fee is charged to replace a lost or stolen plate, sticker or cab card.
- Process: documents
- IRS EIN letter; proof of a Delaware physical business address by mail from 2 different sources postmarked within 60 days (no virtual, shared or registered-agent offices); a Delaware driver license for at least one officer; Division of Corporations good standing and a Delaware business license; title or certificate of origin; an original Delaware-issued insurance card listing the VIN and account name; a Delaware DMV safety inspection showing unladen weight (federal DOT inspections not accepted); proof of manufacturer gross vehicle weight rating; a stamped Form 2290 Schedule 1 for vehicles of 55,000 pounds or more; an active USDOT number marked interstate; and current-year UCR payment.
- Process: forms
- The application uses a Distance Schedule (with the IRP estimated distance chart for new fleets), a Weight Schedule per vehicle type and weight, and a Units Schedule naming the Carrier Responsible for Safety by EIN and USDOT number. On the weight schedule a 2-axle truck cannot exceed 40,000 lb, a 3-axle truck 65,000 lb, and a 4-axle truck 73,280 lb, or the manufacturer rating if lower.
- Process: related titling fees
- The Delaware document fee is 5.25 percent of the purchase price from a dealer; private sales and out-of-state transfers are based on NADA book value or a certified Delaware dealer appraisal.
To work through your mileage inputs, calculate each jurisdiction’s share of your fleet miles. The estimator apportions any full-year fees you enter; it does not contain state fee schedules or issue an official quote.
More Delaware IRP rules
- Temporary credentials: trip permit
- An IRP trip permit registration is valid for 3 days including the day issued, for a fee of $15 (21 Del. C. 2103(6)). The DMV trip permit sheet lists private service agents that sell permits; their phone numbers belong to those vendors, not to the DMV.
- Temporary credentials: temporary authorization permit
- A Temporary Operating Authority runs 60 days from the date registration is paid, after the application, DMV inspection and VIN check, bill of sale and insurance are on file; it is not issued if the carrier already holds the documents needed for a Delaware title. The manual says carriers may be required to pay a TOA fee but states no amount.
- Temporary credentials: hunter permit
- A Hunter permit lets an owner-operator move an unloaded, unregistered commercial vehicle to look for work, interstate or intrastate; it is issued by the Dover IRP office. No fee is published in the manual.
- Contact: address
- Motor Carrier Services Section, 303 Transportation Circle, Dover, DE 19901; mailing address P.O. Drawer E, Dover, DE 19903
- Contact: note
- The phone line is printed on the DMV Motor Carrier Contact Us page and on the IRP Manual title page; the email is on both. The service-agent numbers on the DMV trip permit sheet are private vendors, not the IRP unit. The IRP web page source also carries a commented-out notice giving office hours and Room 112; it does not display, so no hours or room number are recorded.
Base jurisdiction, renewal, and audit in detail
The rules that decide whether Delaware can be your base jurisdiction, what qualifies, and what happens at renewal and audit. Each one is sourced.
- Base jurisdiction rules: Summary
- Before registering in Delaware the carrier must have an established place of business in the state (a physical structure owned, leased or rented, never a P.O. box, virtual office or registered agent's office), staff conducting its business there during normal hours, distance accrued in Delaware, and operational records kept or made available in Delaware.
- Base jurisdiction rules: Evidence
- The manual lists Delaware driver licensing for an individual, Delaware residence of a corporation's principal owner, federal returns filed from a Delaware address, Delaware personal income, real estate or personal property taxes paid, and utility bills in the business name.
- Qualifying vehicles: Scope
- A vehicle used to transport persons for hire, or designed, used or maintained primarily to transport property, that is a two-axle power unit over 26,000 pounds gross or registered weight, a power unit with three or more axles regardless of weight, or a combination over 26,000 pounds, and that operates in Delaware and at least one other IRP jurisdiction.
- Qualifying vehicles: Optional
- Vehicles or combinations of 26,000 pounds or less, two-axle vehicles, and buses used for chartered parties may be apportioned at the registrant's option.
- Qualifying vehicles: Exemptions
- Government-owned vehicles; pickup and delivery vehicles within cities; buses carrying chartered groups and school buses on school activities; recreational vehicles; trailers and semitrailers; and restricted-plate vehicles (FT farm truck, RV, government, dealer, antique and transporter plates). Delaware treats FT farm-truck tags as restricted plates.
- Qualifying vehicles: Tow trucks
- Tow trucks displaying a C or CL apportioned plate are registered at the weight of the fully equipped wrecker under a 1995 DelDOT and Public Safety policy directive.
- Renewal: Summary
- Renewal notices are mailed about 45 days before expiration with the fleet's vehicles, prior distance and jurisdictions; the renewal must be returned even if nothing changed, with actual distance by jurisdiction. A late fee per vehicle applies after the expiration date. Authorized users can renew online in Motor Carrier Online by entering distance, each vehicle's 5-digit NAIC insurance code and its June 30 odometer reading.
- Renewal: Reporting period
- Renewals report actual distance for July 1 through June 30; the mileage year changes with September 30 expirations.
- Audit: Detail
- Keep distance records for the three previous registration years, including an Individual Vehicle Distance Record for each vehicle (VIN or unit number, fleet, registrant, trailer, driver, trip dates, origin and destination, routes, odometer readings and distance by jurisdiction) and monthly summaries. Audit notice is given at least 30 days ahead unless there is cause; records kept outside Delaware mean reimbursing auditor travel; missing or unusable records can bring an assessment up to 100 percent of base-jurisdiction fees; and an assessment unpaid within 30 days is cause to revoke plates, cab cards and interstate privileges.
What the Delaware share of the fee is built from
An IRP bill is the base jurisdiction's own registration fee for the vehicle, apportioned by mileage, plus the same for every other jurisdiction on the cab card. These are the Delaware inputs to that calculation, each with its official source.
- Refunds
- Delaware does not refund unused registration on a cancelled vehicle and gives no refund on a mid-year weight decrease. Refunds are made only for a billing error, duplicate payment, full-fee plates bought when apportioned registration was required, an audit overpayment, an owner entering the armed forces, or an owner 65 or older surrendering their license.
Which trucks apportion
A power unit with two axles over the heavy-vehicle line, three or more axles, or a heavy combination must apportion when it runs in Delaware and another IRP jurisdiction. Lighter trucks can apportion by choice. Farm-truck tags, RVs, trailers and government vehicles fall outside the plan.
Opening a Delaware IRP account
Open the IRP account before title work, because a truck needs a Delaware title to register. Email the checklist, then bring the original title, the mail envelopes and the other originals to the appointment.
The file needs a Delaware insurance card for each truck, a Delaware DMV inspection showing unladen weight, the manufacturer weight rating, a stamped Form 2290 Schedule 1 for heavy trucks, and the distance, weight and units schedules. A billing notice follows, so send no payment with the application.
Proving a Delaware base
The place of business must be a physical structure the carrier owns, leases or rents, staffed during normal hours. A P.O. box, virtual office or registered agent's office does not count. The DMV accepts evidence such as a Delaware driver license, Delaware tax filings and utility bills in the business name.
Renewal, refunds and audits
Renewal notices arrive ahead of expiration and must be returned with actual miles by jurisdiction even if nothing changed; authorized users can renew in Motor Carrier Online. Delaware gives no refund for a cancelled truck or a mid-year weight drop.
Keep distance records for the prior registration years, because missing or unusable records can bring an assessment of up to the full base-jurisdiction fees.
Reach the Delaware IRP office
Account problems, supplement filings and credential replacements all route through the office that holds the account. Everything below is the agency's own published channel; where it publishes no phone line, the note says so rather than pointing at a permit vendor's number.
- Mailing address
- Motor Carrier Services Section, 303 Transportation Circle, Dover, DE 19901; mailing address P.O. Drawer E, Dover, DE 19903
- Notes
- The phone line is printed on the DMV Motor Carrier Contact Us page and on the IRP Manual title page; the email is on both. The service-agent numbers on the DMV trip permit sheet are private vendors, not the IRP unit. The IRP web page source also carries a commented-out notice giving office hours and Room 112; it does not display, so no hours or room number are recorded.
What pairs with IRP
The same interstate operation that needs apportioned plates almost always needs an IFTA license through Delaware, and heavy power units owe the federal Form 2290 heavy vehicle use tax before plates renew. To compare how other states run IRP, see the national IRP registration table.