By Evan Reid, Founder of Haul Handbook · Updated Aug 9, 2026
Indiana keeps both temporary credentials in one place: the Department of Revenue's Motor Carrier Services sells them through its online Special Permits service, where a carrier picks the permit type, pays and prints in a few minutes. The registration side is a three-day trip permit for an out-of-state truck that is plated and insured at home but not apportioned for Indiana. The fuel side is a five-day fuel permit that stands in for the fuel tax that the trip would otherwise generate.
The trip permit (registration side)
This credential answers for registration. Without it, a vehicle whose cab card does not list Indiana has no legal registration standing in the state.
- Fee
- Indiana publishes no amount. The Motor Carrier Services Commercial Motor Vehicle Guide says only that the permit is issued for a period of three days for a fee if issued from Motor Carrier Services, and that prices may vary if issued through a wire service. IC 9-18.1-13-5 sets no fee either. Rather than print a figure the state does not publish, none is recorded; confirm the current price in the Special Permits service before you buy.
- Who needs it
- An out-of-state carrier properly registered and insured in its base state but not apportioned for Indiana, that wants to run in or through Indiana. It must be secured before entry and must remain in the vehicle while in Indiana. No refund or credit is given for an unused permit.
- Where to buy
- The Motor Carrier Services online Special Permits service, which takes payment and prints the permit; Wire services, at their own prices
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.
- Stands in for
- The Indiana motor carrier fuel tax that the vehicle's operation would otherwise generate, and the quarterly fuel tax report for that vehicle
- Fee
- $50 (IC 6-6-4.1-13(a) fixes the trip permit fee for each commercial motor vehicle, and the Motor Carrier Services Commercial Motor Vehicle Guide prints the same amount, adding that a permit service may charge its own service fee on top.)
- Valid for
- Five consecutive days, with the beginning and ending days specified on the face of the permit
- Who needs it
- A carrier that would otherwise owe Indiana motor carrier fuel tax on a particular commercial motor vehicle's operation and does not want to run that vehicle under an IFTA license or an intrastate Motor Carrier Fuel Tax permit. Buying one removes the quarterly report obligation for that vehicle.
- Where to buy
- The Motor Carrier Services online Special Permits service, which takes payment and prints the permit; Permit services, which add their own service charges
- Caught without one
- IC 6-6-4.1-13(b) lets the department issue a temporary written authorization where unforeseen circumstances require operation without a trip permit or an annual permit, and only where it finds undue hardship would otherwise result. The carrier then pays the trip permit fee when the authorization issues or applies for an annual permit.
Worth knowing
Three other short-term credentials sit alongside these in the same Special Permits service. The 30-day hunter's permit lets an owner-operator who is both owner and operator move a vehicle at unladen weight between lessors while looking for work, for a $10 permit fee per the Commercial Motor Vehicle Guide. The yard tractor permit covers a non-apportioned tractor moving semitrailers inside a terminal, loading or spotting facility, at $40 for a registration year running July 1 through June 30. The repair and maintenance permit lets a carrier come into Indiana to repair or maintain vehicles and return directly to the originating state; IC 6-6-4.1-13(c) sets the annual IFTA repair and maintenance fee at $40, covering all of the carrier's vehicles, non-transferable, and carrying no cargo or passengers. The permit-price figures in the Commercial Motor Vehicle Guide date from its July 2024 revision, so confirm them with Motor Carrier Services before budgeting.
Where these fit in the Indiana permit stack
Temporary permits are the exception path. The standing credentials they replace are IRP apportioned registration and the Indiana IFTA license. Oversize loads use a different permit family entirely, covered in Indiana oversize and overweight permits, and the full picture of every state permit lives in Indiana trucking permits.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a trip permit or a fuel permit for Indiana?
- Usually both, and they are separate purchases. The trip permit stands in for apportioned (IRP) registration and the fuel permit stands in for the IFTA license. If your cab card lists Indiana and your IFTA decals are current, you need neither; the tables on this page carry each permit's terms with the official source.
When does buying temporary permits stop making sense?
- Temporary permits price a single trip. A carrier running Indiana lanes on a regular schedule comes out ahead adding the state to its IRP cab card and holding an IFTA license, because permit fees repeat on every trip while the annual credentials do not.
Can I buy these permits after entering the state?
- No. Each credential on this page must be in place before the vehicle operates on Indiana highways, and enforcement happens at roadside inspections and weigh stations. Buying from the state's own channel before the trip is the cheapest clean path.
Are permit-service prices the state fee?
- No. Wire services and permit companies resell state permits with a service markup. The fees on this page are what Indiana itself charges on its primary pages; anything above that is the middleman's fee, not the state's.
Haul Handbook publishes educational information about trucking registration and compliance requirements. This is not legal, financial, or tax advice. Rules, fees, and deadlines change; confirm with the agency before you file or pay.