By Evan Reid, Founder of Haul Handbook · Updated Aug 5, 2026
Louisiana sells one temporary trucking credential, not two. The 48-hour trip permit stands in for Louisiana registration or apportioned plates, costs $50.00, and comes from a wire service rather than from the state. On the fuel side Louisiana publishes no trip permit at all: a carrier running qualified vehicles into the state licenses for IFTA with the Department of Revenue, or licenses as an interstate motor fuel user and posts a bond, or, if it only travels through occasionally, buys enough fuel inside Louisiana to cover its Louisiana miles and keeps the special fuels invoice in the cab.
The trip permit (registration side)
This credential answers for registration. Without it, a vehicle whose cab card does not list Louisiana has no legal registration standing in the state.
- Fee
- $50 (The Department of Transportation and Development prices the permit at $50.00 under its own heading in the state regulations book. The Office of Motor Vehicles does not sell it, so the wire service that does may add a charge of its own, and neither agency publishes what that charge is.)
- Who needs it
- A vehicle from an IRP member jurisdiction that is not registered in or apportioned for Louisiana and has three or more axles, a gross vehicle weight over 26,000 pounds, a power unit licensed for more than 26,000 pounds, or two axles with a gross or registered weight over 26,000 pounds. The vehicle must be eligible for apportioned registration to buy one, and the permit covers interstate and intrastate movement alike. Vehicles registered in Alaska, Mexico, the Northwest Territories and Yukon must hold one to operate in Louisiana. Louisiana's single reciprocal agreement is with Hawaii, whose vehicles may run interstate but not intrastate in the state.
- Where to buy
- A wire service company. The Office of Motor Vehicles publishes a downloadable list of approved vendors on its trip permits page and does not sell the permit itself; Before entering Louisiana, not at the state line and not at a weigh station
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
- There is no permit, so there is no fee. The Department of Revenue's IFTA compliance manual says a carrier that qualifies for IFTA but does not want to take a license must obtain trip permits to travel through member jurisdictions according to each jurisdiction's own regulations, and Louisiana's own regulations answer differently. An interstate user of taxable special fuels whose vehicles are not domiciled in Louisiana posts a surety bond with the Department of Revenue and files quarterly reports and payments covering special fuels taxes based on miles traveled in Louisiana. An interstate user that only travels through Louisiana occasionally may not be required to post the bond, provided it buys enough fuel in Louisiana to cover the miles traveled in the state and the driver carries a current special fuels invoice to exit.
- Valid for
- No permit means no validity window. The obligations that stand in its place run on their own clocks: an IFTA license and its decals are valid for the calendar year, January 1 through December 31, and the interstate motor fuel user license and its bond run until surrendered, with a quarterly return due on the 25th day of the month following each period.
- Who needs it
- Nobody buys one, because Louisiana does not sell one. A carrier running qualified motor vehicles into Louisiana settles the fuel tax three ways instead: an IFTA license from the Department of Revenue, an interstate motor fuel user license backed by a bond of at least twenty thousand dollars, or, for an occasional pass-through, enough Louisiana fuel to cover the Louisiana miles plus the special fuels invoice in the cab. A qualified motor vehicle is one with two axles and a gross or registered gross weight over 26,000 pounds, or three or more axles regardless of weight, or a combination whose weight exceeds 26,000 pounds.
- Where to buy
- Not sold by Louisiana. License for IFTA through LaTAP with the Louisiana Department of Revenue Excise Tax Section, (225) 219-7656; Or license as an interstate motor fuel user with the Department of Revenue and post the bond required by La. R.S. 47:818.40; Or, for occasional travel through Louisiana, buy enough fuel inside the state to cover the miles run there and keep the current special fuels invoice in the vehicle
- Caught without one
- A non-IFTA vehicle licensed and domiciled in Louisiana that uses taxable special fuels must have current special fuels invoices in its possession at all times, and the Department of Revenue warns that operating a qualified motor vehicle without a current IFTA license card or without properly displayed decals can draw citations or fines from the Department of Public Safety Weights and Standards Division.
Worth knowing
Two Louisiana details are worth carrying into a trip plan. The trip permit covers registration only, so a truck that buys one still owes Louisiana fuel tax through IFTA or through the special fuels route, and the two obligations sit at different agencies. And the exemption from carrying special fuels invoices is narrower than it sounds: it reaches motor vehicles owned and operated by businesses domiciled within Louisiana and used exclusively for commercial purposes inside the state, which is exactly the carrier least likely to be shopping for a temporary permit.
Where these fit in the Louisiana permit stack
Temporary permits are the exception path. The standing credentials they replace are IRP apportioned registration and the Louisiana IFTA license. Oversize loads use a different permit family entirely, covered in Louisiana oversize and overweight permits, and the full picture of every state permit lives in Louisiana trucking permits.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a trip permit or a fuel permit for Louisiana?
- 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 Louisiana 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 Louisiana 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 Louisiana 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 Louisiana 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.