By Haul Handbook editorial team· Updated Sep 28, 2026
A Maine carrier hauling freight only inside Maine needs no state operating authority and gets no state carrier number. It does need a USDOT number once a vehicle's weight rating tops 26,000 pounds, or at any weight if it is a bus or hauls placarded hazardous materials, and the number must be displayed on both sides of the vehicle. Maine also sets its own intrastate liability floor: $750,000 combined single limit for intrastate commercial motor vehicles, applying to policies written or renewed on or after January 1, 2026.
The Maine requirements table
- Agency
- Maine Department of the Secretary of State, Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Motor Carrier Services (Operating Authority Unit for for-hire insurance filings and UCR); Maine State Police, Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Unit (intrastate USDOT number rule)
- Program name
- No state operating authority. Intrastate USDOT number (vehicles over 26,000 pounds) plus for-hire insurance on file with the BMV Operating Authority Unit
- Application
- No Maine application exists. New carriers must obtain the USDOT number through FMCSA's online registration (since December 12, 2015) and update it online as well; BMV Motor Carrier Services can no longer assist with either. FMCSA: 800-832-5660. Questions on the intrastate exemption go to the Maine State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Unit, 207-624-8909.
- Filing fee
- Maine publishes no filing fee for intrastate carriers: there is no authority to buy, and neither the BMV USDOT page nor the For-Hire Insurance page lists a fee. The USDOT number itself comes from FMCSA.
Who the requirement covers
- GVWR threshold
- 26,001 lbThe threshold is for the intrastate USDOT number, not for operating authority (Maine has none). Effective July 19, 2015, carriers operating entirely within Maine with vehicles rated 10,000 to 26,000 pounds GVWR or GCWR that are not buses and do not haul hazardous materials need no USDOT number; vehicles over 26,000 pounds must obtain and display one, even in intrastate commerce. The BMV page says the exemption comes from Maine's Chapter 4 rule adoption, under the State Police rulemaking authority in 29-A M.R.S. sec. 555-A.
- For-hire only
- NoThe USDOT number rule reaches private and for-hire carriers alike. The for-hire insurance filing (Form JB for passenger service, Form K for cancellation) applies to vehicles registered for rent, lease, hire or livery. The liability minimum depends on the vehicle: $750,000 for an intrastate commercial motor vehicle under 29-A M.R.S. sec. 1611(2)(G) on policies written or renewed from January 1, 2026, and the older $350,000 sec. 1611(2)(A) figure for for-hire freight in intrastate-exempt service; see the operation-type table.
- Passenger carriers
- A bus needs a USDOT number at any weight. Intrastate for-hire passenger vehicles carry their own sec. 1611 liability tiers, from $125,000 for 1 to 3 passengers behind the driver's seat up to $2,000,000 for 31 or more; see the operation-type table.
- Household goods
- Not confirmedNo Maine intrastate household goods certificate appears on the BMV Motor Carrier Services pages, and the general operating authority license that once covered for-hire carriers (29-A M.R.S. sec. 552) is repealed. No Maine household goods regime is recorded; none was found, which is not the same as a sourced statement that none exists.
Maine 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 (29-A M.R.S. sec. 1611(2)(G), enacted by P.L. 2025, ch. 107, sets a $750,000 combined single limit for intrastate commercial motor vehicles. Section 2 of that Act applies it to commercial motor vehicle liability policies executed, delivered, issued, continued or renewed on or after January 1, 2026, with every policy deemed renewed no later than its next yearly anniversary. A commercial motor vehicle under 29-A M.R.S. sec. 101(17) is one used in commerce with a GVWR or gross vehicle weight of 26,001 pounds or more (or a GCWR of 26,001 pounds or more including a towed unit over 10,000 pounds), a bus, or a placarded hazardous materials vehicle of any size. The BMV For-Hire Insurance page still shows $350,000 CSL for property carriers, the older sec. 1611(2)(A) figure for for-hire freight in intrastate-exempt service; the statute is the controlling text.)
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.
Scroll sideways to see every column.
Insurance filing forms
Your insurance company makes these filings with the state, not you.
More Maine authority rules
- Vehicle marking: requirement
- Interstate and intrastate motor carriers are subject to the marking rules in 49 C.F.R. 390.21: the USDOT number must be displayed on both sides of the commercial motor vehicle before it begins operating. The Maine State Police has adopted the federal USDOT number and display requirements for intrastate vehicles.
- Vehicle marking: registrant exception
- Since June 6, 2012 Maine no longer requires a USDOT number at registration from a registrant that is not a motor carrier: an owner-operator who never runs under its own USDOT number or authority, or a registrant that owns vehicles only to rent or lease them to motor carriers. IRP registrants must still supply the USDOT number of every carrier responsible for the safety of their vehicles.
- USDOT prerequisite: note
- For a Maine intrastate carrier the USDOT number is itself the state requirement once a vehicle exceeds 26,000 pounds, carries placarded hazardous materials, or is a bus.
| Title | Detail |
|---|---|
| No authority does not mean no insurance floor | Maine sells no operating authority, but from January 1, 2026 its own statute requires $750,000 combined single limit on intrastate commercial motor vehicles, the same dollar figure as the federal interstate for-hire minimum. |
| The BMV insurance table lags the statute | The BMV For-Hire Insurance page still lists $350,000 CSL for property carriers. That is the older sec. 1611(2)(A) figure; the $750,000 intrastate commercial motor vehicle limit added in 2025 is not yet on the page. |
| 26,000 pounds is the intrastate USDOT line, not 10,000 | Maine exempts intrastate-only carriers with vehicles of 10,000 to 26,000 pounds from the USDOT number unless the vehicle is a bus or carries hazardous materials. Cross the state line and the federal 10,001-pound threshold applies. |
Why there is no Maine authority to buy
Maine once licensed for-hire carriers through an operating authority license. The legislature repealed that statute, and no replacement license exists for property carriers. The BMV points every carrier that needs an identifier to the federal USDOT number instead, and it lists no filing fee for intrastate carriers.
What survived is the insurance duty. The same title of Maine law still requires insurance or a bond on for-hire vehicles, and a recent amendment added a minimum for intrastate commercial trucks.
Who needs a USDOT number in Maine
The trigger is the vehicle. A Maine State Police rule exempts intrastate trucks in a middle weight band from the federal number and marking rules, as long as the truck is not a bus and hauls no hazmat. Above that band the number is required even for a truck that never leaves Maine. A bus needs one at any weight, and so does any vehicle hauling placarded hazmat. Private fleets and for-hire carriers are covered alike.
Maine also dropped the number at registration for owners who are not motor carriers: an owner-operator who always runs under someone else's number, or a company that only leases trucks to carriers. IRP registrants must still name the carrier responsible for safety.
Getting and showing the number
There is no Maine application. New carriers register with FMCSA online and update their record online too; BMV Motor Carrier Services no longer handles either step. The number goes on both sides of each subject truck before it starts operating, under the federal marking rule the State Police adopted for intrastate vehicles.
Questions about whether a truck falls inside the exemption go to the State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Unit. Our Maine DOT number page walks the rule with its source.
Insurance: the minimum Maine does set
Maine sets its own liability floor. A recent amendment to Maine's insurance statute sets a combined single limit for intrastate commercial motor vehicles, which covers heavy trucks, buses and placarded hazmat vehicles, on policies written or renewed on or after its start date. It applies to private and for-hire carriers. Separate tiers remain for for-hire freight, short-term rental trucks and passenger carriers by seat count.
The BMV For-Hire Insurance page has not caught up and still lists the older property figure; the statute controls. Maine sets no cargo insurance minimum.
Filing proof of insurance
For-hire carriers file evidence of insurance with the Secretary of State, signed by the insurer. Passenger carriers use the state's own certificate form, and a cancellation runs through the uniform notice form. A policy on file cannot be cancelled until a set number of days after the Operating Authority Unit receives that notice, unless replacement coverage starts sooner. Nothing renews at the state level beyond the policy itself.
Where this fits in the Maine 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 Maine, 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.