By Evan Reid, Founder of Haul Handbook · Updated Sep 27, 2026
A Massachusetts carrier hauling general freight inside the state needs no state operating authority, but since September 1, 2018 every intrastate truck of 10,001 pounds or more, every placarded hazmat vehicle and every vehicle designed for more than 15 passengers must be permanently marked with a USDOT number under 540 CMR 2.22. The USDOT number comes free from FMCSA. Household goods movers, companies doing police or trespass tows, and intrastate bus companies are the exceptions: each must win operating authority from the Department of Public Utilities after a public hearing.
The Massachusetts requirements table
- Agency
- Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, Transportation Oversight Division (household goods, involuntary towing and passenger authority); Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles (intrastate USDOT number marking rule, 540 CMR 2.22)
- Program name
- USDOT number for intrastate CMVs (540 CMR 2.22), plus DPU operating authority for household goods movers, involuntary tows and passenger carriers
- State carrier number
- MDPU No. (the DPU certificate number, for household goods movers only); general freight carriers use their FMCSA-issued USDOT number
- Application
- No Massachusetts application exists for the intrastate number: apply for an intrastate USDOT number online through the Registration link on the FMCSA website. FMCSA issues one number that must be displayed on every subject vehicle the company operates, including leased vehicles, and charges nothing for it. FMCSA questions: 1-800-832-5660. Household goods, involuntary towing and passenger carriers apply to the DPU online and pay through Catalis.
- Renewal
- The USDOT number carries the federal biennial update duty under 49 CFR 390.19, which the RMV IRP User Manual restates. DPU household goods and towing authority holders file proof of insurance and a renewal decal application every year; renewal forms are mailed in October and moving and towing decals expire December 31.
Authority fee schedule
Massachusetts 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
Massachusetts 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
- 10,001 lbEffective September 1, 2018 (strict enforcement from January 1, 2019, per the RMV bulletin), the intrastate USDOT number duty applies to a motor vehicle engaged in intrastate commerce in Massachusetts with a gross vehicle weight rating or gross combination weight rating of 10,001 pounds or more. The RMV bulletin states the requirement is based on this definition regardless of how any individual vehicle is registered with the RMV.
- For-hire only
- NoThe USDOT number rule in 540 CMR 2.22(2) is written by vehicle criteria and applies to private and for-hire carriers alike. DPU operating authority applies only to the for-hire household goods, involuntary towing and passenger sectors.
- Passenger carriers
- Every vehicle designed to transport more than 15 passengers, including the driver, used in intrastate commerce must display a USDOT number. Separately, DPU operating authority is required to operate a vehicle for hire that carries 10 or more people including the driver within Massachusetts.
- Household goods
- Moving household goods within Massachusetts requires DPU operating authority, obtained after a public hearing, with an MDPU number that must appear in all advertising.
- Hazmat
- Every intrastate vehicle, regardless of weight, used to transport hazardous materials in a quantity requiring placarding must display a USDOT number.
- Towing and wrecker operators
- Involuntary tows (police-ordered and trespass tows) require DPU operating authority, a $40 decal per vehicle and an annual tow report.
- Intrastate-only carriers
- The USDOT number requirement is the intrastate-only rule. Exempt when operated solely within Massachusetts: vehicles owned and operated by the Commonwealth or a political subdivision; municipal or state-agency hazmat vehicles (not private contractors hauling for them); municipal transit-type buses; MBTA and Regional Transit Authority buses; school buses and school pupil transport vehicles transporting students locally; and professional driving school vehicles used for Class A, B or C CDL skills training.
- Carriers already filed under UCR
- Massachusetts participates in the Unified Carrier Registration program: M.G.L. c. 159B, s. 10 requires each interstate for-hire carrier using Massachusetts ways to register with the DPU under the federal Unified Carrier Registration Act of 2005, and the DPU directs all carriers to file online at ucr.gov. UCR applies to interstate carriers, not to intrastate-only operations.
Massachusetts insurance minimums
State minimums can differ from the federal filing levels; the federal side is covered in our insurance filings guide.
- Liability minimum
- Massachusetts publishes no separate dollar liability minimum for intrastate freight carriers. 540 CMR 14.03 incorporates 49 CFR Part 387 as Registry regulations for both intrastate and interstate commerce, and 540 CMR 14.04(3)(a) requires every carrier to keep records complying with Part 387. By its own terms, Table 1 of 49 CFR 387.9 sets $750,000 for for-hire carriage of nonhazardous property in interstate or foreign commerce at 10,001 pounds GVWR or more, and reaches intrastate commerce only for bulk hazardous cargo: $5,000,000 for the listed bulk hazardous substances and explosives, $1,000,000 for oil and other hazardous materials in bulk. No Massachusetts figure for intrastate general freight is recorded rather than extending the interstate row by inference.
- Cargo minimum
- 220 CMR 260.01(1) bars the DPU from issuing a common carrier certificate unless it is satisfied the applicant is adequately insured for loss of or damage to property transported, and 260.01(3) requires the policy to carry a 20-day written cancellation notice to the Department. Neither the regulation nor the DPU application pages state a dollar amount, so none is recorded.
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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More Massachusetts authority rules
- Vehicle marking: requirement
- Every subject intrastate vehicle must be permanently marked with a USDOT number in a manner conforming to 49 CFR 390.21. Separately, the owner of every motor truck used for hire with a maximum load carrying capacity between 2,000 and 10,000 pounds must have the owner's name marked on both sides in permanent, sharply contrasting letters legible from 50 feet in daylight; a truck under a lease of more than 30 days may show the owner or the lessee.
- Vehicle marking: exemption
- Farm trucks carrying the farmer's own agricultural products, machinery or supplies within 150 air miles of the farm, and not used as a common or contract carrier, are exempt from the owner-name marking.
- Vehicle marking: penalty
- Failure to obtain and display a USDOT number may bring a civil fine and placement of the vehicles out of service until the company obtains one. The penalty for a violation of 540 CMR 2.22 is set by M.G.L. c. 90, s. 20.
- USDOT prerequisite: note
- For an intrastate-only freight carrier the USDOT number is itself the Massachusetts requirement, obtained directly from FMCSA; whether a company operates intrastate or interstate, it must obtain the number online at the FMCSA website.
- Intrastate safety rules: detail
- 540 CMR 14.03 incorporates FMCSR Parts 325, 350, 382, 383, 387, 390 through 393 and 395 through 397, plus the Hazardous Materials Regulations (Part 107 subparts F and G, Parts 171 through 180), as Registry regulations in both intrastate and interstate commerce. A commercial motor vehicle for this purpose is one of 10,001 pounds GVWR or GCWR or more used for property, one designed for more than 15 passengers including the driver, or one carrying placardable hazardous materials. Drivers in intrastate-only commerce are exempt from the federal age-21 rule and, except for initial permits or CDLs issued after March 9, 2018 and hazmat drivers, from the English-proficiency rule; the Registrar may also grant intrastate medical waivers for vision, diabetes, cardiovascular and limb conditions.
| Title | Detail |
|---|---|
| No authority does not mean no number | Massachusetts issues no freight operating authority, but every intrastate truck of 10,001 pounds or more must be permanently marked with a USDOT number. Operating without one can bring a civil fine and an out-of-service order until the company gets the number. |
| Registration class does not decide it | The RMV states the USDOT number requirement turns on the vehicle's GVWR or GCWR and use, regardless of how the vehicle happens to be registered with the RMV. A truck on passenger or light commercial plates is still covered if it rates 10,001 pounds or more. |
| Adding a moving service changes the regime | A freight carrier that starts moving household goods within Massachusetts needs DPU operating authority, a filed tariff and an MDPU number in every advertisement. The authority is granted only after a monthly public hearing that the principal owner must attend. |
Who needs a USDOT number in Massachusetts
The trigger is the vehicle, not the business. A Registry regulation requires the number on any vehicle in intrastate commerce whose gross vehicle or combination weight rating meets the federal commercial line, on any vehicle carrying hazmat in placarded quantities at any weight, and on any vehicle designed to carry more than the federal passenger count. Private fleets and for-hire carriers are covered alike.
The RMV adds one point that surprises carriers: registration class does not matter. A truck on passenger or light commercial plates is still covered if its rating meets the line. Vehicles run solely inside Massachusetts by the Commonwealth or a town, municipal and transit buses, local school transport, and professional driving school vehicles used for CDL skills training are exempt.
Getting and showing the number
There is no Massachusetts application. You register with FMCSA online, FMCSA issues one number for the company at no charge, and that number goes on every subject vehicle you run, leased trucks included. The marking must be permanent and follow the federal marking rule.
Massachusetts adds a second marking for small for-hire trucks: the owner's name on both sides of a for-hire truck in a lighter load band, legible from a set distance, unless it is a farm truck hauling the farmer's own goods near the farm. Operating without a USDOT number can bring a civil fine and an out-of-service order until the company gets one.
When the DPU does require authority
Three sectors still need state authority, all from the DPU Transportation Oversight Division. Household goods movers apply online, attend a public hearing held on the second Tuesday of the month after the application is complete, then have a set number of days to file insurance, a balance sheet, a tariff and decal applications. Every advertisement must show the MDPU number.
Involuntary tow companies follow the same hearing process and file an annual tow report. Intrastate bus companies pass a DPU review of their maintenance and safety plans and a vehicle inspection before service. Each sector pays an application fee plus per-vehicle decals, and the decals expire each year.
Insurance: what Massachusetts does and does not set
Massachusetts sets no dollar liability minimum of its own for intrastate general freight. Its safety regulation adopts the federal financial responsibility rule by reference for intrastate and interstate commerce, and the federal schedule reaches intrastate carriers only for bulk hazardous cargo. We record no intrastate general freight figure rather than stretch the interstate row to cover it.
Household goods movers must satisfy the DPU that they carry cargo insurance, with a cancellation notice period written into the policy, though no dollar amount is published. Our Massachusetts trucking insurance page walks each row with its source.
Why there is no freight certificate
The state law on common carriers still reads as if every carrier of property needs a DPU certificate. Federal law bars states from regulating the prices, routes and services of property carriers, with carve-outs for intrastate household goods moves and non-consensual towing. That is the shape of the DPU program today: certificates for movers and involuntary tows, not for general freight. The USDOT duty comes from a Registry regulation instead.
Where this fits in the Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts, 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.