By Evan Reid, Founder of Haul Handbook · Updated Sep 27, 2026
North Dakota does not require intrastate operating authority. There is no state carrier number, no application, and no authority fee, and the old Public Service Commission motor carrier chapter (NDCC ch. 49-18) is repealed. An intrastate carrier registers each truck with the NDDOT Motor Vehicle Division, pays an annual fee set by registered gross weight and vehicle age (up to 1,792 dollars at 105,500 pounds), and carries at least the state's 25,000/50,000/25,000 dollar liability policy. A USDOT number is not required for purely intrastate work unless the carrier needs a federal hazardous materials safety permit.
The North Dakota requirements table
- Agency
- No authority-issuing agency. Vehicle registration: North Dakota Department of Transportation, Motor Vehicle Division, and its branch offices
- Program name
- No intrastate authority program exists. The credential an intrastate truck carries is its North Dakota registration (commercial plate and registration card) issued under NDCC ch. 39-04.
- Application
- No authority application exists. Intrastate trucks are titled and registered through the Motor Vehicle Division or a branch office on the standard title and registration application (SFN 2872, Application for Certificate of Title and Registration of a Vehicle, as listed on NDDOT's Motor Carrier Services forms list).
- Filing fee
- There is no authority fee. The cost of running intrastate is annual registration under NDCC 39-04-19(2)(b): for trucks and truck-trailer combinations it runs from 71 dollars (not over 4,000 lb, first six years) to 1,792 dollars (102,001 to 105,500 lb, first seven years), and it steps down as the vehicle ages (1,486 dollars in the 8th to 12th years and 1,280 dollars from the 13th year at the top weight). Fees are prorated monthly when a vehicle first becomes subject to registration mid-period, with a 5 dollar minimum.
Authority fee schedule
North Dakota 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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Who the requirement covers
- GVWR threshold
- NoneNo weight triggers an authority requirement because there is no authority requirement. Weight matters to two other North Dakota regimes: every motor vehicle must be registered annually (NDCC 39-04-18), with the fee set by registered gross weight (NDCC 39-04-19), and the state's intrastate safety rules, which adopt the federal regulations, except vehicles under 26,001 pounds GVWR or GCWR unless they carry more than 8 passengers for compensation, more than 15 passengers not for compensation, or placarded hazardous materials (Highway Patrol handbook, Definitions).
- For-hire only
- NoNo for-hire test applies inside North Dakota. The handbook's driver checklist asks for operating authority only if operating for hire, and its Operating Authority subsection confines that requirement to interstate commerce, where the authority is federal (FMCSA).
- Property carriers
- NoProperty carriers need no state authority; they register their trucks under NDCC 39-04-19(2)(b), which covers commercial and noncommercial trucks and truck-trailer combinations.
- Passenger carriers
- NoPassenger carriers need no state authority either; the handbook's no-intrastate-authority statement covers passengers and property alike. Buses for hire register on the same weight table as trucks under NDCC 39-04-19(2)(b).
- Hazmat
- No state hazmat permit. The handbook states that North Dakota does not require a state permit for hazardous materials transportation, while transporters of hazardous waste must have a permit from the ND Health Department (701-328-5150). Intrastate hazmat carriers still need federal insurance levels under 49 CFR 387.9.
- Farm vehicles
- Trucks over 20,000 and up to 105,500 pounds owned or leased for at least a year by a bona fide resident farmer and used only to haul the farmer's own property (or on a farm work exchange) register on a separate lower farm schedule under NDCC 39-04-19(5); hauling for hire on farm plates forfeits the rate.
North Dakota insurance minimums
State minimums can differ from the federal filing levels; the federal side is covered in our insurance filings guide.
- Liability minimum
- $25,000 (North Dakota sets no motor-carrier-specific liability minimum for intrastate trucking. Every motor vehicle must carry a liability policy in the amount chapter 39-16.1 requires (NDCC 39-08-20), which is 25,000 dollars for bodily injury or death of one person, 50,000 dollars for two or more persons in one accident, and 25,000 dollars for property damage (NDCC 39-16.1-11). The handbook states the federal financial responsibility levels of 49 CFR 387 apply to for-hire property carriers in interstate commerce and to hazardous materials carriers in interstate or intrastate commerce.)
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 North Dakota authority rules
- USDOT prerequisite: note
- The handbook lists who must obtain a USDOT number (interstate motor carriers, intrastate carriers needing a federal hazardous materials safety permit under Part 385, and intermodal equipment providers) and states that motor carriers operating in intrastate commerce in North Dakota that do not meet those requirements are not required to obtain a USDOT number. Farm trucks crossing state lines do need one.
How we know there is no authority requirement
The Highway Patrol's Motor Carrier Handbook says it in so many words: operating authority applies to regulated property and passengers for hire in interstate commerce, and North Dakota does not require it for intrastate commerce. The Century Code agrees. The old Public Service Commission motor carrier chapter prints only its heading and a string of repeal notes.
The handbook's driver checklist asks for operating authority only when a carrier runs for hire, and its operating authority subsection confines that to interstate work, where the authority is federal.
What you buy instead: weight-based registration
Every motor vehicle on North Dakota highways registers annually with the department. An intrastate truck gets an in-state commercial plate from the Motor Vehicle Division in Bismarck or any branch office, on the standard title and registration application.
The fee comes from a statutory schedule keyed to registered gross weight and to how many years the vehicle has been registered, so the same weight costs less on an older truck. A vehicle that first needs registration partway through the period pays a monthly proration. Semitrailers may take a permanent registration instead.
Who the state safety rules reach
With no authority program, weight matters to the safety rules instead. North Dakota adopts the federal motor carrier safety regulations for intrastate commerce and exempts intrastate vehicles at or under the adopted weight line, unless they haul placarded hazardous materials or carry passengers above the set counts.
No state hazmat permit exists, though hazardous waste transporters need a permit from the state health department. Farm trucks owned by a resident farmer and hauling only the farmer's own property register on a lower farm schedule, and hauling for hire on those plates forfeits the rate.
Insurance, and what the state does not publish
North Dakota sets no liability minimum aimed at motor carriers. Every registered vehicle must carry the general liability policy the financial responsibility chapter requires, covering bodily injury per person and per accident plus property damage. No state cargo minimum was found in the handbook, the registration pages, or the insurance chapters, so none is recorded.
Higher floors attach to specific permits: seasonal permits for commercial hay, fertilizer spreader, and similar moves, and manufactured home permits for the power unit. Hazmat carriers, interstate or intrastate, and interstate for-hire property carriers follow the federal minimums.
Where this fits in the North Dakota 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 North Dakota, 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.