By Evan Reid, Founder of Haul Handbook · Updated Sep 27, 2026
North Dakota sells two temporary credentials to nonresident carriers, both through the Highway Patrol's E-Permits system: a 72-hour trip permit in lieu of North Dakota registration, for trucks without North Dakota on an IRP cab card or running over their registered weight, and a 72-hour fuel permit in lieu of an IFTA license, good for one trip. North Dakota based vehicles need neither.
The trip permit (registration side)
This credential answers for registration. Without it, a vehicle whose cab card does not list North Dakota has no legal registration standing in the state.
- Stands in for
- North Dakota registration, or IRP apportioned registration with North Dakota listed on the cab card
- Fee
- $20 (NDCC 39-04-19(1) sets 20 dollars for a trip permit valid for seventy-two hours, credited to the state highway fund, and the E-Permits page prices the 72-hour (3-day) trip permit at 20 dollars. The 8 dollar service and routing fee on oversize and overweight single-trip permits does not apply to trip and fuel permits.)
- Who needs it
- Vehicles of nonresident carriers traveling on North Dakota highways without North Dakota registration or North Dakota on an IRP cab card: a two-axle single unit over 26,000 pounds GVW, a single unit with more than two axles, a two-axle power unit in a combination over 26,000 pounds GVW, or a power unit with three or more axles. It is also required when an out-of-state truck runs heavier than its licensed weight, including over its North Dakota IRP registered weight on the interstate, 129,000 pound network, or longer combination vehicle permits. Exempt: tourists, people moving their own household goods, vehicles covered by reciprocity or the border free zones, and IRP carriers whose original cab card lists North Dakota.
- Where to buy
- Online through North Dakota Highway Patrol E-Permits (https://www.statepatrol.nd.gov/e-permits), open to nonresident carriers; At roadside: a trucker stopped without valid North Dakota permits must buy them before proceeding, with a fee charged and a receipt issued
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
- $15 (NDCC 57-43.2-39(4) sets 15 dollars per trip, and the Highway Patrol's Fuel Permit page prices the permit at 15 dollars.)
- Valid for
- 72 hours or until the vehicle leaves North Dakota, whichever comes first; valid for one trip
- Who needs it
- Nonresident carriers without an IFTA license running an IFTA-sized vehicle: a two-axle single unit over 26,000 pounds GVW, a combination with a two-axle power unit over 26,000 pounds GVW, a single unit with three or more axles, or a combination whose power unit has three or more axles. It also reaches carriers from Alaska, the Northwest Territories, Yukon, or Mexico not in IFTA through another jurisdiction, and nonresident carriers operating intrastate or working in the state without an IFTA license. Exempt: vehicles carrying an IFTA license copy and decals, all North Dakota base-licensed vehicles, lighter two-axle units and combinations, Minnesota vehicles within the 20-mile free zone, Minnesota and South Dakota farm-registered vehicles hauling their own products or farm supplies, recreational and household-move vehicles, and unregistered non-highway equipment.
- Where to buy
- Online through North Dakota Highway Patrol E-Permits (https://www.statepatrol.nd.gov/e-permits), open to nonresident carriers; At roadside: a truck without IFTA credentials must buy the fuel permit before proceeding
Worth knowing
Three neighbors of these permits cover different cases. NDDOT's Unladen Permit (30 dollars, valid up to 14 days, requested by email to [email protected]) is temporary registration for moving an apportionable vehicle empty. NDCC 39-04-18.2 temporary registration permits run six or twelve months for vehicles with valid out-of-state plates whose owner or operator works in North Dakota. Nonresident custom combiners traveling before June 1 need trip, fuel, and oversize permits until their custom combine permit takes over. A carrier that leaves North Dakota only rarely may use trip and fuel permits in each state entered instead of IRP and IFTA.
Where these fit in the North Dakota permit stack
Temporary permits are the exception path. The standing credentials they replace are IRP apportioned registration and the North Dakota IFTA license. Oversize loads use a different permit family entirely, covered in North Dakota oversize and overweight permits, and the full picture of every state permit lives in North Dakota trucking permits.