By Haul Handbook editorial team· Updated Oct 4, 2026
A Rhode Island company that hauls property for pay between points inside the state needs a Division of Public Utilities and Carriers certificate before it runs a load. The application costs $250 by check or money order, goes to a public hearing advertised in the Providence Journal at least 10 days ahead, and is approved if the applicant proves it is fit, willing and able. After approval the carrier registers each vehicle with the Division at $20 per vehicle, files proof of insurance for a $10 fee, and renews the certificate by December 31 every year for $100. The state's insurance floor is $250,000 per person and $500,000 per accident for bodily injury, $25,000 property damage and $25,000 cargo.
The Rhode Island requirements table
- Agency
- Rhode Island Division of Public Utilities and Carriers (DPUC), Motor Carriers Section, 89 Jefferson Boulevard, Warwick, RI 02888, phone 401-941-4500
- Program name
- Certificate of operating authority as a common carrier of property (R.I. Gen. Laws chapter 39-12), or a contract carrier permit
- Application
- Request for Authority to Operate as Common Carrier of Property, filed with the Motor Carriers Section of the Division at 89 Jefferson Boulevard, Warwick, RI 02888, with the $250 filing fee by check or money order (no cash). The packet asks for business and mailing addresses, Federal ID number, all partners, officers and directors with dates and places of birth, citizenship or immigration status, prior DPUC applications, criminal charges, traffic violations in the last six years, the vehicles to be operated, industry experience and a financial statement of assets and liabilities, all sworn before a notary. It includes a release authorizing the Division of Criminal Identification of the Attorney General's Office to give the Division criminal records, and a voluntary Social Security number disclosure.
- Renewal
- Certificates (§ 39-12-7) and contract carrier permits (§ 39-12-10) must be renewed before the close of business on December 31 of each calendar year, with a $100 renewal fee submitted with the renewal form. The § 39-12-26 vehicle identification devices are furnished annually, and an out-of-state agent for process must be recertified each year.
Authority fee schedule
Rhode Island 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
- NoneChapter 39-12 sets no weight threshold. A 'motor vehicle' under § 39-12-2(13) is any vehicle, truck, tractor-trailer or semi-trailer propelled or drawn by mechanical power and used on the highways to transport property, and the certificate requirement in § 39-12-6 turns on carrying property for compensation, not on the vehicle's weight rating.
- For-hire only
- YesOnly for-hire carriage is covered. A private carrier transporting property it owns, leases or holds as bailee in furtherance of its own commercial enterprise is exempt from the whole chapter under § 39-12-2(17).
- Property carriers
- YesCommon carriers serving the general public need a certificate (§ 39-12-6); contract carriers serving shippers under continuing contracts need a permit (§ 39-12-9). The application packet lets a carrier request dry freight, bulk commodities, boats, rigging, hazardous materials, petroleum in tank trucks, other tank-truck products, courier services, drive-away and tow-away vehicles, office furniture, household goods or other property, each over irregular routes throughout Rhode Island.
- Passenger carriers
- Intrastate passenger carriers (taxicabs, limited public motor vehicles, jitneys, limousines and water carriers) are also licensed by the Division, under R.I. Gen. Laws chapters 39-13, 39-14 and 39-14.1, a separate regime from the property certificate. Taxicab, limited public motor vehicle, jitney and water carrier applicants must also prove public convenience and necessity.
- Household goods
- Household goods movers need a certificate and remain under fuller regulation: the Division approves their tariff rates, the certificate number must appear in every advertisement, and the Division's jurisdiction page says a household goods applicant must prove public convenience and necessity as well as fitness.
- Hazmat
- Hazardous materials carriage within Rhode Island is a named authority category on the property application, and the Division lists transporters of hazardous materials and liquid petroleum carriers among the carriers it regulates. 815-RICR-50-05-1 section 1.17 subjects every common and contract carrier to the U.S. DOT rules on motor carrier safety and hazardous materials transportation.
- Towing and wrecker operators
- Tow companies are certificated carriers. Tariff rates for tows performed without the prior consent of the vehicle's owner or operator must be approved by the Division, and 815-RICR-50-05-1 section 1.13 sets notification rules for certificated towing companies on police-ordered tows.
- Waste transport
- Exempt: § 39-12-3(6) exempts vehicles hauling garbage, ashes and debris removed from private dwellings and commercial and industrial establishments.
- Farm vehicles
- Exempt: § 39-12-3(4) exempts vehicles used exclusively to haul agricultural or horticultural commodities or products from a farm, or farm supplies to a farm.
- Intrastate-only carriers
- The certificate covers transportation wholly within Rhode Island (§ 39-12-2(10)). Also exempt under § 39-12-3: vehicles delivering U.S. mail exclusively, federal government vehicles, cooperative-group vehicles hauling the group's own property, snow plowing and removal vehicles, and vehicles hauling newspapers exclusively.
- Carriers already filed under UCR
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 39-12-26 requires every interstate for-hire property carrier to register and identify its vehicles under the federal Unified Carrier Registration Act of 2005 and the Unified Carrier Registration Agreement. Intrastate carriers not subject to UCR apply to the Division for a vehicle identification device instead ($20 per vehicle, furnished annually).
Rhode Island insurance minimums
State minimums can differ from the federal filing levels; the federal side is covered in our insurance filings guide.
- Liability minimum
- Null by design: Rhode Island states its minimum as split limits, not one figure. R.I. Gen. Laws § 39-12-27 bars a certificate or permit from issuing or staying in force until the carrier proves ability to pay at least $250,000 for bodily injury to or death of any one person, $500,000 for all persons injured or killed in any one accident (subject to the $250,000 per-person cap), and $25,000 for damage to property other than cargo. Proof is a certificate of insurance from an insurer authorized in Rhode Island, a certificate from the general treasurer that the carrier has filed a $100,000 surety bond, or Division approval as a self-insurer. Coverage must stay in force until cancelled on 30 days' written notice to the Division, unless a replacement filing is received first.
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 Rhode Island authority rules
- Vehicle marking: requirement
- The name as it appears on the certificate or permit, the street address, the town or city, and the certificate or permit number must be displayed on both sides of every vehicle used as a common or contract carrier, in letters visible at 50 feet. Only one business name may be used, and a business name used beside the certificate name must be registered with the Division. Each vehicle also needs the Division's annual identification device, and its registration card must be in the driver's possession while operating; the device may not be moved to another vehicle without Division approval.
- Vehicle marking: penalty
- Operating a vehicle for compensation without the required identification device is unlawful; violations of § 39-12-26 carry the fines enumerated in § 31-41.1-4.
- USDOT prerequisite: note
- No Rhode Island source read for this pass makes a USDOT number a condition of the intrastate certificate: the DPUC application packet and the Intrastate Registration Form do not ask for one, and Rhode Island is not on FMCSA's list of states that require their intrastate commercial motor vehicle registrants to obtain a USDOT number. A Rhode Island carrier still needs a USDOT number to open an IRP account, which the DMV lists first among the documents for apportioned registration.
- Intrastate safety rules: detail
- 815-RICR-50-05-1 section 1.17 makes every common and contract carrier subject to the U.S. DOT rules on motor carrier operations and equipment safety and on hazardous materials transportation. The same rule requires a Rhode Island office or an agent for service of process on file, recertified annually, with a street address (no post office boxes) (section 1.8); keeps freight bills, delivery receipts, tariffs, contracts, insurance records and other business records for at least three years, the latest six months on the business premises (section 1.10); and requires written leases for non-owned power units, with owner-operator leases running at least 7 days and paying the lessor within 15 days of delivery paperwork (section 1.16).
| Title | Detail |
|---|---|
| A USDOT number is not Rhode Island authority | Rhode Island is not on FMCSA's list of states that require an intrastate USDOT number, but that does not mean an in-state for-hire hauler can run on federal credentials. The DPUC certificate is a separate requirement for any carriage of property for compensation between Rhode Island points. |
| No weight floor | Unlike states that only reach trucks of 10,001 pounds or more, chapter 39-12 has no weight threshold. A pickup or cargo van doing paid local deliveries is a 'motor vehicle' under § 39-12-2(13) and needs the certificate unless an exemption in § 39-12-3 applies. |
| Approval is not the finish line | The hearing officer's order lists conditions to meet before the certificate issues, usually within 90 days: at minimum, registering vehicles with the Division and filing proof of insurance. The hearing officer can add more. |
| Buying a carrier means a hearing too | A certificate transfer needs Division approval after public notice and a hearing, a $250 fee, and proof the seller actively operated under the certificate for the past 60 days; any commodities the seller did not haul in that window are revoked rather than transferred. |
Who needs a certificate
Any for-hire carrier moving property wholly within Rhode Island. The Division names general freight haulers, couriers, bulk and petroleum carriers, hazmat haulers, tow companies and household goods movers. The law sets no weight threshold, so a small van doing paid deliveries counts.
Several operations are exempt: private carriers hauling their own goods, trash and debris haulers, farm vehicles, U.S. mail, snow plowing and newspaper delivery among them. Passenger carriers fall under a separate licensing regime at the same Division.
Applying and the public hearing
The application is a paper packet filed with the Motor Carriers Section in Warwick, paid by check or money order. It asks about the owners, criminal and driving history, vehicles, experience and finances, all under oath, and lets you choose the commodities you will haul.
The Division sets a public hearing and advertises it in the newspaper first. You must show you are fit, willing and able. Only household goods movers, among property carriers, still have to prove public convenience and necessity as well.
After approval: trucks, insurance and markings
Approval comes with conditions to meet before the certificate issues: register each truck with the Division for its identification device and registration card, and file proof of insurance. Every certificated truck must show the certificate name, street address, town and certificate number on both sides.
The Division's rule also adopts the federal safety and hazmat rules for certificated carriers, requires written leases for trucks you do not own, and sets how long freight bills and other records stay on file.
Rhode Island's own insurance minimums
Rhode Island writes its own schedule instead of adopting the federal table. Every certificated carrier proves bodily injury coverage per person and per accident, property damage coverage, and cargo coverage, with dump-truck bulk hauls excused from the cargo filing. A surety bond certified by the general treasurer can stand in for the liability policy.
Each insurance filing carries a fee, and coverage stays in force until the insurer gives the Division written notice of cancellation.
Renewal, transfers and penalties
Certificates and permits renew every calendar year by a fixed year-end deadline, with a renewal fee, and the identification devices are issued yearly. Buying a carrier means a transfer application, public notice and a hearing, and the seller must have actually run under the certificate recently; commodities it did not haul are revoked.
Running without authority is a misdemeanor, and the Division can impose administrative fines per violation instead.
Where this fits in the Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island, 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.