By Evan Reid, Founder of Haul Handbook · Updated Jul 30, 2026
Tennessee prices both of its temporary motor carrier credentials identically and sells neither one itself. The IRP 72-hour trip permit stands in for apportioned registration, the 7-day temporary fuel use permit stands in for an IFTA license, and each costs $30.00 per permit plus whatever the wire service contractor charges on top. The Department of Revenue publishes the contractor list and points carriers at it.
The trip permit (registration side)
This credential answers for registration. Without it, a vehicle whose cab card does not list Tennessee has no legal registration standing in the state.
- Stands in for
- IRP apportioned registration in a jurisdiction the vehicle is not registered or apportioned for
- Fee
- $30 ($30.00 per permit plus wire service fees. The Department of Revenue does not sell the permit directly, so the real cost is the state fee plus the contractor's service charge, which the state does not publish.)
- Who needs it
- Any vehicle that holds a registration but is not registered or apportioned for a particular jurisdiction, before it enters that jurisdiction. The Tennessee permit allows both interstate and intrastate movement inside Tennessee.
- Where to buy
- Buy from one of the trip permit wire service contractors listed on the Department of Revenue International Registration Plan page; The Department of Revenue does not issue the permit over the counter or through TNTAP, and the permit must be in hand before the vehicle enters the jurisdiction
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
- $30 ($30.00 per permit plus wire service fees. As with the trip permit, the Department of Revenue publishes a contractor list rather than selling the permit itself, and it does not publish what the contractors charge.)
- Who needs it
- Freight motor vehicles operated over Tennessee highways on an occasional or infrequent basis whose owner has not licensed under IFTA. The permit is required before entering Tennessee.
Worth knowing
Neither permit is sold by the Department of Revenue. Both pages publish a roster of wire service contractors and direct carriers to buy through one of them, so what a carrier actually pays is the $30.00 state fee plus that contractor's charge. Several contractors appear on both lists, which means one call can cover both credentials for the same trip.
Where these fit in the Tennessee permit stack
Temporary permits are the exception path. The standing credentials they replace are IRP apportioned registration and the Tennessee IFTA license. Oversize loads use a different permit family entirely, covered in Tennessee oversize and overweight permits, and the full picture of every state permit lives in Tennessee trucking permits.