By Evan Reid, Founder of Haul Handbook · Updated Jul 30, 2026
Who issues what in Tennessee
The permit pages
Tennessee-specific requirements
One agency and one portal for authority, IFTA, IRP, and UCR
The Department of Revenue's Vehicle Services Division handles intrastate authority, the International Fuel Tax Agreement, the International Registration Plan, and Unified Carrier Registration guidance, and each of those accounts is opened, renewed, and filed inside the Tennessee Taxpayer Access Point. A carrier deals with one login rather than the three or four portals several neighboring states use.
Intrastate authority costs $50 plus $8 per vehicle
The application fee is a one-time $50.00 fixed by Tenn. Code Ann. 65-15-109, plus $8.00 per vehicle on both new applications and renewals. Reopening a closed account is another $50.00. There is no annual authority fee beyond the per-vehicle charge and no state insurance filing fee.
A UCR filing removes the intrastate authority filing
The Motor Carrier Education Guide states that if the same vehicle has already filed under the Unified Carrier Registration Agreement, the carrier does not have to file for intrastate authority. Interstate carriers registered through UCR therefore avoid a second Tennessee credential for those vehicles.
No state carrier number, an Intrastate Permit Card instead
Tennessee markets nothing like a CA number or a TxDMV number. What it issues is an Intrastate Permit Card for each vehicle on the intrastate authority account. Carriers looking for a Tennessee carrier number to put on the door will not find one.
Tennessee does not force intrastate carriers onto a USDOT number
FMCSA publishes the list of states that require their intrastate commercial motor vehicle registrants to obtain a USDOT number, and Tennessee is not on it. Neighboring Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina, and Alabama all are. The Tennessee Application for Intrastate Authority does have a USDOT field, but no Tennessee primary source states that an intrastate-only carrier must hold a number.
Overweight permits are priced per ton mile, not per trip
A Tennessee overweight single-trip permit is $20.00 plus six cents per ton mile, so the price scales with the distance traveled inside Tennessee rather than being a flat charge. TDOT publishes a weight price sheet that converts gross weight into a price per mile in 500 pound steps, and the stated formula is $20 plus (total miles traveled in Tennessee multiplied by the price per mile). A long haul at high weight can cost many times the headline $20.
13 feet 6 inches legal height, lower than the western standard
Tennessee's legal height without a permit is 13 feet 6 inches, not the 14 feet allowed in Texas and much of the west. Legal width is 8 feet 6 inches and legal gross weight is 80,000 pounds, with the federal bridge formula controlling on the interstate system.
Superload starts at 165,000 pounds, 16 feet wide, or 15 feet 6 inches high
Rule 1680-07-01-.12 defines super heavy as a gross weight over 165,000 pounds and extra-overdimensional as a width over 16 feet or a height over 15 feet 6 inches. Above 165,000 pounds a bridge evaluation fee applies for each different route proposed, and processing time climbs from 3 days to 5, 15, and 30 days as weight passes 250,000 and 500,000 pounds.
Rush hour curfews apply only to escorted loads, in five counties
Loads that do not require escorts get continuous travel. Escorted loads must observe weekday curfews from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. in Davidson, Rutherford, Knox, Shelby, and Hamilton counties, the Nashville, Murfreesboro, Knoxville, Memphis, and Chattanooga areas.
Highway Patrol escorts start at 18 feet and carry a four hour minimum
Tennessee Highway Patrol escorts are required when a load exceeds 18 feet wide or 18 feet high, in addition to any civilian escorts. A minimum of two officers is required and a minimum of four hours is charged, at $65.00 per hour per officer plus $0.13 per mile, so the floor for a THP move is 8 officer-hours of billing.
Trip and fuel permits are sold only through wire services
Tennessee's 72-hour IRP trip permit and its 7-day temporary fuel use permit are both $30 per permit plus wire service fees, and the Department of Revenue sells neither directly. Both pages publish a list of third-party contractors, and the carrier buys through one of them.
A dormant IFTA license can be denied renewal
Tennessee reserves the right to cancel or deny renewal of an IFTA license for a carrier that never leaves Tennessee and reports zero distance or Tennessee distance only for three or more consecutive quarters. Proof of out of jurisdiction travel may be required before the carrier can be licensed again. Reinstating a revoked license costs $100.
Free 15 day Hunter Permit, and reciprocity for other states' permits
A Tennessee Hunter Permit temporarily registers an unladen apportionable vehicle for 15 days at no fee. Tennessee also recognizes a valid Hunter Permit issued by another jurisdiction and lets that carrier travel in Tennessee without buying a Tennessee one.
Memphis is the only local jurisdiction with its own OS/OW permit
A TDOT permit covers state and federal roads only. TDOT still requires the full route including local roads so it can evaluate the move and check bridge restrictions as a courtesy, but the City of Memphis is the only local jurisdiction that requires a separate permit for its own roads.
One amendment per permit, no extensions, no refunds
A single trip or annual permit may be amended exactly once. Within 72 hours of ordering a single trip permit the carrier can amend dimensions or vehicle inside TNTRIPS; after that, or for route and load description changes, an amendment form goes to the permit office and takes up to 24 hours. TDOT issues no extensions and no refunds. Single trip permits are valid 10 calendar days and mobile home single trip permits 6 days.
Restricted plates are bought at the county clerk, not the state
Tennessee's restricted plate classes, farm truck, fixed load, special mobile equipment, and special municipal zone, can only be obtained through the ninety-five county clerk offices, not from the Department of Revenue. Tennessee does not print the word Restricted on any of them. The special zone plate limits a freight vehicle to a named municipality plus 15 air miles beyond its limits.
The permit office and TNTRIPS
The OS/OW Permit Office sits inside TDOT's Traffic Operations Division and works through TNTRIPS, the Tennessee Truck Routing and Internet Permitting System. Every application must be submitted electronically. The office does not take orders by phone or email, and a carrier who cannot apply online is pointed at a third-party permit service instead.
Payment is by credit card, escrow account, or check, and the escrow route has a minimum opening balance and a setup that takes weeks, so it suits volume permit buyers rather than a first oversize move. One practical trap: checks go to a different street address from the office itself, so read TDOT's published check mailing address before you send payment rather than using the office street address.
The permit types Tennessee issues
Single trip permits cover one movement past the legal lines, priced separately for excess width, height, length, and weight. Weight is the one that behaves differently: it is a base fee plus a per ton mile charge, so the total scales with the distance travelled inside Tennessee.
Annual permits are sold per specific vehicle, in two families. One over-dimension annual covers a published envelope of height, length, and width. Overweight annuals ladder up through weight tiers to a ceiling, and a load that is both over-dimensional and overweight pays both. Past those, Tennessee keeps a bench of commodity and specialty annuals: roof trusses, ocean going containers, heavy duty towing vehicles, mobile homes at two widths, seed cotton modules, and non-commercial boats.
The temporary credentials are a different animal entirely. The trip permit stands in for apportioned registration and the fuel use permit stands in for an IFTA license, both sold through wire service contractors rather than by the Department of Revenue. Our Tennessee trip and fuel permits page covers those two.
Validity, amendments, and refunds
A single trip permit runs for a set number of calendar days and a mobile home single trip permit for fewer. TDOT issues no extensions and no refunds, which makes the amendment rule matter: a single trip or annual permit may be amended exactly once.
Inside a short window after ordering a single trip permit the carrier can change dimensions or the vehicle directly in TNTRIPS. After that window, or for a route or load description change, an amendment form goes to the permit office and takes up to a day to come back. Annual permits renew in TNTRIPS using the permit number and the Copy From feature.
Processing time is short for ordinary work and stretches with weight. TDOT publishes one window for regular single trip and annual permits, then progressively longer windows as a superload climbs through its weight bands.
State roads only, and the Memphis exception
A TDOT permit covers state and federal roads. It does not cover county or city roads, and TDOT still asks for the full route including local roads so it can evaluate the move and check bridge restrictions as a courtesy.
Only one local jurisdiction in Tennessee requires its own permit for its own roads: the City of Memphis. Everywhere else the local leg rides on the state permit's routing without a second application.
Compare beyond Tennessee
Running multi-state loads? The oversize permit costs by state table compares limits and fees across all 51 jurisdictions, and the permit cost estimator prices a specific load per state.
Frequently asked questions
Where do I apply for Tennessee truck permits?
- Oversize and overweight permits go through TNTRIPS, the TDOT permitting and routing system, and the permit office accepts nothing by phone or email. Temporary trip and fuel permits go through a wire service contractor from the list the Department of Revenue publishes.
Does Tennessee offer an annual oversize permit?
- Yes, sold per specific vehicle. One over-dimension annual covers a published envelope of height, length, and width, and overweight annuals ladder up through weight tiers to a ceiling. A load that is both over-dimensional and overweight pays both fees. The sourced tables on our Tennessee oversize and overweight page carry each tier.
Can a Tennessee permit be extended or refunded?
- Neither. TDOT issues no extensions and no refunds. What it does allow is one amendment per single trip or annual permit, made in TNTRIPS inside a short window after ordering, or afterward on an amendment form sent to the permit office.
Does a TDOT permit cover city and county roads?
- No. It covers state and federal roads only. TDOT wants the full route including local roads so it can evaluate the move and flag bridge restrictions, and the City of Memphis is the one local jurisdiction that requires a separate permit for its own roads.
Haul Handbook publishes educational information about trucking registration and compliance requirements. This is not legal, financial, or tax advice. Rules, fees, and deadlines change; confirm with the agency before you file or pay.