Do I need a trip permit or a fuel permit for Washington?

Usually both, and they are separate purchases. The trip permit stands in for apportioned (IRP) registration and the fuel permit stands in for the IFTA license. If your cab card lists Washington and your IFTA decals are current, you need neither; the tables on this page carry each permit's terms with the official source.

When does buying temporary permits stop making sense?

Temporary permits price a single trip. A carrier running Washington lanes on a regular schedule comes out ahead adding the state to its IRP cab card and holding an IFTA license, because permit fees repeat on every trip while the annual credentials do not.

Can I buy these permits after entering the state?

No. Each credential on this page must be in place before the vehicle operates on Washington highways, and enforcement happens at roadside inspections and weigh stations. Buying from the state's own channel before the trip is the cheapest clean path.

Are permit-service prices the state fee?

No. Wire services and permit companies resell state permits with a service markup. The fees on this page are what Washington itself charges on its primary pages; anything above that is the middleman's fee, not the state's.

Washington Trip and Fuel Permits: Cost, How to Buy

By Evan Reid, Founder of Haul Handbook · Updated Aug 9, 2026

Washington sells two three-day permits that stand in for a full credential. The vehicle trip permit stands in for Washington or apportioned registration, and buys a higher licensed weight for one load. The special fuel trip permit stands in for an IFTA licence on a vehicle running special fuel. Both fees are fixed in RCW 46.17.400, and both are sold at more than one published price, so what a carrier pays depends on the counter it buys from.

The trip permit (registration side)

This credential answers for registration. Without it, a vehicle whose cab card does not list Washington has no legal registration standing in the state.

Permit: Vehicle trip permit
Stands in for: Washington vehicle registration, including IRP apportioned registration, and the licensed gross weight a load needs
Fee: $25 (RCW 46.17.400(1) fixes the vehicle trip permit fee at $25.00, and RCW 46.17.400(2)(c) bars the usual filing fee on top of it. The published sale prices still differ by channel: the Department of Licensing lists $36 each, which it breaks out as the $25 permit plus an $11 service fee, and warns that authorized vehicle licensing agents add fees of their own. WSDOT prices the same three-day product, its temporary license permit on DOT Form 560-025, at $25.00. Budget against the counter you plan to use.)
Valid for: Three consecutive days beginning with the day of first use
Annual limit: No more than three trip permits may be used for any one vehicle in any thirty consecutive day period. Recreational vehicles are held to two permits in a one-year period.
Who needs it: A commercial vehicle operating on Washington highways without Washington or apportioned registration, or one whose licensed gross weight is below the load it is carrying. RCW 46.16A.320 caps the permit at eighty thousand pounds for a combination of vehicles and forty thousand pounds for a single unit vehicle with three or more axles, and WSDOT prints the same ceilings on its permit types page as 80,000 pounds for combinations and 40,000 pounds for single vehicles.
Where to buy: WSDOT permit offices, and the self-issue permit program at esnoopipro.com, open 24 hours a day; Department of Licensing vehicle licensing offices, in person only, with cash or a check payable to the Department of Licensing; County auditors and other agents and subagents appointed by the department; Independent third party permit services
Caught without one: Every trip permit must identify the vehicle it was issued for, be completed in its entirety, be signed by the operator before the vehicle moves on a public highway, and be displayed as the department requires. Altering or correcting data on the permit invalidates it. A violation of the section is a gross misdemeanor. No exchange, credit or refund is given once a permit is bought.
Statute: RCW 46.16A.320

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.

Permit: Washington special fuel trip permit, sold by WSDOT as the temporary fuel use permit
Stands in for: An IFTA licence and decals, and the special fuel tax otherwise assessable on the fuel imported and used on the trip
Fee: $30 (RCW 46.17.400(1) fixes the special fuel trip permit fee at $30.00 and RCW 46.17.400(2)(b) bars an added filing fee. The two agency counters publish different prices: the Department of Licensing lists $33 each, and WSDOT's permit types page lists $25.00 for three days on DOT Form 560-025. RCW 82.38.100(3) points at RCW 46.17.400(1)(f) and (4) together, so part of the Department of Licensing figure may sit in a subsection the page read for this file did not display. Confirm the amount with the office selling the permit before you budget.)
Valid for: Three consecutive days, beginning and ending on the dates shown on the face of the permit
Annual limit: None published. RCW 82.38.100 caps neither the number of special fuel trip permits a vehicle may use in a year nor the number a licensee may buy, and neither agency page read for this file states a cap, so none is recorded.
Who needs it: A special fuel user operating a motor vehicle in Washington for commercial purposes without an IFTA licence. WSDOT states on the same permit page that IFTA is required for two axle vehicles weighing over 26,000 pounds, or three axle vehicles regardless of weight, which matches the qualified motor vehicle test the Department of Licensing applies to IFTA. The department will not issue the permit to an applicant with outstanding fuel taxes, penalties or interest owing to the state, or one whose special fuel licence was revoked for cause where the cause has not been removed.
Where to buy: WSDOT permit offices, and the self-issue permit program at esnoopipro.com, open 24 hours a day; Department of Licensing vehicle licensing offices and authorized vehicle licensing agents, where added fees apply; County auditors and other agents and subagents appointed by the department; Independent third party permit services
Caught without one: Correcting data on the permit such as the dates, the vehicle license number or the vehicle identification number invalidates it, and a violation of that subsection is a gross misdemeanor. Special fuel trip permits are not subject to exchange, refund or credit.
Statute: RCW 82.38.100

Worth knowing

Neither permit touches the Utilities and Transportation Commission side of Washington compliance. A carrier hauling property for pay between two Washington points still needs the commission's common carrier permit, recorded in the state intrastate authority page, and a trip permit does nothing for that. Two further Washington temporaries sit outside this file: the temporary additional tonnage permit under RCW 46.44.095, priced at $2.80 per ton per day with a five day minimum, and the oversize or overweight special permit, both recorded on the state permits page.

Where these fit in the Washington permit stack

Temporary permits are the exception path. The standing credentials they replace are IRP apportioned registration and the Washington IFTA license. Oversize loads use a different permit family entirely, covered in Washington oversize and overweight permits, and the full picture of every state permit lives in Washington trucking permits.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a trip permit or a fuel permit for Washington?: Usually both, and they are separate purchases. The trip permit stands in for apportioned (IRP) registration and the fuel permit stands in for the IFTA license. If your cab card lists Washington and your IFTA decals are current, you need neither; the tables on this page carry each permit's terms with the official source.
When does buying temporary permits stop making sense?: Temporary permits price a single trip. A carrier running Washington lanes on a regular schedule comes out ahead adding the state to its IRP cab card and holding an IFTA license, because permit fees repeat on every trip while the annual credentials do not.
Can I buy these permits after entering the state?: No. Each credential on this page must be in place before the vehicle operates on Washington highways, and enforcement happens at roadside inspections and weigh stations. Buying from the state's own channel before the trip is the cheapest clean path.
Are permit-service prices the state fee?: No. Wire services and permit companies resell state permits with a service markup. The fees on this page are what Washington itself charges on its primary pages; anything above that is the middleman's fee, not the state's.

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.