By Evan Reid, Founder of Haul Handbook · Updated Sep 28, 2026
West Virginia's IRP office is the Division of Motor Vehicles' Motor Carrier Services Section in Charleston. The registration year runs July 1 to June 30, apportioned fees are billed after the application rather than sent with it, and West Virginia adds an ad valorem fee on every apportioned power unit that most states do not charge.
West Virginia IRP administration
- Office
- Motor Carrier Services / IRP Office, West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles, 5707 MacCorkle Avenue SE, Charleston, across from the Kanawha City Regional Office in The Shops at Kanawha. Mail: P.O. Box 17900, Charleston, WV 25317. Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; new accounts must arrive by 2:00 p.m.
- Process
- New registrants start from the DMV's New IRP Account Packet and the Commercial Vehicle Manual. Every form section must be completed. Fees are not sent with the application: the DMV bills the total due to West Virginia and the other jurisdictions.
- Fee structure
- The apportioned fee depends on the percentage of fleet distance run in each IRP jurisdiction and the registered combined gross weight. The Commercial Vehicle Manual's worked example splits 100,000 miles evenly across Virginia, Ohio, Maryland and West Virginia at 80,000 lb; West Virginia's 25 percent of a $1,131.25 full-year fee is $282.81, and the four-state total is $1,262.81. Those are the manual's illustrative figures, not a fee schedule.
- Fees: ad valorem
- An ad valorem fee, in effect since July 1, 1999, is collected on every apportioned power unit at registration: purchase price times an age factor (0.013738 in the first year of acquisition, falling to 0.003206 in the ninth year and later) times the West Virginia share of distance times a time factor for the months registered.
- Fees: insurance recording fee
- $0.50 per registration, included in the IRP bill. West Virginia-based registrants must keep liability insurance on every vehicle with a West Virginia apportioned plate.
- Cab card
- One apportioned plate and one cab card per fleet vehicle, the cab card showing every jurisdiction the unit is registered in. The original, current cab card must be available for inspection; altered credentials are invalid.
- Cab card: plate placement
- On the front of a power unit pulling a trailer; on the back of straight trucks, semitrailers and full trailers.
- Cab card: replacements
- Replacement cab card $10.00, license plate $10.50, decal $10.00, on form DMV-IRP 004 or online. Apportioned credentials cannot use the DMV's general online duplicate service.
- Process: payment
- Secured funds only: cashier's check, certified check, money order, credit card or cash. Personal and company checks are not accepted for IRP billings. Invoices can be paid online through the DMV motor carrier system.
- Process: supplements
- Adding or deleting a vehicle takes a supplemental Vehicle Schedule filed immediately. West Virginia fees can move from a deleted vehicle to a replacement of the same type in the same name for a $10.00 transfer fee. A weight increase takes a Mileage and Weight Schedule; registered weight can only be decreased at renewal.
To work through your mileage inputs, calculate each jurisdiction’s share of your fleet miles. The estimator apportions any full-year fees you enter; it does not contain state fee schedules or issue an official quote.
More West Virginia IRP rules
- Temporary credentials: tear
- A Temporary Evidence of Apportioned Registration (TEAR) may be issued for new carriers or vehicles added to a fleet, valid 40 days at $3.00 per vehicle, pending permanent credentials. It is not issued for renewals, cannot move to another vehicle, and obliges the carrier to pay the invoice in full.
- Temporary credentials: trip permit
- Out-of-state carriers can buy a combined ten-day trip permit online, printed instantly; the Commercial Vehicle Manual prices it at $34.00.
- Temporary credentials: dealer tags
- An apportioned vehicle cannot operate or carry any load on a dealer's temporary tag.
- Contact: address
- 5707 MacCorkle Avenue SE, Charleston, WV 25304; mail to P.O. Box 17900, Charleston, WV 25317
- Contact: portal
- West Virginia DMV online services, Motor Carriers section (apps.wv.gov/dmv/selfservice)
- Contact: note
- The phone and fax, (304) 926-0797, appear on the DMV's own IRP & IFTA page and in the Commercial Vehicle Manual. The email comes from the manual, which asks carriers not to send credit card details by fax or email. The permit service numbers printed later in the manual belong to private vendors, not the IRP office.
Base jurisdiction, renewal, and audit in detail
The rules that decide whether West Virginia can be your base jurisdiction, what qualifies, and what happens at renewal and audit. Each one is sourced.
- Base jurisdiction rules: Summary
- A carrier may base in West Virginia where it has an Established Place of Business, its fleet accrues distance, and its operational records are kept or made available.
- Base jurisdiction rules: Residency alternative
- Without an Established Place of Business anywhere, a carrier may base where it proves residence with at least three of the listed indicators, such as a West Virginia driver's license, incorporation or foreign registration in the state, federal returns filed from a West Virginia address, property or income taxes paid there, utility bills or a vehicle titled there in its name.
- Base jurisdiction rules: Intrastate only
- Vehicles operated solely inside West Virginia cannot be proportionally registered.
- Qualifying vehicles: Summary
- An apportionable vehicle is a power unit used in two or more member jurisdictions for passengers for hire or designed mainly to carry property, with two axles and over 26,000 lb gross or registered gross weight, three or more axles regardless of weight, or used in a combination over 26,000 lb. Lighter units may register under the plan at the registrant's option. Recreational vehicles, restricted-plate vehicles and government vehicles are not apportionable.
- Renewal: Summary
- Renewal applications are mailed or emailed to carriers in good standing in March, and the office starts accepting them in April. To have credentials before the June 30 expiration, file the renewal by April 18 and pay the invoice before May 17. Call the Motor Carrier Unit if no packet arrives by April 10. Enforcement of the new year's credentials begins at midnight June 30.
- Renewal: Cancellation
- A carrier not renewing between April 18 and July 15 must return the renewal form marked CANCEL CARRIER with all plates and cab cards; otherwise a later renewal is billed on a full twelve month schedule.
- Audit: Detail
- The DMV points carriers to the IRP Audit Procedures Manual and keeps a mileage audit record form. Refunds are limited to fees paid in error or unused credentials returned; West Virginia does not refund fees when a West Virginia-based carrier removes a unit, and carriers deal with other jurisdictions directly for their refunds.
What the West Virginia share of the fee is built from
An IRP bill is the base jurisdiction's own registration fee for the vehicle, apportioned by mileage, plus the same for every other jurisdiction on the cab card. These are the West Virginia inputs to that calculation, each with its official source.
- Ad valorem
- An ad valorem fee, in effect since July 1, 1999, is collected on every apportioned power unit at registration: purchase price times an age factor (0.013738 in the first year of acquisition, falling to 0.003206 in the ninth year and later) times the West Virginia share of distance times a time factor for the months registered.
Who registers under IRP in West Virginia
An apportionable vehicle is a power unit used in two or more member jurisdictions that meets the axle and weight test or runs in a heavy combination. Lighter units may register under the plan by choice. A carrier bases here with an established place of business in West Virginia, or, with no such place anywhere, by proving residence through listed indicators such as a West Virginia driver's license or taxes paid here.
Trucks that run only inside the state cannot be apportioned.
Opening an account and paying the bill
New registrants start from the DMV's New IRP Account Packet and the Commercial Vehicle Manual, and every section of every form must be complete. Fees do not go in with the application. The DMV bills the total due to West Virginia and the other jurisdictions, and it takes secured funds only: cashier's or certified check, money order, card or cash. Personal and company checks are refused.
New accounts must reach the Charleston office by early afternoon on a business day.
How the fees are figured
The apportioned fee depends on each jurisdiction's share of fleet distance and the registered combined gross weight, so there is no single figure to quote. The Commercial Vehicle Manual works one example across four states.
West Virginia adds an ad valorem fee on every apportioned power unit: purchase price times an age factor, times the West Virginia share of distance, times the months registered. A small insurance recording fee rides on each IRP bill, and West Virginia-based registrants must insure every vehicle carrying a West Virginia apportioned plate.
Renewal every spring
Renewal packets go out to carriers in good standing in March, and the office starts accepting them in April. To have new credentials before the June 30 expiration, file the renewal and pay the invoice by the dates in the renewal record. Enforcement of the new year's credentials begins at midnight June 30.
Not renewing? Return the form marked CANCEL CARRIER with every plate and cab card during the cancellation window. Otherwise a later renewal is billed on a full twelve month schedule.
Cab cards, plates and fleet changes
Each fleet vehicle gets one apportioned plate and one cab card listing every jurisdiction it is registered in, and the original current cab card must be available for inspection. The plate goes on the front of a power unit pulling a trailer and on the back of straight trucks and trailers.
Add or delete a vehicle with a supplemental Vehicle Schedule right away. West Virginia fees can move to a replacement of the same type for a small transfer fee, and registered weight goes up by supplement but comes down only at renewal. West Virginia does not refund fees when a West Virginia-based carrier removes a unit.
Reach the West Virginia IRP office
Account problems, supplement filings and credential replacements all route through the office that holds the account. Everything below is the agency's own published channel; where it publishes no phone line, the note says so rather than pointing at a permit vendor's number.
- Account transactions
- West Virginia DMV online services, Motor Carriers section (apps.wv.gov/dmv/selfservice)
- Mailing address
- 5707 MacCorkle Avenue SE, Charleston, WV 25304; mail to P.O. Box 17900, Charleston, WV 25317
- Notes
- The phone and fax, (304) 926-0797, appear on the DMV's own IRP & IFTA page and in the Commercial Vehicle Manual. The email comes from the manual, which asks carriers not to send credit card details by fax or email. The permit service numbers printed later in the manual belong to private vendors, not the IRP office.
What pairs with IRP
The same interstate operation that needs apportioned plates almost always needs an IFTA license through West Virginia, and heavy power units owe the federal Form 2290 heavy vehicle use tax before plates renew. To compare how other states run IRP, see the national IRP registration table.