By Evan Reid, Founder of Haul Handbook · Updated Aug 5, 2026
Hauling property for hire that never leaves Wisconsin takes a Local Cartage certificate from WisDOT Motor Carrier Services: a one-time $500 fee on Form MV2843, with liability insurance already on file, the business name registered with the Department of Financial Institutions, and a USDOT number for anything over 10,000 pounds. Carrying passengers for hire takes the parallel $50 Passenger Carrier certificate.
The Wisconsin requirements table
- Program name
- Wisconsin intrastate motor carrier operating authority: Local Cartage (LC) for property, Passenger Carrier (PC) for passengers
- State carrier number
- LC number for intrastate property authority, PC number for intrastate passenger authority
- Application
- Wisconsin Motor Carrier Authority Application, Form MV2843. Mail the completed form with a check payable to Registration Fee Trust to the Wisconsin Motor Carrier Unit, PO Box 7955, Madison WI 53707. Liability insurance must already be on file with the Motor Carrier Service Unit before the application is submitted, filed electronically by the underwriter as a Form E or a scheduled filing. A corporation or LLC must be on file with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions in the exact legal name, and an out of state corporation operating intrastate in Wisconsin must file as a foreign corporation. The form also asks for the FEIN, the commodities transported, and any existing IRP or IFTA account. Questions go to [email protected] or (608) 266-9900.
- Renewal
- The LC and PC certificate fees are one time: WisDOT's fee table lists both that way and Form MV2843 charges no fee for an amended application. What renews is the vehicle side. Every permit for the operation of a motor vehicle under ch. 194 expires on December 31 each year, application is made annually with the annual fee, and no permit may be issued or renewed for a vehicle unless the ch. 341 registration is paid in Wisconsin. Insurance has to stay on file continuously, and no motor carrier may operate while delinquent on any part of its ch. 341 fees.
Authority fee schedule
Wisconsin 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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Sector licences that still apply
Wisconsin licenses some kinds of carrier separately, whatever the general authority answer above. If you move household goods, carry passengers, or haul waste, the licence below is the one that binds you.
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Who the requirement covers
- GVWR threshold
- NoneWisconsin sets no gross weight threshold for intrastate operating authority itself. Chapter 194 keys the requirement to carrying property or passengers for hire, not to vehicle weight. Weight enters in three other places: Form MV2843 requires a USDOT number for a carrier operating at over 10,000 pounds, the liability minimum drops to $300,000 at 10,000 pounds gross weight or less, and s. 194.05(4) takes the whole chapter off a farm truck or dual purpose farm truck combined with a semitrailer or farm trailer, and off any vehicle combined with a horse trailer, when the combination's gross combination weight rating, registered weight, and actual gross weight all stay at or under 26,000 pounds in intrastate commerce.
- For-hire only
- YesOperating authority is permission to carry property for someone else for compensation, or to carry passengers for compensation. Section 194.01(4) counts compensation taken indirectly, treats a vehicle rental that includes the services of a driver as transportation for hire, and treats a pretended purchase and immediate resale around a haul as carriage for hire rather than a bona fide sale. Private motor carriers hold no LC or PC certificate, although s. 194.43 lets the department regulate their operations.
- Property carriers
- YesIntrastate property authority is issued as a Local Cartage certificate, requested from WisDOT Motor Carrier Services on Form MV2843.
- Passenger carriers
- Intrastate passenger authority (PC) is required for any for-hire passenger operation inside Wisconsin except taxi service, a commuter car pool of 7 passengers or fewer including the driver, a van pool of 7 passengers or fewer including the driver, and a school bus under Wis. Stat. s. 120.13(27).
- Household goods
- Wisconsin publishes no separate household goods credential. The WisDOT operating authority page lists intrastate authority for property, for passengers, and for a company renting vehicles to motor carriers, and nothing else, so household goods moved for hire inside the state ride on the Local Cartage certificate.
- Hazmat
- Hazardous materials carriage has no separate Wisconsin authority; it changes the insurance instead. A vehicle of 10,000 pounds or less transporting hazardous materials listed in 49 CFR 172.101 loses the reduced $300,000 minimum and takes the federal minimum under s. 194.41(6)(b)1. Every intrastate carrier, for hire or private, at a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or more that hauls the hazardous materials or substances described in sections 29 and 30 of the Motor Carrier Act of 1980 must also file proof of insurance with FMCSA on Form MCS-90.
- Farm vehicles
- Chapter 194 does not apply to a farm truck or dual purpose farm truck combined with a semitrailer or farm trailer, or to a vehicle combined with a horse trailer, where the combination's gross combination weight rating, registered weight, and actual gross weight do not exceed 26,000 pounds, the combination includes no commercial motor vehicle described in s. 340.01(8)(c) or (d), and it operates solely in intrastate commerce.
Wisconsin insurance minimums
State minimums can differ from the federal filing levels; the federal side is covered in our insurance filings guide.
- Cargo minimum
- Wisconsin publishes no general cargo insurance amount. Section 194.41(1) lets the department require a certificate or contract protecting the owner of the property transported, in the amount and under the conditions the department sets, and requires one for a carrier transporting a building as defined in s. 348.27(12m)(a)1. The WisDOT insurance page lists liability filings only, so no cargo figure is recorded rather than invented.
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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Minimum liability by gross vehicle weight
$750,000 is the Wisconsin filing minimum for an intrastate for-hire property carrier running vehicles over 10,000 pounds gross weight. Section 194.41(6)(a) sets the general minimum by reference to the federal level under 49 USC 13906(a)(1), and s. 194.41(6)(b)1. cuts it to $300,000 for a vehicle of 10,000 pounds or less unless that vehicle is transporting hazardous materials listed in 49 CFR 172.101. Passenger and bus operations run on their own schedule; see the operation-type table.
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The $750,000 figure matches the federal general freight minimum because s. 194.41(6)(a) adopts 49 USC 13906(a)(1) by reference. The $300,000 tier at 10,000 pounds or less and the $500,000 and $1,000,000 intrastate passenger tiers are Wisconsin's own, set by 2017 Wis. Act 224 effective May 1, 2018, which cut the intrastate passenger minimums from $1.5 million and $5 million. A filing already made with FMCSA for interstate operating authority satisfies the Wisconsin intrastate filing requirement, and an active federal BMC-91X in the same legal name can be used in place of a Form E or scheduled filing.
Other Wisconsin insurance requirements
Insurance filing forms
Your insurance company makes these filings with the state, not you.
- Liability proof
- Form E, the certificate of insurance the underwriter files electronically with the Division of Motor Vehicles. A scheduled filing is accepted in its place, and an active federal BMC-91X in the same legal name can be used instead of either.
- Note
- Filings must be combined single limit, except that split limit, scheduled, and restricted blanket filings may be made in the cases described in ch. Trans 176, Wis. Adm. Code. Insurance is filed by the insurance company, not the carrier. Proof of insurance on file with WisDOT is a prerequisite for any for-hire carrier to get vehicle registration, vehicle registration trip permits, and Wisconsin operating authority, and the registered owner's name must match the insurance name exactly on an intrastate authority number. Wisconsin publishes no separate insurance filing fee.
- Lapse consequence
- No permit or vehicle registration may be issued to a common motor carrier of property, a contract motor carrier, or a rental company, and none may remain in force, unless the approved liability certificate is on file. The insurer must file notice with the department at least 30 days before terminating or cancelling, and that notice may be waived only when an acceptable replacement filing has been made.
More Wisconsin authority rules
- USDOT prerequisite: note
- The MV2843 instructions state that a carrier operating at over 10,000 pounds must have a US DOT number, and that the legal name on the US DOT number must match the name on the LC application, the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions filing or Wisconsin driver licence, and the Form E insurance on file. WisDOT applies the same exact-name rule to IFTA and IRP accounts, and requires the USDOT number to have been updated on the FMCSA two-year MCS-150 cycle.
- Penalties: detail
- Operating without a certificate under s. 194.23 or a licence under s. 194.34, other than a licence to transport exempt commodities, or without meeting the insurance requirements of s. 194.41, draws a forfeiture of not less than $500 and not more than $5,000. Any other violation of the chapter, including failing to obtain a permit or a licence to transport exempt commodities, draws a forfeiture of not less than $50 and not more than $100. Each violation is a separate offence, and the act or omission of an employee acting within the scope of employment counts as the carrier's own.
Who needs Local Cartage authority
The trigger is the work, not the truck. Chapter 194 attaches to carrying property for someone else for compensation, or carrying passengers for compensation, and sets no gross weight threshold for the certificate itself. A light truck hauling freight for pay can owe it while a heavy private fleet does not.
The statute closes the obvious workarounds. Compensation counts even when it is taken indirectly, renting a vehicle with a driver counts as transportation for hire, and a pretended purchase with an immediate resale around a haul counts as carriage rather than a sale. Passenger work has its own carve-outs for taxi service, small commuter and van pools, and school buses.
Household goods ride on the Local Cartage certificate; Wisconsin publishes no separate mover credential. Hazmat changes the insurance rather than the authority. Light farm combinations sit outside the chapter entirely.
One-time certificate fees, annual vehicle permits
Wisconsin prices the certificate once. Section 194.04(1)(b) fixes the property and passenger amounts, WisDOT's fee table lists both as one-time charges, and an amended application for a name change, an address change or a transfer of authority costs nothing. Contract motor carriers pay their own licence fee under the same section.
The recurring cost is per vehicle. Every motor vehicle operated solely in intrastate commerce for hire carries an annual permit under s. 194.04(4), semitrailers excepted, and those permits expire at the end of December with a fresh application and fee each year. No permit issues or renews for a vehicle whose ch. 341 registration is unpaid.
The fee table on this page lists each item with its amount and the statute or WisDOT page it came from.
Insurance minimums and filings
Wisconsin sets liability minimums by operation and by weight, and the tiers do not all match the federal figures. Section 194.41(6)(a) adopts the federal general freight level by reference, then s. 194.41(6)(b)1. cuts the requirement for the lightest vehicles unless they carry placardable hazardous materials. Intrastate passenger and bus work runs on its own ladder, which the legislature lowered in 2018.
Your insurer makes the filing, not you. Liability proof goes in electronically as a Form E or a scheduled filing, and an active federal filing in the same legal name can be used instead. Filings are combined single limit unless ch. Trans 176 allows another form. Wisconsin publishes no general cargo amount, though the department may require cargo protection and must require it from a carrier moving a building.
Letting the filing lapse stops more than the authority: no permit or vehicle registration may issue or stay in force without the approved certificate on file, and the insurer has to give the department notice before cancelling. The minimums table on this page lists each operation with its amount.
The other credentials WisDOT lists beside Local Cartage
Three more sit on the same page. Passenger Carrier authority covers for-hire passenger work inside the state and is requested on the same form. A contract motor carrier licence under s. 194.34 covers hauling for hire under contract rather than as a common carrier, including moving buildings, and the department issues it without a hearing when the applicant is fit, willing and able. A rental company whose main business is leasing vehicles to motor carriers takes its own authority and pays the annual permit fee on each leased vehicle, which spares the lessee a second permit.
The table on this page carries each one with its statute, term and fee.
What happens if you skip it
Section 194.17 sets one forfeiture range for operating without the certificate or licence, or without meeting the insurance requirements, and a lower range for any other breach of the chapter, including failing to get a vehicle permit. Each violation counts separately rather than rolling into one charge, and an employee's act inside the scope of employment counts as the carrier's own, so a driver's shortcut is the carrier's exposure.
Where this fits in the Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin, 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.
Frequently asked questions
Does Wisconsin require intrastate operating authority for for-hire trucking?
- Yes. Hauling property for hire that never leaves Wisconsin takes a Local Cartage certificate from WisDOT Motor Carrier Services, and carrying passengers for hire takes the parallel Passenger Carrier certificate. Both are requested on Form MV2843.
Is there a weight threshold for Wisconsin operating authority?
- No. Chapter 194 turns on carrying property or passengers for hire rather than on vehicle weight. Weight matters in three other places: the USDOT number requirement on the application, the liability minimum tier, and the farm combination exemption. The trigger fields on this page carry WisDOT's own wording.
Is the Wisconsin authority fee annual?
- No, the certificate fee is one time. What renews is the per-vehicle annual permit, which expires at the end of December each year and is applied for again with the annual fee. Amending an authority for a name, address or transfer costs nothing.
What insurance does Wisconsin require for intrastate carriers?
- Liability minimums set by operation type and vehicle weight, filed by your insurance company as a Form E or a scheduled filing before the authority application goes in. Passenger and bus operations run on their own tiers. The sourced minimums table on this page lists each amount.
Do I need a USDOT number before Wisconsin authority?
- Above the published weight line, yes. Form MV2843 asks for the USDOT number and requires the legal name on it to match the application, the Department of Financial Institutions filing or Wisconsin driver licence, and the insurance filing on record. Our Wisconsin DOT number page carries the trigger.
What happens if I haul for hire in Wisconsin without a certificate?
- Section 194.17 sets a forfeiture range for operating without the certificate or licence, or without the required insurance, and a lower range for any other violation of the chapter. Each violation is a separate offence, and an employee's act within the scope of employment counts as the carrier's own.
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.