One of the first and most crucial steps is to obtain the appropriate license plates for your truck and trailer. The procedure for registering our vehicles is relatively straightforward. The process substantially gets more complicated, as it is with most things in the transportation sector. So you can always take help from your auto tag agency in case of difficulties.
What is Apportioned Registration?
There are two types of license plates for commercial trucks with more than 10,000 pounds GVWR: base plates and apportioned plates. A base plate is all you’ll need if your truck will never leave your state, and the process is very identical to licensing a personal car.
Suppose you want to travel through more than one state. In that case, things will become considerably more complicated since you will be subject to the International Registration Plan, often known as apportioned registration or IRP.
The IRP is a pact between all 50 states of the United States and all of Canada’s provinces. When you file registration for a heavy vehicle, you must pay fees in each state where the truck travels. The fee to be levied is calculated by the % of miles driven in each state.
Also Read:
Pennsylvania Apportioned Registration Program
Pennsylvania participates in the International Registration Plan (IRP), a registration reciprocity agreement between US and Canadian jurisdictions. This is easily accessible from any Auto Tag Agency. The agreement stipulates that registration fees will be paid based on the fleet distance traveled in various jurisdictions.
When a carrier is registered under this Plan, only one registration plate and a cab card are given for each fleet vehicle. This is done irrespective of registration costs that are paid to numerous jurisdictions where the vehicle is operated.
The Plan’s basic rule is to incentivize the most effective possible use of the transportation system by authorizing apportioned fleet vehicle registration and recognition of vehicles apportioned by other member jurisdictions by each member jurisdiction, thereby contributing to the member jurisdictions’ economic and social development and growth.
If your vehicle(s) goes or is expected to travel in three or more partner states and is utilized to transport persons for hire or is designed, used, or maintained principally for the transportation of property, you must register them separately.
What do you need?
The applicant must supply three kinds of identification to prove evidence of residency while opening a new allocated account. Each identification document’s names and addresses must be identical. A Pennsylvania driver’s license for an individual or verification with the Pennsylvania Department of State must be one of the three papers. The following are examples of the other two forms of identification:
- Electric, gas, water, or cable bill from the previous month
- federal tax paperwork or receipt that has been filed, such as the Federal Heavy Vehicle Use Tax, a real estate or personal property tax receipt that has been paid
- Property leasing agreement – must be a signed and dated lease or rental agreement.
- A title certificate from the state of Pennsylvania.
- Weapons permit currently in effect.
- Additional documentation may be necessary to satisfy PennDOT’s requirements. Name, phone number, e-mail address, and fax number of authorized business representative.
International Registration Plan (IRP) Update
The International Registration Plan (IRP) has been updated to permit carriers to store allocated registration cards electronically, eliminating the need to keep paper credentials. The PA-apportioned registrant is not required to take any action due to this adjustment. However, they may choose to upload their signed credential electronically. This amendment takes effect on January 1, 2019, and requires all IRP member jurisdictions in the United States and Canada to accept digitized photographs of allocated registration cards.
Tyler Harrison 