International Registration Plan (IRP)

Hunter’s Permits (Unladen Weight Permit)

• Issued to carriers who have broken a lease and are needing to move a vehicle either to get it registered in another state or while looking for work.

• This is NOT issued for drivers who purchase new vehicles and need to move them back to their home state.

  • • Temporary permits for transport are issued by County motor vehicle offices

    • If the carrier is not a Colorado resident, they can go to any County office

• Issued only for the unladen weight of the truck, or unladen weight of the truck and trailer in combination if also getting a Hunter’s Permit for a trailer.

• Strictly enforced as a 30 day permit – carrier may not be issued more than one Hunter’s Permit unless they are able to provide proof of a second broken lease.

IRP Definitions and Terminology

Actual Miles:

Actual distance traveled during the reporting period and reported on the carrier’s renewal. Trip logging is required by IRP Inc and FMCSA for all vehicles registered to IRP fleets. When actual miles are reported, the carrier must report miles for all vehicles that were actively registered to the fleet at any point during the reporting period, regardless of current or future (renewal) registration status of those vehicles.

Ad Hoc Temporary Permit:

A way for a system user to issue a temporary registration to a carrier outside of the normal registration process. This is done at the account level. It is typically done when there is a staff or system error preventing a transaction from going through; or if a temporary permit is being granted for only a few days in order to allow the carrier to move the vehicle, such as in the case of repair or emissions needed.

Apportionment:

The percentage of a fleet’s miles that were driven in each jurisdiction during the reporting period. The apportionment is used to proportion fees for each jurisdiction on each vehicle registered in the fleet.

Average Per-Vehicle Mileage:

Often referred to as Estimates in the system, this is the average mileage in each jurisdiction reported by Colorado carriers who accrued miles in that jurisdiction in the previous calendar year. This changes yearly and is used in place of actual miles for carriers who did not operate during the reporting period – most often, new carriers. It is calculated as outlined in The Plan.

Base Jurisdiction:

The IRP participating jurisdiction where the carrier’s fleet is registered. Carrier must be able to establish residency or place of business, as defined by IRP Inc, in the base jurisdiction.

Cab Card:

The registration for IRP. IRP requires additional and different data than a standard vehicle registration.

Chameleon Carrier:

A carrier who exists in more than one jurisdiction or attempts to reinvent themselves under a new name and/or TIN in order to avoid paying fees, paying fines, Federal Out of Service Orders, or other issues in their past.

Combined Axles:

Quebec charges fees based on maximum combined axles (vehicle plus anything it is pulling) rather than weight. Carrier must declare maximum combined axles for Quebec.

CVIEW Vendor – Iteris:

This is a company that is certified by FMCSA to interface with the Federal database and load the State’s SAFER files. Colorado State Patrol manages this contract.

Declared Weight:

IRP reciprocity allows registered carriers to enter into any IRP jurisdiction, and carriers who are registering with IRP must declare a maximum combined gross weight for every jurisdiction. Fees are calculated based on the weight declared in each jurisdiction.

Exempt Carrier:

A carrier who is exempt from certain Federal requirements or financial impacts based on the type of commodity they are transporting, or the area they are transporting within.

Finalized supplement:

This is a supplement that has met all of the requirements of the transactions on the supplement, has been fully paid, and has had credentials issued. Supplements are finalized automatically by a monthly job. Finalized supplements are reported to the Clearinghouse for netting. Once a supplement is finalized, it cannot be reworked or discarded.

FMCSA – Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration:

Federal governing body for commercial motor vehicles. FMCSA is part of the US Department of Transportation.

For Hire Carrier:

A carrier who transports goods or people that do not belong to the same company. The carrier has a contract to provide service for the company with the goods or people that need to be moved.

Full Reciprocity:

Effective November 1, 2015, all vehicles that are properly registered in the IRP program in their base location have access to all other participating jurisdictions without additional registration. This does exempt carriers from obtaining overweight/oversize permits, intrastate authority, hazmat permits, or any other permits required by the jurisdiction. Carriers are responsible for knowing the laws and operating rules of the jurisdictions they travel through.

Household Goods Carrier:

A company whose business is transporting personal property, such as a moving company.

Hunter’s Permit:

This is also called an Unladen Weight Permit. This permit gives the carrier 30 days to operate a vehicle without a load. It is issued only to a carrier with a broken lease who is looking for work or needing to transport the vehicle to another jurisdiction where work may be available. This is NOT a temporary permit or permit issued to move a newly purchased vehicle out of state. This permit can be issued to a power unit and/or a trailer. The maximum weight allowed on a Hunter’s Permit is the combined empty weight of the power unit and empty weight of any trailers also issued a permit. This permit cannot be extended beyond 30 days.

HVUT – Heavy Vehicle Use Tax:

Tax filing required by the IRS (Form 2290). The registering authority is charged with collecting evidence that the tax has been paid at the time of registration.

IFTA – International Fuel Tax Agreement:

Program similar to IRP but related to properly apportioning fuel tax paid at the pump based on miles traveled in each jurisdiction. Colorado’s IFTA program is managed by the Tax Division.

Invalid Entity Type:

This is a carrier that has been determined by FMCSA as not properly registered for interstate operation. The carrier must resolve the issue with FMCSA before they can use their USDOT/TIN combination to register vehicles in IRP.

IRP Audit Clearinghouse:

A repository for documents related to IRP carrier audits. Colorado’s IRP audits are handled by the Field Audit Unit in the Tax Division.

IRP Clearinghouse:

The mechanism used to net funds collected by 57 of the 59 jurisdictions. Fees are reported to the Clearinghouse monthly and netted by IRP Inc.

IRP Fleet:

All vehicles registered to the carrier, during the registration or reporting period.

IRP – International Registration Plan:

A reciprocity agreement involving 59 jurisdictions in the US and Canada, and managed by IRP Inc (irpinc.org). It allows for proportional registration of commercial vehicles and for that registration to be recognized by all participating jurisdictions.

ITD Certification:

Federal certification managed by Colorado State Patrol that involves information sharing regarding commercial vehicles (inter- and intra-State registrations) through the Federal database and out to all participating jurisdictions.

Multi Year Trailer Fleet (MYF):

A fleet of trailers that meet the statutory requirement to be issued a permanent registration. These fleet registrations are handled by the State office at Pierce, only. Fleets may be set up by a Colorado or out-of-state individuals or businesses – no Colorado address is required.

Multi Year Trailer (MYT):

A trailer registered to a MYF. The registration is valid until the ownership changes. MYT registration is a $120 one-time fee, for qualifying trailers.

Non-participating Jurisdiction:

Any IRP jurisdiction that does not participate in the Clearinghouse.

PRISM:

Federal data regarding carrier safety, inspections, and USDOT compliance that is send out from FMCSA to all participating jurisdictions. One file is loaded daily (Census file, which is broken down into the same data as the Carrier and Target files contain).

Private Carrier:

A carrier who is transporting goods for their own company. This company is moving goods between their own physical locations (for example, from a warehouse to a retail location).

Recap Period:

The transaction dates being reported in the Clearinghouse file.

Registrant Only:

This is a carrier that does not have their own USDOT number. Often, these are owner/operators (the individual owns the truck and drives the truck, but contracts their services to a business that has goods or people to move). A registrant only needs another carrier to provide their USDOT/TIN combination for use as the Safety Carrier.

Registration period:

The 12 month period in which all of the vehicles in the fleet are registered. IRP periods are referenced by the expiration date. For example, the period 31-Oct-2019 is the registration for November 1, 2018 – October 31, 2019. A carrier starting a new fleet any time in November will have an October expiration date. This is different than County motor vehicle registrations, where a vehicle registering for the first time in November would expire in November of the following year. IRP Inc does not allow registrations to exceed 12 months.

Renewal/Original Application:

This is the “Supplement 0” in each registration period. It is a picture of which vehicles are in the carrier’s fleet at the start of the registration period. All future supplements build from the Renewal or Original.

Rental Fleet:

A carrier who owns a fleet of vehicles, but rents them out for use by other entities. This carrier does not enter into the transportation contract directly – they simply rent the vehicle to a company or driver. Colorado rental fleets may pay Specific Ownership Tax (SOT) at the time of registration, or in installments based on rental fees collected (Colorado 2% Rental Program – documentation verifying participation must be provided by the County receiving the 2% rental payments).

Reporting Period:

The look-back period defined by IRP Inc that the carrier must use when reporting mileage on a renewal. Regardless of registration period, the reporting period is always July 1 – June 30.

Rounded or Estimated Miles:

This is different than the Average Per-Vehicle Mileage. This is mileage reported by a carrier that does not appear to be the actual mileage travelled, when actual miles are expected based on operation. Rounded or estimated miles are determined by a staff review of the reported miles on the renewal. Key indicators may be:

• Colorado miles only

• No Colorado miles

• Many jurisdictions with the same reported mileage

• Many jurisdictions with mileage ending in zero or five

• Many jurisdictions with very small mileage totals

SAFER:

State data sent to FMCSA to be compiled with data reported by other jurisdictions and returned in the PRISM file. There are three files sent out of DRIVES daily.

Safety Carrier:

Every vehicle registered for interstate commerce must list a valid USDOT/TIN combination for the company or person taking responsibility for safer operation and transportation of the vehicle and load.

Small Miles:

Colorado statute that reduces registration cost for carriers who are able to show that a vehicle operated less than 10,000 miles during the reporting period. This rate is vehicle specific, not fleet specific. Documentation is required in order to qualify for the reduced rate.

Supplement:

This is an activity done on the IRP fleet between Renewals or Original/Renewal. Grouping of activity types into one supplement (for example, adding one vehicle and deleting another on the same supplement) affects the carrier’s fees. Some jurisdictions apply different crediting logic when a carrier is replacing a vehicle in their fleet with another one.

Targeted VIN:

This is a vehicle identified by a jurisdiction as requiring to be pulled in at a port or weigh station, per the Federal record. This VIN cannot be registered until the issue is resolved through FMCSA.

The Plan:

Publication updated annually by IRP Inc that defines all of the requirements of the reciprocity.

TIN – Taxpayer Identification Number:

The Social Security Number (SSN) or Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN) associated with the individual or business customer.

UCR – United Carrier Registration:

The UCR Act, established in 2005, requires motor carriers involved in interstate commerce, and other businesses subject to The Act, to submit annual fees based on fleet size to supplement funding for state highway motor carrier registration and safety programs. UCR is managed in Colorado by the Public Utilities Commission.

USDOT Number – US Department of Transportation Number:

Number provided by FMCSA upon proper registration by the carrier.

Validation:

A system check that forces the user to address an issue, to collect documentation or payment, or to stop the transaction due to an error.

VOLPE Center:

The technology center operated by FMCSA that supports PRISM, SAFER, and ITD compliance.

Working paper:

The auditor’s findings and fee adjustments for the period being audited. A working paper can only contain one registration period. An audit may contain multiple working papers if multiple periods were audited.

Wyoming Intrastate Authority:

This authority is set up by the carrier with the State of Wyoming Department of Transportation. It allows the carrier to move part of their load within the Wyoming state borders. This is tracked in DRIVES because it affects the fees charged to a carrier with mileage reported in Wyoming. This is a fleet attribute, rather than a vehicle attribute.