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Get a Free ConsultationSpecialty trucking permits cover what your USDOT number, IRP plates, and IFTA license don’t: certain hazardous materials, alcohol, car hauling, oversize loads in states such as Montana, and the codes and bonds that customers and FMCSA ask for, like a SCAC or a broker bond.
Our team works out which ones your operation needs and files the applications.
It depends on what you haul, where, and for whom. Each credential below comes from a different agency, and none of them replaces your federal or state registration.
| Permit or credential | Who needs it | Issued by |
|---|---|---|
| Hazardous materials safety permit (HMSP) | Carriers hauling certain high-hazard materials, such as more than 55 lbs of Division 1.1, 1.2, or 1.3 explosives | FMCSA |
| Hazmat registration | Anyone who transports or offers placarded quantities of hazardous materials, with a narrow exception for farmers | PHMSA |
| Oversize, overweight, and trip permits | A load over a state’s legal limits, or a truck not registered or fuel-licensed in that state | Each state, such as Montana’s MDT |
| Alcohol carrier permits | Carriers delivering alcoholic beverages in states that license them, such as Texas | State alcohol agencies, such as TABC |
| SCAC code | Carriers whose brokers, shippers, load platforms, or government programs ask for one | NMFTA |
| Broker bond (BMC-84) or trust fund (BMC-85) | Every property broker registered with FMCSA | A surety or financial institution, filed with FMCSA |
Your USDOT number, operating authority, and the standard multistate credentials come first. Our trucking permits page covers IRP plates, IFTA, and UCR.
A motor carrier may not haul the materials listed in 49 CFR 385.403, in interstate or intrastate commerce, without an FMCSA hazardous materials safety permit (HMSP). The list covers:
To qualify, a carrier needs a Satisfactory safety rating, crash and out-of-service rates outside the worst 30 percent nationally, the required insurance, PHMSA registration, and a certified security program: a security plan, a communications plan, and security training for all hazmat employees (49 CFR 385.407). A carrier without a Satisfactory rating may get a temporary permit for 180 days if it meets the other conditions.
You apply on Form MCS-150B, which also serves as your USDOT registration (49 CFR 385.405T), and FMCSA accepts it through Motus, its new registration system. The permit lasts two years and can be revoked if the renewal isn’t filed on the biennial update schedule (49 CFR 385.419T).
On the road, each truck carries a copy of the permit, a written route plan for explosive or radioactive loads, and a phone number answered at all times by someone who knows the route. Separately, anyone who transports or offers placarded hazmat registers with PHMSA every year: the registration year runs July 1 to June 30, and the fee is $250 for a small business or nonprofit or $2,575 for others, plus a $25 processing fee (49 CFR 107.612).
Montana requires a permit when your vehicle or load exceeds the legal width, length, height, or weight, and a temporary fuel or licensing permit if the truck isn’t registered in Montana. Permits come from MDT Motor Carrier Services (MDT, Permits for Commercial Motor Carriers).
| Dimension | Legal without a permit | Superload review above |
|---|---|---|
| Width | 8 ft 6 in (102 in) | 18 ft |
| Height | 14 ft | 17 ft |
| Length | 75 ft for truck-and-trailer combinations | 150 ft |
A tractor pulling a trailer of 53 feet or less needs no overlength permit, whatever the overall length (MDT Permitting Reference). A move that also needs Bridge Bureau review because of its weight, configuration, or route is handled as a superload.
Montana issues permits through eTRIPS, its new permitting system, where carriers can self-issue many permits. You need a State of Montana Okta login and an active USDOT number (carriers without one need MCS approval first), and a current ACORD insurance certificate must be uploaded before any permit is issued. Once a permit is ready, you have 24 hours to pay for it (MDT eTRIPS FAQ).
If you self-issue, checking construction reports and load and speed restrictions on the route is your job, not MDT’s. Other states run their own systems: our oversize permit services page covers Texas and Florida, and our Oregon trip permits guide covers another western state.
Alcohol is licensed state by state. In Texas, a motor carrier registered under Chapter 643 of the Transportation Code, or a common carrier operating under an Interstate Commerce Commission certificate, can hold TABC’s Carrier’s Permit (C), which authorizes it to take possession of distilled spirits and wine and deliver them from the sender to a predetermined recipient. Warehouses and transfer companies hauling alcohol for hire inside a city’s limits, but not between cities, use a Local Cartage Permit (E) (TABC, License and Permit Types).
Car haulers have their own federal size rules. On the National Network, a state can’t hold a traditional automobile transporter to less than 65 feet overall, or a stinger-steered one to less than 75 feet, and can’t limit cargo overhang to less than 3 feet in front or 4 feet in the rear (23 CFR 658.13). Anything beyond a state’s limits needs that state’s permit; our oversize load permit guide explains the signs and escorts that come with one.
A Standard Carrier Alpha Code (SCAC) is a two-to-four letter code that identifies your company in contracts, bills of lading, transportation management systems, and government programs. Many brokers, shippers, 3PLs, and load platforms require one to onboard you, and NMFTA lists USPS contractors among the carriers that likely need one.
NMFTA is the only issuer. A SCAC must be renewed every year, and non-Class 8 carriers must complete identity verification at issuance and renewal (NMFTA, Do I Need a SCAC?).
A property broker must keep a $75,000 surety bond (Form BMC-84) or trust fund (Form BMC-85) in effect, and FMCSA won’t register the broker until it is (49 CFR 387.307). Under the version in effect since January 16, 2026, if claim payments drop the bond below $75,000, the surety must tell FMCSA, and the broker has 7 business days to restore it or show the claims were settled before its authority is suspended.
Broker authority also needs a process agent filing; our BOC-3 form guide explains it.
Our specialty permits team files automobile transporter permits; temporary and annual oversize, overweight, and over-dimensional permit applications; liquor transport permit applications; hunters permits; hazardous materials permits; SCAC codes; and broker bond applications.
We work out which permits each state, county, and city on your route requires, through our network across all 50 states. You get a dedicated permitting manager, you can request permits through the SimplexHub client portal or the Simplex2Go app, and after your first order we save your details so the next one goes faster. For the IRP plates that keep a truck off temporary permits, see our tag services; for fuel tax licensing, our IFTA permits service.
An honest caveat: no specialty permit stands alone. An HMSP depends on your safety rating, insurance, and PHMSA registration, and a state permit covers only that state’s roads, so a gap in any one of them can stop the load.
Use the form below with your USDOT number, and add what you haul, the states on your route, and your travel dates in the comments. We’ll tell you which permits the trip needs.
Yes, if the vehicle or load is over 8 feet 6 inches wide, 14 feet high, or Montana’s legal length or weight. You order single trip or term (annual) permits from MDT Motor Carrier Services through eTRIPS. Moves over 18 feet wide, 17 feet high, or 150 feet long go through superload review.
Order it in eTRIPS, on its own or with a single trip permit. A temporary truck permit covers a power unit that isn’t IRP-registered for Montana, and a temporary trailer permit covers a trailer without an apportioned plate, a Montana county plate, or reciprocity. A temporary fuel permit is valid for up to 72 hours and voids once the truck leaves Montana.
Yes. MDT’s eTRIPS system lets carriers with an active USDOT number create an account, log in with a State of Montana Okta account, and self-issue many permits. Upload a current ACORD insurance certificate first, and pay within 24 hours of the permit being ready. Permit services can also order them for you.
You can apply yourself in each state’s or agency’s system, or use a permit service. A permit service checks the load against the limits of every state on the route and the federal hazmat rules, applies in each jurisdiction, and keeps your details for the next order.
File Form MCS-150B with FMCSA; it also updates your USDOT registration. You need a Satisfactory safety rating (or you may qualify for a 180-day temporary permit), crash and out-of-service rates outside the worst 30 percent, the required insurance, PHMSA registration, and a certified security program. The permit lasts two years.
The rules and figures on this page come from these official sources, checked on October 5, 2026.