State guide
Starting a Trucking Company in Texas: The State-Level Steps
Updated September 2026
Your USDOT number and operating authority come from FMCSA and work the same in every state. What changes when you are based in Texas is the second layer: where you get apportioned plates, who issues your fuel-tax license, whether Texas wants its own registration for trucks that never leave the state, and which state office checks on you. Here is that layer for Texas, checked against the state's own pages in September 2026.
In Texas apportioned plates come from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles while the IFTA license comes from the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Texas also has its own registration for trucks that haul for hire without leaving the state: the TxDMV Motor Carrier Registration.
Interstate or Texas-only? Decide this first
Two different rulebooks apply depending on where the truck goes. Cross a state line for pay and you are an interstate carrier: FMCSA issues your USDOT number and operating authority (the $300 filing) and sets the insurance and BOC-3 rules, and Texas's job is plates, fuel tax and roadside enforcement. Stay inside Texas and you are an intrastate carrier: no federal authority is needed, and Texas's own rules take over - covered in the in-state section below.
Most new owner-operators run interstate, so this page assumes that unless it says otherwise. If you are truly Texas-only, you register the truck and its fuel with the state instead of IRP and IFTA, and the in-state section is the one to read closely.
Apportioned plates (IRP) in Texas
Texas's IRP office is the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, Motor Carrier Division. All new motor carrier accounts must be created online in TxFLEET (TxFLEET@TxDMV.gov, 1-888-368-4689); fees are based on distance percentages by jurisdiction; proof of HVUT (Form 2290) required for vehicles 55,000 lbs or more.
Bring what every IRP office wants: your USDOT number and EIN, the truck's title or lease, proof of insurance, and a stamped Form 2290 Schedule 1 if the truck is 55,000 lbs or heavier. Fees are split among the states by the share of miles you run in each, so nobody can quote a flat price up front - the states that publish an estimate put a first-year 80,000 lb plate at roughly $1,250 to $2,500. You renew every year in the month Texas assigns you.
IFTA in Texas
IFTA lives at a different agency: the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Apply online through Webfile (about 10 minutes; needs SSN/EIN, IRP cab card number and USDOT number) or paper Form AP-178; quarterly reports must be filed electronically through Webfile. Late penalty is $50 or 10 percent of tax due, whichever is greater.
Once licensed you file a quarterly return - due April 30, July 31, October 31 and January 31 - even for a quarter with zero miles. Keep every fuel receipt and your miles by state; the return is built from them. The license expires December 31 and is renewed every year.
Hauling only inside Texas
If the truck never leaves Texas you do not need federal operating authority (the $300 filing) - but Texas is one of the states that still wants in-state-only trucks to hold a USDOT number. Texas is on FMCSA's intrastate USDOT list, and TxDMV states 'Before you begin you must have a valid USDOT Number' and that exclusively-Texas operations should register with USDOT as intrastate. The number is free, so get it early; almost every state form asks for it.
Texas also has its own registration for hauling other people's freight for hire inside the state: the TxDMV Motor Carrier Registration (TxDMV Number), issued by the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, Motor Carrier Division. Required for intrastate carriers operating CMVs over 26,000 lbs gross weight, hauling placardable hazmat, farm vehicles 48,000 lbs or more, 15+ passengers, commercial school buses, or household goods for compensation at any weight. Apply through TxMCCS (Texas Motor Carrier Credentialing System, txmccs.txdmv.gov); questions (800) 299-1700 options 3-3.
Fee: 1-year: $100 application + $10 per vehicle + $100 insurance filing; 2-year: $100 + $20 per vehicle + $100; 90-day: $25 + $10 per vehicle + $100; 7-day: $5 + $10 per vehicle + $100 (application fee is one-time while registration stays active). Insurance: $500,000 for general commercial carriers over 26,000 lbs; $300,000 household goods; $1,000,000 hazmat; $5,000,000 high-risk hazmat; $500,000 school buses.
UCR when you are based in Texas
Texas takes part in the Unified Carrier Registration program. Interstate carriers register once a year at ucr.gov - $46 for 0-2 trucks in 2026, $55 in 2027. Carriers that only haul inside the state do not register for UCR at all.
Other Texas permits and programs
Oversize and overweight permits come from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, Motor Carrier Division, Oversize/Overweight Permits Office - every state wants its own permit for a load beyond the legal size or weight, and most now sell them online.
Who checks on you in Texas
Roadside inspections in Texas are run by the Texas Department of Public Safety, Commercial Vehicle Enforcement (Motor Carrier Bureau), working with FMCSA. Expect the New Entrant safety audit within your first 12 months of interstate operation - the walkthrough's audit checklist covers the 16 things that fail it automatically.
The order to do it in
- Form the business and get a free EIN from the IRS.
- Get your USDOT number (free) through FMCSA's Motus system - and apply for operating authority ($300) if you will ever cross a state line.
- Have your insurer file the federal proof of insurance and hire a process agent for the BOC-3.
- File Form 2290 with the IRS if the truck is 55,000 lbs or heavier and keep the stamped Schedule 1 - the plate office asks for it.
- Get apportioned plates from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (or Texas commercial plates if the truck will never leave the state).
- Get your IFTA license and decals from the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.
- Register for UCR at ucr.gov if you run interstate.
- If you will haul Texas-only loads, get the TxDMV Motor Carrier Registration before the first one.
- Put the deadlines in the Stay Legal calendar: MCS-150 update, IFTA quarters, UCR, Form 2290, medical card, annual inspection.
Always confirm with Texas
Fees and forms move without notice. Before you pay anyone, open the official pages below and check the current figures - it takes ten minutes and prevents expensive surprises. HaulLegal is not the government, is not a law firm, and never files anything for you; you do every step yourself.
Official Texas pages
Based in Texas? The walkthrough puts all of this in order.
The HaulLegal walkthrough lays out every step from the business filing to your first safety audit, federal and state, with the real government fee beside each one - and the Stay Legal calendar turns your USDOT number and dates into a deadline list that emails you before each one. The first four steps are free, no signup.
One thing every Texas carrier needs no matter which state they are based in: a self-employed CDL driver has to be in a drug and alcohol random testing pool run by a consortium before the first mile, and having no program and no random pool are two of the sixteen automatic failures on the New Entrant safety audit.
Partner link - if you enroll through it we may earn a referral fee at no extra cost to you. We show the published price and never hide a cheaper official route.
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