State guide
Starting a Trucking Company in Montana: 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 Montana is the second layer: where you get apportioned plates, who issues your fuel-tax license, whether Montana wants its own registration for trucks that never leave the state, and which state office checks on you. Here is that layer for Montana, checked against the state's own pages in September 2026.
In Montana one office handles both apportioned plates and the IFTA license - the Montana Department of Transportation. Montana also has its own registration for trucks that haul for hire without leaving the state: the Montana intrastate vehicle registration with MDT Motor Carrier Services.
Interstate or Montana-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 Montana's job is plates, fuel tax and roadside enforcement. Stay inside Montana and you are an intrastate carrier: no federal authority is needed, and Montana'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 Montana-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 Montana
Montana's IRP office is the Montana Department of Transportation, Motor Carrier Services (MCS). To base a fleet in Montana you have to show a real connection to the state: carriers must show a permanent business location in Montana with permanent signage and posted hours (temporary/paper signs not accepted); resident accounts must re-prove residency every three years. IRP and IFTA are handled together by MDT MCS through the ePART online system (mdt.epart.celtic-host.com); new account checklist requires a USDOT number and FEIN. Fee schedule changed October 1, 2025.
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 Montana assigns you.
IFTA in Montana
The same office handles IFTA - the Montana Department of Transportation (Motor Carrier Services / Fiscal Services). Apply with the MDT IFTA application form or through ePART; three proofs of Montana residency are required for a new account.
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 Montana
If the truck never leaves Montana you do not need federal operating authority (the $300 filing) - but Montana is one of the states that still wants in-state-only trucks to hold a USDOT number. Montana is on FMCSA's list of states that require intrastate registrants to obtain a USDOT number; MDT's new-account guide also says a USDOT number is mandatory. The number is free, so get it early; almost every state form asks for it.
Montana also has its own registration for hauling other people's freight for hire inside the state: the Montana intrastate vehicle registration with MDT Motor Carrier Services (GVW fees) - no operating-authority certificate for general freight, issued by the Montana Department of Transportation, Motor Carrier Services. Montana does not certificate general freight haulers (the Public Service Commission only oversees household goods, garbage and passenger carriers). What a Montana-only truck does need is MDT Motor Carrier Services registration with the gross-vehicle-weight fees and a USDOT number.
UCR when you are based in Montana
Montana 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. MDT's new-account guide directs carriers to register and pay at ucr.gov. Carriers that only haul inside the state do not register for UCR at all.
Other Montana permits and programs
Oversize and overweight permits come from the Montana Department of Transportation, Motor Carrier Services (MT eTRIPS permit system) - every state wants its own permit for a load beyond the legal size or weight, and most now sell them online.
Other Montana-specific things a new one-truck carrier runs into:
- New account checklist (IFTA/IRP/UCR): Requires USDOT number, FEIN, three proofs of residency for IFTA, IRP Schedules A/C, and possible Secretary of State business registration.
Who checks on you in Montana
Roadside inspections in Montana are run by the Montana Department of Transportation, Motor Carrier Services Division (with Montana Highway Patrol and FMCSA), 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 Montana Department of Transportation (or Montana commercial plates if the truck will never leave the state).
- Get your IFTA license and decals from the Montana Department of Transportation.
- Register for UCR at ucr.gov if you run interstate.
- If you will haul Montana-only loads, get the Montana intrastate vehicle registration with MDT Motor Carrier Services 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 Montana
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 Montana pages
Based in Montana? 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 Montana 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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