What is the Importance of IRP and IFTA Programs?

[Marie]

IFTA (International Fuel Tax Agreement) and IRP (International Registration Plan) is a requirement for truckers driving Interstate vehicles as mandated by ISTEA 1991. Reporting is a big deal especially if you see some of the assessments for carriers that are not paying attention to proper record-keeping and accounting for all their miles traveled as they should be.

The benefits of IFTA and IRP Registration are:
- One fuel use license to operate in both the provinces and states
- One province or state to deal with for the IFTA license and to report motor fuel taxes
- One province or state that collects the motor fuel taxes from you and distributes the taxes to all IFTA provinces and states

IFTA and IRP are mandated to audit 3% of all registrants annually. For more information, read my article on What you need to know about IRP / IFTA.

[Snowpony]

Hi Y'all,
Just got a new truck and having a tough time figuring out how to fill in my IRP appliction. I am totally stumped! It is asking for the Unladen weight, the Gross Vehicle weight, the GVWR, and the GCVR. My title says the scale weight is 18,027 and the scale weight says 000008 ???!! On the door of the truchk it says GVW is front axle 12,350lbs and rear axles are 19,000lbs each (It has 3 axles) How do I know what to put in these fields? I am sooooo confused. I was assuming ( i know lol) 80,000lbs was the GCWR cuz that's a 20k lb limit on each axle with a trailer on it. I have no clue. Any help would be great. I also think it's best to go ahead and check all 48 coniguous states even tho I have no idea where we will be running, just so I can legally drive in all staes having them listed in my cab card. Any advice will be greatly appreciated!!! Y'all are awesome!

Make Headway! - > Snowpony

[Admin]

The unladen Weight of your truck is the total truck weight of the truck by itself. i.e. With no driver, nor payload, nor anything else that is not part of the truck itself. It includes fuel, oil, etc. This is the same as the Chassis Weight, Curb Weight or Tare Weight.

The GVW (Gross Vehicle Weight) is the total weight of the vehicle and it's load. GVW - unladen Weight = weight of your load. The GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating) is the total weight the vehicle is rated to carry by the manufacturer, including its own weight and the weight of its load. When GVW = GVWR you are carrying the max load the truck was designed for.

I do not know what the GCVR stands for. Did you read that right?

The GAWR (Gross Axle Weight Rating) is the maximum weight an axle is rated to carry by the manufacturer. Includes both the weight of the axle and the portion of a vehicle's weight carried by the axle. This is generally 12,000 lbs for the steer axle, 20,000 lbs for the drive and trailer axles and 34,000 lbs for tandem axles. These number can change (increase, but not decrease) for different states and for different axle configurations. For example, when the distance between 2 axles is over 8 feet, the weight is increased.

Note: Federal commercial vehicle maximum standards on the Interstate Highway System are:

Single Axle:	20,000 pounds
Tandem Axle:	34,000 pounds
Gross Vehicle Weight:	80,000 pounds

A note on IFTA from Wikipedia: Simply stated, IFTA works as a "pay now or pay later" system. As CMV's buy fuel, any fuel taxes paid to the states is credited to that licensee's account. At the end of the fiscal quarter, the licensee completes their fuel tax report, listing all miles traveled in all participating jurisdictions and lists all gallons purchased in the same. Then the average fuel mileage is applied to the miles traveled to determine the tax liability to each jurisdiction. Three states—Kentucky, New Mexico, and New York—have "weight-mile" taxes in addition to the standard fuel tax. Oregon has just a weight-mile tax. Any amount of fuel taxes due (or refund due) is then paid to (or 'by' in the case of a refund) the base jurisdiction who issued the license. The member jurisdictions then take care of transferring the funds accordingly. Audits are conducted only by the base state and fuel bonds are rarely required.

[marksoldtowne]

IRP -International Registration Plan is the registration required for vehicles over 26,000 pounds that cross state lines. Also known as Apportioned Plates and Prorate Account. IFTA is the fuel tax decals and license for the same vehicles.The programs benefit carriers by consolidating licensing and reporting requirements through the base (home) state.these program is very helpful for big vehicle companies for fuel license.

[Marie]

IRP -International Registration Plan is the registration required for vehicles over 26,000 pounds that cross state lines. Also known as Apportioned Plates and Prorate Account. IFTA is the fuel tax decals and license for the same vehicles.The programs benefit carriers by consolidating licensing and reporting requirements through the base (home) state.these program is very helpful for big vehicle companies for fuel license.

Thanks for the additional info, marksoldtowne.

[Snowpony]

Well I finally did get that all taken care of and we were off! Just got back home after a 9 day haul, 3 separate jobs. LOVE IT!!!! I just wanted to say that our new DZL 760 by Garmin is a life saver when it comes to IFTA and HOS!!! It logs everything, every mile traveled in each jurisdiction, every gallon of fuel purchased and where, if tax was paid, etc. It is a real gem. Haven't quite figured out how to gt all that info exported so I can print it yet, but you know me-I'll gt there! I also found out that in VA there is an HUT tax that has to be paid up front and filed as well. Just a 'heads up' !!

[Marie]

Well I finally did get that all taken care of and we were off! Just got back home after a 9 day haul, 3 separate jobs. LOVE IT!!!! I just wanted to say that our new DZL 760 by Garmin is a life saver when it comes to IFTA and HOS!!! It logs everything, every mile traveled in each jurisdiction, every gallon of fuel purchased and where, if tax was paid, etc. It is a real gem. Haven't quite figured out how to gt all that info exported so I can print it yet, but you know me-I'll gt there! I also found out that in VA there is an HUT tax that has to be paid up front and filed as well. Just a 'heads up' !!

Wow, you mean the 7" Garmin Dezl760? According to the manual, you can actually access the jurisdiction summary data for each state by going to the main menu >> Tools >> IFTA Logging >> Jurisdiction Summary >> select a truck and quarter if necessary >> Touch >> Export >> OK. The DEZL exports the summary to a CSV file and stores it in the Reports folder in the device memory. For more info on this, see link http://www.roadtrucker.com/gps-truck...outing-gps.htm and click User Manual/Tips just below the picture. Good luck!

[Snowpony]

Awesome! Thanks so much Marie! I was able to do all this, but couldn't open the file on my computer. I had to copy and paste the file to my desktop; then I could open the file using my own spreadsheet program. It works like a charm. This Dezl 760 is the BOMB! It keeps track of both our HOS, all IFTA logging, shows what the lane will look like where I have to change lanes or take an exit, and it shows it in real easy to see format way before I have to change lanes. It really reduces the stress levels in heavy traffic. It is a valuable tool for truckers. I am sure there are many other brands for the same idea, but for the price I love this one especially the large 7" screen. So easy to see and isn't distracting to try and see what it's showing me. Just a faint glance and you can see everything so well. Maybe I should say it's a girl trucker's dream tool hahaha!!!! I think tools like this make IFTA logs, HOS logs, and safety very easy!

[Marie]

Haha! I'm glad you were able to open the file to see the report. Girl trucker's dream tool it is! Yes I believe the GPS help makes the trucker's life easy and safe on the road especially that it constantly evolves with much more advance features. Anyway, keep enjoying your Garmin and keep safe always!

[marksoldtowne]

hi Marie ,
these programs are very beneficial for truck industry because the portion of the program will focus on the importance of a good working relationship between law enforcement and the administrative agencies responsible for administering the IRP and IFTA programs. Revenue generated through both programs is important for highway infrastructure and highway safety programs will also be discussed.