By Evan Reid, Founder of Haul Handbook · Updated Sep 27, 2026
Who issues what in Maryland
The permit pages
Maryland-specific requirements
Maryland issues no intrastate operating authority for freight; the state intrastate credential is a Maryland USDOT Number issued through FMCSA and enforced by the SHA Motor Carrier Division. Intrastate for-hire passenger operators need a Public Service Commission permit. Maryland does not participate in the Unified Carrier Registration Act. Oversize and overweight hauling permits come from the SHA Hauling Permit Unit through Maryland One; IRP apportioned registration runs through MVA Motor Carrier Services in Glen Burnie; IFTA licenses and decals are free and administered by the Comptroller's Field Enforcement Bureau with returns filed through Maryland Motor Carrier Connect.
The state carrier number is a federal number
Maryland's intrastate credential is a Maryland USDOT Number, issued online by FMCSA, not by a Maryland office. Every registered truck over 10,000 pounds, truck tractor and bus must display a USDOT number or intrastate motor carrier identification number, with the carrier name, on both sides of the power unit. Farm trucks, farm truck tractors, farm area vehicles, emergency vehicles, money transport, government vehicles and vehicles within 15 days of purchase are exempt.
Five-minute idling limit
The Maryland Transportation Article, Title 22, Section 402(c)(3), as reprinted in the Motor Carrier Handbook, prohibits allowing a motor vehicle to operate for more than 5 consecutive minutes when not in motion, except when forced motionless by traffic or mechanical failure, to operate heating, cooling or auxiliary equipment, to reach the manufacturer's recommended operating temperature, or to accomplish the intended use of the vehicle.
Diesel emissions opacity enforcement
Maryland runs a Diesel Vehicle Emissions Control Program under COMAR 11.21.02: the chapter applies to any diesel vehicle operating on a Maryland highway, and a vehicle may not be operated if its exhaust opacity exceeds the applicable standards or its emission control equipment has been disconnected or rendered inoperable. Diesel and noise emissions questions go to the Maryland State Police at 410-694-6100 per the SHA contact list.
Maryland does not collect UCR
Maryland does not participate in the Unified Carrier Registration Act. Interstate Maryland carriers, brokers, freight forwarders and lessors of trucks over 10,000 pounds still owe UCR and register through the national program. A carrier that goes looking for a Maryland UCR office is looking for something that does not exist.
Seasonal overweight permits for milk and poultry
On top of the year-round exceptional agricultural permit at 87,000 pounds on 6 axles, SHA offers a Seasonal Exceptional Milk Hauling Permit (March 1 to June 30, 88,000 pounds on 5 axles and 95,000 on 6, per House Bill 1035) and a Seasonal Exceptional Poultry Hauling Permit (November 1 to April 30, 88,000 pounds on 5- or 6-axle combinations in certain counties, per House Bill 768), both under Transportation 24-113.2 and none valid on interstates except fluid milk.
Motor fuel tax rates move every July 1 with the CPI
Maryland adjusts motor fuel tax rates annually under the formula enacted in 2013 (Tax-General 9-305): the Comptroller announces updated rates by June 1 for implementation on July 1, tied to the Consumer Price Index. IFTA filers must use the rate schedule provided with the return, not the posted rates, because posted rates lack jurisdiction codes.
IFTA credentials are free, and the fine for missing them starts at $240
Maryland charges no IFTA license renewal processing fee and no decal fee, issues two decals per vehicle, and sets a $240 minimum fine for failure to register or display valid IFTA documents. A 30-day window applies to affix decals on newly purchased vehicles, and operating exclusively in Maryland and D.C. still requires either IFTA credentials or a trip permit because D.C. is not an IFTA member.
Permit travel window hangs on the MDTA calendar
No permit moves are allowed on Maryland Transportation Authority facilities (JFK Highway, Fort McHenry Tunnel, Harbor Tunnel, Hatem Bridge, Bay Bridge, Nice Bridge) from noon Friday to 9 a.m. Monday, permit loads must call MDTA Police an hour before arrival, and the Francis Scott Key Bridge closure has forced reroutes through Maryland One. Travel is barred outright on seven holidays, and a snow emergency plan invalidates permits.
Vehicles over 73,000 pounds are routed, not just permitted
Any vehicle with a gross maximum weight over 73,000 pounds may travel only on State and federal numbered highways, except pickup and delivery by the shortest available legal route, and in Baltimore City only on designated truck routes. Legal height is 13 feet 6 inches, and 14-foot-6 moves need a pole car and route survey before SHA will even issue the permit.
IRP fees ride a worked example every carrier can check
The MVA IRP Manual publishes the arithmetic: full-year fees per jurisdiction (Maryland $1,800 at 80,000 pounds in the example) multiplied by distance percentages. Temporary credentials are unusually cheap and fast: a $2 Temporary Apportionment Authorization valid 60 days, a $10 Hunter's Permit for 20 days after a lease ends, and a $15 72-hour trip permit sold directly on the state portal without a wire-service fee.
Class F tractor income tax credit is closed
Maryland once issued a $400-per-vehicle income tax credit certificate for Class F tractor registration, capped at $10,000 per taxpayer, for tax years 2017 through 2019 only. The program is still described on the MVA IRP page; it is recorded here so no one pays for advice to claim a closed credit.
Baltimore City co-issues permit conditions
The general conditions for hauling permits are published jointly by the State Highway Administration and Baltimore City, and Baltimore City permits have their own contact line. Alcohol hauling permits, by contrast, come from the Maryland Alcohol, Tobacco and Cannabis Commission, not SHA.
The Maryland permit system
- Apply or log in (Maryland One online permitting)
- marylandone.gotpermits.com/marylandone
The permit office and Maryland One
The Hauling Permit Unit sits inside the SHA's traffic and safety office and works through Maryland One, the state's online permitting system. The unit's phone numbers, counter hours, email addresses and the after-hours emergency contact are on this page as sourced fields, so a stuck application has a number to call.
Issuance is mostly automatic: the SHA states that most applications are auto-issued, with manual review reserved for routes, weights and dimensions that need a person. Height clearance route surveys go by fax to a separate line.
The permit types Maryland issues
Single-trip permits cover the routine work: one non-divisible load over the legal limits in size or weight, priced from a statutory floor with the overweight table stepping up by gross weight. There is no general annual oversize permit. Instead Maryland sells purpose-built credentials: an exceptional hauling permit for farm products, sold as an annual or a short-term credential; a containerized cargo permit for sealed seagoing containers to and from the Port of Baltimore; seasonal permits for raw milk and live poultry; and blanket, utility blanket, special hauling and test permits.
Fee amounts for several of the specialty types are not published on the checked sources, so this page records none for them rather than repeating vendor pricing.
Curfews, facilities and holidays
Maryland publishes its movement windows in specifics and enforces them per facility. Loads past certain dimensions face weekday time windows on both beltways and a ban on the largest loads across the Maryland Transportation Authority's toll facilities from midday Friday until Monday morning, with a call-ahead requirement at bridges and tunnels. Holiday moratoria stop permitted moves on the major holidays, and a snow emergency plan suspends a permit entirely in the affected area.
Route-level restrictions are published in a list the SHA updates, so check the current document before each move rather than trusting the conditions printed on an older permit.
Compare beyond Maryland
Running multi-state loads? The trucking permits by state table shows which permit families and issuing offices apply in every jurisdiction, the oversize permit costs by state table compares limits and fees across all 51 jurisdictions, and the permit cost estimator prices a specific load per state.