Texas Cab Card Requirements: Form 2290, Insurance, and Penalties

A Texas cab card is the apportioned registration receipt issued by the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles under the International Registration Plan (IRP), and any qualifying commercial vehicle based in Texas that crosses state lines must carry one. Texas cab card requirements come down to five things: the vehicle has to fit the IRP size and use criteria, you have to apply through TxDMV Commercial Fleet Services with the right supporting documents, heavy trucks need proof that Heavy Vehicle Use Tax has been paid, the card has to be in the vehicle during operation, and it has to be renewed each year with accurate mileage.

Which Vehicles Need a Cab Card

The IRP applies to commercial vehicles used in interstate commerce that meet at least one of these thresholds:

Two axles with a gross vehicle weight over 26,000 pounds.
Three or more axles, regardless of weight.
A power unit and trailer combination with a combined gross vehicle weight over 26,000 pounds.

If your truck fits any of those and operates between two or more IRP member jurisdictions (all U.S. states, D.C., and Canadian provinces), you need apportioned registration and the cab card that comes with it. A vehicle with apportioned plates is considered fully registered in every jurisdiction listed on the card and can run both interstate and intrastate without extra registration.¹

Trucks that stay entirely inside Texas do not need IRP and will not receive a cab card; they use standard Texas registration instead. Some vehicles are exempt from IRP even when they cross state lines, including government-owned vehicles, recreational vehicles used for personal purposes, and certain vehicles with restricted plates.

What You Need Before You Apply

Texas-based carriers apply through TxDMV Commercial Fleet Services, either through the Texas IRP online system or at a regional service center. The phone line for questions is 1-888-368-4689.² Have the following ready:

Vehicle information: make, model, year, VIN, and the gross weight you plan to register at.
A valid Texas title or a Texas Registration Purposes Only receipt for each vehicle.
Proof of Texas residency or an established place of business. Acceptable evidence includes a Texas driver’s license for individuals, corporate registration in Texas, utility bills in the applicant’s name, real estate or property tax payments, or federal income tax returns filed from a Texas address.¹
A liability insurance card or certificate showing the vehicle meets Texas financial responsibility requirements.
An active USDOT number.
A current Unified Carrier Registration (UCR) filing. TxDMV requires IRP applicants to be current on UCR before processing.²
Proof of Heavy Vehicle Use Tax payment for vehicles with a taxable gross weight of 55,000 pounds or more.
The lease agreement, if the vehicle is leased to another carrier. The leasing entity and the operating carrier should confirm which party handles registration before filing.

IRP fees are not a flat rate. They are based on the share of miles you drive in each jurisdiction. If 40 percent of your miles are in Texas and 20 percent are in Oklahoma, you pay 40 percent of Texas’s registration rate and 20 percent of Oklahoma’s, and so on for every state on the card. First-time applicants estimate mileage across jurisdictions; at renewal, you report actual miles from the prior reporting period. Inaccurate mileage data can trigger audits, so keeping detailed trip records from day one pays off.

Form 2290 Proof for Heavy Trucks

TxDMV will not issue the cab card for a vehicle with a taxable gross weight of 55,000 pounds or more without proof that the federal Heavy Vehicle Use Tax has been paid.³ This is an annual excise tax filed on IRS Form 2290. The tax period runs from July 1 through June 30. For the current period (July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026), the maximum annual tax is $550 for vehicles at or above 75,000 pounds.⁴

The filing deadline depends on when the truck first hits a public highway during the tax period. A truck first used in July must have Form 2290 filed by the end of August (or the next business day). Vehicles placed on the road later in the period owe a prorated amount. If you expect to drive 5,000 miles or fewer during the period (7,500 for farm vehicles), you still file the return but pay no tax unless you exceed that mileage.³

What TxDMV wants to see is the stamped Schedule 1 the IRS returns after processing Form 2290. If you don’t have it yet, a photocopy of the filed Form 2290 with Schedule 1 attached, along with a photocopy of both sides of the canceled check, can substitute. For a recently purchased vehicle, a bill of sale showing the purchase occurred within the last 60 days works as temporary proof, though the tax still has to be filed and paid.⁵

Insurance Minimums

Your cab card application requires proof of liability insurance. For interstate carriers, the federal minimums set by FMCSA are the floor and depend on what you haul:

Non-hazardous freight (GVWR 10,001 pounds or more): $750,000.
Certain hazardous materials: $1,000,000.
Explosives, poison gas, or radioactive materials: $5,000,000.
Passengers, 16 or more seats: $5,000,000.
Passengers, 15 or fewer seats: $1,500,000.⁶

For-hire carriers hauling freight or passengers for compensation also need federal operating authority (an MC number) in addition to a USDOT number. Private carriers moving their own goods are exempt, as are carriers that only haul exempt commodities.⁷ Operating authority also requires a Form BOC-3 designating a process agent in every state where you operate.⁸ These credentials are not the cab card itself, but a carrier missing any of them at a roadside inspection will have larger problems than a missing registration receipt.

How to Carry the Cab Card

The cab card must be inside the vehicle and available for inspection whenever the truck is operating. Since January 1, 2019, Texas has allowed carriers to display the cab card electronically on a phone or tablet in place of a paper copy.⁹ Keeping a printed backup is still a good idea. Some inspectors in other jurisdictions may not accept an electronic version, and a dead battery at the wrong moment turns a routine inspection into a headache.

A current copy of the insurance cab card (a separate document from the IRP cab card) must also be kept in the vehicle, in paper form or as a legible image on a wireless device.¹⁰ Most carriers keep both documents together in a permit binder along with the IFTA license and other required paperwork.

Renewal and Mid-Year Changes

Apportioned registration renews annually. TxDMV assigns each account a renewal date, and you must renew before that date to keep operating legally. At renewal, you report actual miles driven in each jurisdiction during the prior mileage reporting period, and fees are recalculated on real data rather than estimates. Carriers must keep detailed operational records throughout the year to support accurate reporting.² You can display the prior year’s cab card until the new registration year begins; once the old card expires, it is invalid.

Some changes during the year require updating the cab card before renewal:

Vehicle ownership changes. A buyer or new operating carrier needs to register the vehicle under their own IRP account with proof of ownership. If the vehicle is leased to a different operator, the leasing entity must notify TxDMV and provide a copy of the lease.
Adding jurisdictions when routes expand into new states or provinces. Additional apportioned fees apply based on the revised mileage distribution.
Dropping jurisdictions you no longer operate in, to stop paying fees for those states.
Weight changes. Registering at a higher or lower gross weight affects fees in every jurisdiction on the card.

Report changes to TxDMV promptly. A cab card that does not match current vehicle information, ownership, or jurisdictions creates the same enforcement risk as no cab card at all.

If You Need to Operate Before the Cab Card Is Ready

If a vehicle is not yet registered under the IRP, or you need to operate in a state that is not on your cab card, Texas offers temporary trip permits. These are not a substitute for apportioned registration when you regularly cross state lines, but they cover gaps.

72-hour permit: $25 plus a $4.75 processing fee.
144-hour permit: $50 plus the same $4.75 fee.¹¹

Both allow operation of an unregistered commercial vehicle or bus in Texas, or intrastate operation with out-of-state plates. Texas residents can also use them to run a registered commercial vehicle at a heavier gross weight than what’s on the registration, or to operate a vehicle with farm or soil conservation plates above the normal weight limit. The permits are available to vehicles owned by residents of the United States, Mexico, or Canada.

What Happens If You Don’t Comply

Operating without a valid cab card is one of the fastest ways to get a truck placed out of service at a roadside inspection. Texas Department of Public Safety troopers and local officers conduct these inspections regularly, and proof of registration is one of the first things they ask for. If the cab card is missing, expired, or doesn’t cover the jurisdiction you’re in, the vehicle can be sidelined until you produce valid documentation or buy a temporary trip permit.

Beyond the immediate out-of-service order, violations get recorded in the carrier’s safety profile with FMCSA. A pattern of registration violations raises Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) scores, which means more frequent inspections and greater scrutiny during federal audits. Many shippers screen carriers on safety data before booking loads, so elevated scores can cost you business.

TxDMV can also impose administrative penalties, including suspension or revocation of apportioned registration privileges. Losing apportioned registration can shut down an entire fleet’s ability to operate across state lines, and reinstatement typically requires clearing all outstanding fees, penalties, and audit deficiencies.

1
Texas Department of Motor Vehicles. Texas Apportioned Registration Information Packet
2
Texas Department of Motor Vehicles. Apportioned Registration
3
Internal Revenue Service. Key Filing Deadlines for the Heavy Highway Vehicle Use Tax
4
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 2290 (Rev. July 2025)
5
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 2290
6
FMCSA. Insurance Filing Requirements
7
FMCSA. What Is Operating Authority (MC Number) and Who Needs It
8
FMCSA. Form BOC-3 – Designation of Agents for Service of Process
9
TxDMV.gov. Electronic Display of Apportioned Cab Cards Allowed Starting January 1, 2019
10
Cornell Law Institute. 43 Texas Administrative Code 218.13 – Application for Motor Carrier Registration
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TxDMV.gov. Temporary Permits