Fast Trucking ComplianceCompliance FAQ
What is the difference between IRP and IFTA?
IRP and IFTA are two separate apportioned tax-and-registration agreements that both apply to interstate trucks but cover different things. IRP - the International Registration Plan - apportions vehicle-registration fees among the U.S. states and Canadian provinces where you actually drive. You file once with your base state and get a single IRP cab card and apportioned plate that authorizes operation in every member jurisdiction. IFTA - the International Fuel Tax Agreement - apportions fuel taxes the same way: you file a single quarterly return with your base state and the system reconciles which states are owed fuel-tax revenue based on miles driven and gallons purchased per jurisdiction. IRP is annual, IFTA is quarterly. Both require qualified power units (typically 26,001+ lb GVW or three-axle vehicles) running in two-or-more member jurisdictions. They are administered by the same base-state office in most states.
Why it matters
New entrants often think IRP and IFTA are the same thing because both come with decals and both list the same set of states on the cab card. They're not. IRP is registration (a license-plate replacement that lets you legally operate the truck); IFTA is fuel tax (a quarterly true-up that reconciles where you bought fuel versus where you burned it).
Mileage records drive both. IRP fees are calculated each renewal based on the prior year's actual miles per state. IFTA returns require a quarterly mileage report broken out by jurisdiction with corresponding fuel-purchase receipts. ELD data is now the gold standard for both calculations - pre-ELD carriers used trip sheets and paper logs, but ELD pulls miles-per-state automatically and exports clean reports.
Both lapse if you let the underlying USDOT or MC authority go inactive. A carrier who lapses on UCR or MCS-150 typically loses IRP and IFTA at the same time.