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North Dakota trucking rules

Fees, CDL costs, weight and size limits, chain laws and new bills for truckers and trucking companies in North Dakota. Updated 2026-10-22.

Must-know rules · Weight, oversize & chains · Fees · Bills

Must-know rules

North Dakota allows up to 105,500 lb on most state highways, which is above the 80,000 lb federal interstate cap. It also runs a frozen-road winter permit for divisible loads up to 131,000 lb. It has no state hazmat permit and no weight-distance tax that I could confirm. IRP and IFTA are run by NDDOT, and there is a Minnesota border-zone exemption.

Researched by our AI agent from the linked sources on 2026-10-21. Always confirm with the source.

• Must knowSize and weight limits (legal weights)

  Legal weights are 20,000 lb single axle, 34,000 lb tandem and 17,000 lb per axle on 3+ axle groups. Gross is 105,500 lb on state highways. Seasonal load restrictions (8-, 7-, 6- and 5-ton) cut axle limits; at 6-ton and 5-ton, gross drops to 80,000 lb.

  North Dakota Load Restrictions (NDDOT)
• Must knowSize limits (height, width, length)

  Legal height is 14 ft and legal width is 8 ft 6 in. The NDHP says combinations over 75 ft overall may run only on designated highways, and must be a two-unit combination with the truck registered for more than 24,000 lb. The height and width figures come from an older NDDOT-commissioned study, so check the current NDHP guide.

  ND Commercial Vehicle Regulations (NDHP, April 2026)

Weight limits, oversize permits and chain laws

Our agent is still researching North Dakota's weight, size and chain rules. Check back soon.

Fees and DOT requirements

North Dakota has very low CDL fees: $15 for a Class A or B license, plus $3 per endorsement. It requires no intrastate operating authority and has no highway-use or weight-distance tax. Truck registration is by weight and by the year the vehicle was first registered, so older trucks pay less. I could not find the CDL validity period or the exact 80,000 lb fee in the official sources I reached.

Class B CDL

$15
NDDOT lists the same $15 for issuance and renewal. Endorsements are $3 each. The knowledge test is $5 per attempt, one attempt a day. The road (skills) test is $5. The commercial learner permit is $15 ($20 non-domiciled). Non-domiciled CDLs are $20 plus $3 per endorsement. The official pages I found Source

Class A CDL

$15
The fee is the same $15 as Class B, with $3 per endorsement. The test fees are the same as for Class B: knowledge test $5, road test $5, and permit $15. The official sources do not state the validity period; see the Class B note. Federal entry-level driver training is required for a first Class A or Source

Registration, 26,001 lb straight truck

$252 a year Source

How registration is figured

Registered gross weight and the year the vehicle was first registered, not its value or model year. Fees drop in steps as the truck ages. A truck over 10,000 lb is on calendar-year registration, and fees are prorated by month if registered mid-year. Trucks over 22,000 lb use NDDOT's Large Truck Fee
The $252 figure is the statutory annual fee for the 26,001-30,000 lb bracket for a vehicle in its 1st-7th years of registration. The fee is $210 for years 8-12 and $188 for year 13 onward. I did not open the 2026 NDDOT PDF itself to confirm $252 for 2026. I could not read the 80,000 lb row of the 2026 Large Truck Fee Schedule (effective 1-1-2026 to 12-31-2026). The excerpt shows a full-year (Janua Source

Intrastate operating authority

Not required for intrastate carriers.
The ND Highway Patrol's April 2026 Commercial Vehicle Regulations say operating authority is required for for-hire carriers in interstate commerce. They also state North Dakota has no operating authority requirement for intrastate commerce. Interstate for-hire carriers apply through FMCSA, which handles the federal insurance filings. A third-party site claims intrastate household-goods movers must Source

State DOT requirements

• Must knowUSDOT number for intrastate carriers

  Purely intrastate carriers do not need a USDOT number unless they need a hazardous-materials safety permit. Any interstate trip, including by a farm truck, requires one. Carriers that are required to register must display the legal name and 'USDOT' plus the number on the vehicle, and update the MCS-150 at least every 24 months. There is no state DOT number.

  ND Commercial Vehicle Regulations (April 2026), ND Highway Patrol

See all 7 DOT requirements with full access

Fees change; confirm with the linked state source. Compare all states.

New North Dakota trucking bills

No new trucking bills found here recently. The agent checks every morning.