Which states charge a weight distance tax on trucks?

Chapter 01

What is a weight distance tax, and why is my broker asking about it?

A weight distance tax is a State road tax on heavy trucks. You pay it for each mile a truck drives in that State, at a rate set by its weight. Five States charge one: Kentucky, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Connecticut. It does not replace IFTA, the fuel tax return you already file, and it is not the federal heavy vehicle tax on Form 2290. Each of the five wants its own account, its own credentials for the truck and its own return (Kentucky, New York, Connecticut).

Here is how that looks in real life. Say you run three trucks out of Indianapolis, Indiana. Indiana has none of these taxes. Two of your trucks are tractors that pull dry vans at up to 80,000 pounds. The third is a straight box truck rated at 33,000 pounds, and it stays around town. You have your IFTA license, your IRP plates and your paid Form 2290. You think your paperwork is complete.

On Monday, October 5, 2026, a broker offers you a steady lane. Your tractors would run loads twice a week to a warehouse near Hartford, Connecticut, with loads back. Another customer wants a weekly run to Nashville, Tennessee. The first loads go out on Monday, October 19. Then the broker’s setup packet arrives. Next to your MC number and insurance, it asks for three things you have never heard of. It wants a KYU number, a New York HUT certificate number and a Connecticut highway use fee permit.

Why those three? Look at the routes. The road to Hartford crosses Ohio and Pennsylvania, then runs through New York on Interstate 84 and into Connecticut. The road to Nashville crosses the whole of Kentucky on Interstate 65. So your tractors will drive in three of the five States. Each one taxes heavy trucks by the mile.

Each State has its own name for it. Kentucky calls it the Kentucky weight distance tax, and the license is the KYU (Kentucky’s tax page). New York calls it the highway use tax, and the Tax Department writes it as HUT (New York’s guide). Connecticut calls it the highway use fee, and it began on January 1, 2023 (Connecticut’s page). Oregon calls it the weight-mile tax (Oregon’s enrollment page). New Mexico calls it the weight distance tax (New Mexico’s page).

Many owners think this is part of IFTA. It is not. Owners even search for “KYU IFTA filing”, as if it were one return. IFTA is a fuel tax. You file one return each quarter with your home State, and it shares the money among the States by the fuel you burned. Our guide to the IFTA return walks through it. These taxes are not shared. Each of the five collects its own, through its own website. New York makes the split plain. A carrier with an IFTA license pays New York’s fuel tax on the IFTA return. It pays the highway use tax on a separate New York return (New York’s return instructions). Nor is NY HUT the federal heavy vehicle use tax. That one you pay once a year to the IRS, as our guide to Form 2290 explains.

How much money is this? It depends on the State and the weight. Here is what 1,000 miles costs a truck at 80,000 pounds. In Kentucky, the rate is 2.85 cents a mile for every truck above the threshold, so $28.50 (Kentucky’s tax page). In New York, loaded miles cost 5.46 cents, so $54.60 (New York’s rate tables). In Connecticut, the fee is 10 cents, so $100 (Connecticut’s rate table). In Oregon, it is 25.12 cents, so $251.20, under the table in force since January 1, 2024 (Oregon’s rate table). New Mexico’s top rate was 43.78 mills, about 4.4 cents, until June 30, 2026 (New Mexico’s rate schedule). A mill is a tenth of a cent. On July 1, 2026, the State raised the tax by 35% (the State’s announcement).

For your lane, the tax itself is a small expense. The trouble starts when a truck runs there without the State’s paper. So the first question is which of your trucks need it, and where.

Chapter 02

Which of my trucks owe it, and in which states?

A truck owes the tax in a State when it runs on that State’s public roads and meets that State’s weight threshold. Kentucky starts at 60,000 pounds, New York over 18,000, Oregon and New Mexico over 26,000. Connecticut starts at 26,000 pounds, but only for trucks pulling trailers. The weight that decides it is usually the heaviest weight you declare or register for the truck. A truck that never enters the State owes that State nothing (Kentucky, New York, Connecticut).

The five States side by side look like this. Each fact comes from that State’s own pages, linked in this section and in the list of sources at the end.

Now put your three trucks through it. Your two tractors run at up to 80,000 pounds. In Kentucky, they are over the 60,000-pound threshold (Kentucky’s tax page). In New York, they are far over 18,000 pounds. In Connecticut, they weigh more than 26,000 pounds, and a tractor pulling a trailer is exactly the kind of truck the fee covers. So both tractors owe in all three States.

Your box truck is different. At 33,000 pounds, it is under Kentucky’s line, so it would owe Kentucky nothing even if it went there. It is over New York’s line, but it stays in Indiana, so it needs nothing from New York. And Connecticut’s fee does not reach it at all. Connecticut covers only vehicles in federal highway classes 8 to 13, which are trucks pulling one or more trailers. A straight truck running alone falls in a lower class (Connecticut’s page). If that box truck ever took a load to Oregon or New Mexico, though, it would owe there. It is over their 26,000-pound threshold.

Which weight counts? The States say it in different words, but the idea is the same. New York adds the empty truck, the heaviest trailer it will pull and the most it will carry (New York’s guide). Oregon taxes the heaviest weight you will run at, which you declare in advance (Oregon’s enrollment page). New Mexico makes it unlawful to run heavier than the weight you declared (New Mexico’s rules). Connecticut counts the load as part of the weight (Connecticut’s questions and answers). So declare the heaviest total weight at which a truck will operate.

A few trucks are left out. Kentucky does not tax farm plates (Kentucky’s tax page). Connecticut leaves out trucks that carry milk from licensed dairy farms (Connecticut’s questions and answers). New York leaves out some farm, emergency and construction vehicles, among others (New York’s guide). A tractor hauling freight for pay is not on any of those lists. So your two tractors need three accounts before October 19.

Chapter 03

How do I register before the first trip?

You register with each State before your truck first drives there. In Kentucky, you apply online for a KYU number. In New York, you open a highway use tax account and get a certificate and a decal for each truck. In Connecticut, you get one permit in myconneCT and put a copy in each truck. In Oregon, you open an account and enroll each truck. In New Mexico, you get a permit for each truck each year, at $10 a permit (New York, Connecticut, New Mexico).

Before you start, check your federal papers. Kentucky will not issue its permanent or temporary papers until your federal credentials are active (Kentucky’s permit questions). If your authority is new or has lapsed, sort that out first with our guide to operating authority.

On Tuesday, October 6, you start with Kentucky, because it is the fastest. You make a Kentucky online account, called KYID, and sign in to the Motor Carrier Portal (Kentucky’s registration guide). You say your trucks are registered over 59,999 pounds and choose a permanent license. You add your two tractors with their VINs. Leave the box truck off, since it is under the line. At the end, your number appears on the screen. There is no paper license. The number is tied to your USDOT number. Keep a copy of it. We found no fee for the license on Kentucky’s pages.

Kentucky has one more requirement. Every truck over the line that runs in Kentucky must be on your list of trucks in the portal. Kentucky calls it the inventory. A truck left off it can be ticketed (Kentucky’s tax page). When you buy a new tractor, add it before its first Kentucky trip.

New York takes longer, so you start it the same day. First you open a highway use tax account with Form TMT-39 (New York’s certificate guide). Once the account exists, you order the rest online through OSCAR. OSCAR stands for One Stop Credentialing and Registration, and it is New York’s website for truck papers. Each tractor needs a certificate of registration and a decal. They cost $1.50 per truck, for both. The decal goes on the truck’s body, as close as you can to the front plate (New York’s decal rules). A decal belongs to one truck. You cannot move it to another.

Here is a detail that surprises owners. New York wants the certificate itself kept at your place of business, not in the truck (New York’s certificate guide). The decal on the truck is the proof on the road. Once your account is open, OSCAR can give you a temporary credential at once. It is called Form TR-8. You print it and carry it in the truck until the decal comes.

New York does not say how long a new account takes to open. So do not wait for the last week. If the account is still not open on October 19, there is a fallback. You can buy a $25 trip certificate for that one trip, and the next section explains it.

Connecticut is simple. You apply online in myconneCT, the website of the Department of Revenue Services. There is no fee (Connecticut’s questions and answers). Connecticut issues one permit for your whole company, not one per truck. You print a copy and put it in each tractor that runs there. The permit does not expire. But Connecticut offers no temporary permit, so your tractors cannot enter until you have it.

By Friday, October 16, you have your Kentucky number and your New York account. Each tractor carries a New York temporary credential and a copy of the Connecticut permit. Your first loads can roll.

Oregon and New Mexico work the same way, with their own twists. In Oregon, you open an account with the Commerce and Compliance Division, which runs Oregon’s truck taxes. Then you enroll each truck and declare its weight (Oregon’s enrollment page). Oregon may also ask for a bond. It sends a letter with the amount and the due date, and your account can be suspended if you miss it (Oregon’s tax manual). In New Mexico, you register in TAP, the Taxpayer Access Point, and get a weight distance tax permit for each truck. Each one costs $10 and is good only for the calendar year (New Mexico’s rules). You write each truck’s unit number and VIN on its own permit. New Mexico asks for a bond only from carriers based outside the IFTA States. So an Indiana carrier needs none there.

Registering is the easy half. The work that lasts is counting miles.

Chapter 04

How do I track the miles and file the returns?

Keep a record of every trip for each truck. Write down the date, where it started and ended, the route, the odometer at each end and the miles in each State. Then file a return in each State by its due date. Kentucky, New York and Connecticut want a return for each quarter, due by the last day of the month after it. File even when a truck drove no miles there. Keep the records at least five years to meet the retention periods in all five States (Kentucky’s audit manual, New York’s filing rules).

Start with the record, because every return is built from it. Kentucky wants a trip record for each truck. It shows the trip dates, the start and end points, the stops and the route. It also shows the odometer readings, the total miles and the miles in each State (Kentucky’s audit manual). New York wants the same for each day. It also wants New York miles split into loaded and empty. Thruway miles you paid tolls on go on a separate line, because those are not taxed (New York’s record rules). Connecticut wants a list each month of the trucks you ran there (Connecticut’s questions and answers).

Your ELD or GPS may already count miles by State. Kentucky accepts a program that routes trips and splits the miles by State. But you must keep the backup: a recap, the trip details, driver logs and fuel receipts (Kentucky’s audit manual). Kentucky’s manual puts one warning in capital letters. If you do not keep separate trip records, do not throw away the driver logs.

How long to keep it all? Each State sets its own time. Kentucky says five years from the due date or the filing date, whichever is later (Kentucky’s audit manual). New York says four years (New York’s record rules). New Mexico says four years (New Mexico’s rules). Connecticut says four years for its monthly truck lists (Connecticut’s questions and answers). Oregon says three years, and longer when the same records back your IRP or IFTA (Oregon’s tax manual). So keep everything five years, to cover the retention periods in all five States.

Now the first returns. Your tractors ran from October 19 to the end of December. Between them, they made 20 round trips to Hartford and 10 to Nashville. Your records show 2,800 miles in New York, 2,400 in Connecticut and 2,600 in Kentucky. Every trip was loaded both ways, near 80,000 pounds.

Kentucky’s tax is the easiest to work out. It is one rate for every truck above the threshold: 2,600 miles at 2.85 cents is $74.10 (Kentucky’s tax page). You file it in KYU E-File, which opens on January 1 for the fourth quarter. You pay by card or bank transfer. Kentucky’s returns are due on the last day of the month after each quarter (Kentucky’s audit manual).

New York asks you to pick a method on your first return of the year. The gross weight method taxes loaded miles by the full weight and empty miles by the empty weight. The unloaded weight method uses the empty weight for all miles. You must use the same method for every truck, all year (New York’s tax guide). With the gross weight method, your loaded miles at 80,000 pounds cost 5.46 cents a mile (New York’s rate tables). So 2,800 miles comes to $152.88. You file online through Highway Use Tax Web File in your Online Services account. The fourth-quarter return is due by January 31 (New York’s filing rules).

Connecticut is next. At the rate for 78,001 to 80,000 pounds, 10 cents a mile, 2,400 miles comes to $240 (Connecticut’s rate table). You file in myconneCT, where you add each truck with its miles and weight. Connecticut takes the return only online. It is due by the last day of the month after the quarter.

So your first quarter on the lane costs $466.98 in these taxes. All three returns are due at the end of January 2027. File them in the third week of January, and do not count on a weekend to give you an extra day.

After that, the calendars start to split. New York moves you after your first full year. If your tax for the year was more than $12,000, you file monthly. From $1,200 to $12,000, you stay quarterly. At $1,200 or less, you file once a year, if you owed the tax for the whole year before (New York’s filing rules). At about $600 a year, your fleet would likely become a yearly filer. New York writes to tell you when your schedule changes. Connecticut required monthly returns when the fee began, but has taken quarterly returns since October 1, 2023 (Connecticut’s page). Its 2022 questions and answers still say monthly, so read the newer page.

Oregon and New Mexico keep their own clocks. Oregon starts you on monthly reports, due by the last day of the next month. You can apply to file quarterly with form 9030. Oregon’s quarterly reports are due later than the others: May 31, August 31, November 30 and February 28 (Oregon’s filing page). New Mexico’s quarterly returns are due April 30, July 31, October 31 and January 31. If your New Mexico tax was under $500 last year, you can ask to pay once a year instead (New Mexico’s rules). New Mexico’s January return also carries a small safety and training fee: $10 a year if you run one to five trucks.

Now a rule that catches many owners. Say the Hartford lane ends in March 2027, and your tractors stay west of Ohio. Your accounts are still open, so the returns are still due. You file a return showing zero miles in each State. Kentucky says so plainly. If you did not travel in a quarter, file zero miles, or you face a penalty, interest and a $500 revocation fee (Kentucky’s tax page). New York, Connecticut, Oregon and New Mexico say the same about returns with no miles.

If you are done with a State for good, close the account properly. In Kentucky, you answer “Yes” to the question about ceased operations on your last return. In New York, you send back the decals within five days after a truck leaves your control or leaves service (New York’s decal rules). In Oregon, you cancel the truck’s enrollment. Every one of these dates also belongs on your yearly calendar, which our filing calendar guide builds month by month.

Found a mistake after filing? Kentucky lets you add miles online. To lower the miles, you must contact the Division of Motor Carriers (Kentucky’s tax page). Fix it before an auditor finds it.

Chapter 05

What if a truck goes to one of these states only once?

For a single trip, three of the five States sell a temporary permit instead of a full account. Kentucky sells a temporary permit for one truck for 10 days, for $40. New York sells a trip certificate for $25, good until midnight of the third day, with at most ten a year. Oregon sells a temporary pass for 10 days, for $9 plus the tax on the miles you will drive. Connecticut has no temporary permit. For New Mexico, we could not confirm that a trip permit covers its tax (Kentucky, New York, Oregon).

Go back to your Kentucky run. Say, before your Kentucky number existed, a customer had wanted one load to Nashville. A temporary permit would have covered it. It is tied to one truck’s VIN, and you pay by card, plus a 4% card fee (Kentucky’s permit questions). It is good in Kentucky only, and each truck needs its own.

New York’s trip certificate works the same way, but runs out faster (New York’s trip certificate rules). It ends at midnight on the third day after the day it was issued, and weekends and holidays do not stretch it. For those days, you file no return and pay no tax on those miles. You carry a copy in the truck and keep a copy for four years. You cannot use more than ten in a year. This is your fallback for October 19, if your New York account is late.

Now the story forks. It is March 2027. A broker offers one of your tractors a load to Phoenix, Arizona. Interstate 40 crosses New Mexico, so the truck will drive a few hundred miles there each way. You have no New Mexico account.

The first question is whether a trip permit will do. New Mexico’s Department of Transportation sells single trip permits online, through its system called NM-OPS (New Mexico’s permits page). But its pages do not say whether a trip permit also covers this tax, and we could not confirm it. So you follow the full registration process. You register in TAP, pay $10 for the truck’s permit for 2027, and file the first quarter return by April 30 (New Mexico’s tax page).

What will it cost? Here we hit a gap. Until June 30, 2026, a truck at 78,001 pounds or more paid 43.78 mills a mile, about 4.4 cents (New Mexico’s rate schedule). On July 1, 2026, the tax went up by 35%. It was the first increase since 2004 (the State’s announcement). We could not open the new rate table itself. If the top rate rose the full 35%, it is now near 5.9 cents a mile, but treat that as our estimate. Your return in TAP will show the real rate.

New Mexico has one discount worth knowing. Some trucks usually haul one way and run empty on the way back. If 45% or more of a truck’s New Mexico miles in a year are empty, it can pay two thirds of the rate (the law). You must apply for it under oath and keep records of loaded and empty miles (New Mexico’s rules for these trucks).

In April 2027, a different broker offers a load to Portland, Oregon. At 80,000 pounds, Oregon’s rate is by far the highest of the five. At 78,001 to 80,000 pounds, the rate is 25.12 cents a mile. An empty trip home pays the same rate as the loaded one (Oregon’s rate table). Say the truck will drive 375 miles in Oregon each way. That is 750 miles, or $188.40 in tax.

For one trip, you buy a temporary pass (Oregon’s temporary pass page). It costs $9, plus the tax on the miles, paid up front. So this trip costs $197.40. The pass lasts 10 days, and you can buy it up to 10 days ahead. With no Oregon account, you call the Commercial Vehicle Tax Service Center at 503-378-6699. You will need the truck’s VIN, plate, odometer, weights, route and driver’s name. A carrier on passes files no Oregon return, because the tax is paid when the pass is issued. But Oregon limits how many passes an account can buy in a rolling 12 months.

One more thing about Oregon. If Oregon is not listed on your IRP cab card, the truck also needs a heavy motor vehicle trip permit. It costs $43 and lasts 10 days (Oregon’s temporary pass page). That is a registration matter, not a tax, and our IRP guide explains the cab card.

And Connecticut? There is no shortcut. Its questions and answers say plainly that no temporary permit is issued (Connecticut’s questions and answers). Even for one load, you register in myconneCT first. Then you file a return every quarter, even with no miles, until the account is closed. Ask the Department of Revenue Services how to close it when you stop running there.

Chapter 06

What happens if I skip it, and what has changed?

Skipping costs far more than the tax. New York can fine you from $500 to $2,000 for a first truck caught without its certificate and decal. Kentucky charges a $500 revocation fee plus penalty and interest for a missed return. Oregon adds 10% to late tax and can suspend your account. Connecticut charges at least $50 on a late return. The rules are also moving. New Mexico raised its tax on July 1, 2026, and Oregon changes its tables on July 1, 2027 (New York, Oregon).

Here is the bill in New York if you get it wrong (New York’s penalty rules). Running without a certificate and decal brings a civil fine of $500 to $2,000 the first time. A second time within three years brings $1,000 to $3,500. A truck with no decal is taken as proof that you have no certificate. A late return adds 10% of the tax, plus 1% for each month, up to 30%. And New York can take a lien on your property if the tax goes unpaid.

The other States impose their own penalties. Kentucky can demand a bond from a carrier that files late three times in four years or loses a license (Kentucky’s audit manual). Oregon suspends accounts for missed reports and unpaid tax, and running there while suspended brings citations and fines (Oregon’s tax manual). Connecticut charges interest of 1% a month, plus a penalty of 10% or $50, whichever is more (Connecticut’s page). A knowing violation there brings a $1,000 fine. New Mexico adds a penalty when an audit finds miles or weight reported too low. It runs from $100 to $4,000 for each period, on top of the tax (New Mexico’s rules). The State can also collect unpaid tax at its ports of entry, the truck checkpoints at its borders.

Put that next to your lane. Your first quarter’s tax in three States was under $500. One New York fine for a truck without a decal runs from $500 to $2,000, more than that whole quarter. That is why it pays to register before the first trip, not after the first ticket.

What has changed, and what advice is out of date? Four things.

New Mexico raised its tax by 35% on July 1, 2026. It was the first change since 2004 (the State’s announcement). The State’s own summary of the 2026 laws confirms the rise and the July 1 start (New Mexico’s 2026 law summary). Any New Mexico rate table dated before July 2026 is now too low.

Oregon passed a new law, House Bill 3991, signed on November 7, 2025. Some of its tax increases were repealed in May 2026, but the changes for truckers were kept (Oregon’s modernization page). From July 1, 2027, each truck pays one rate, set by its registered weight on the cab card. Oregon’s 85 rates become 10. In spring 2027, Oregon will ask every carrier to confirm or correct each truck’s weight online (Oregon’s questions on the change). The rate at 80,000 pounds stays 25.12 cents, but some trucks will pay more and some less, by weight (Oregon’s 2027 table). Then, from July 2029, heavy trucks will start paying Oregon fuel tax along with a smaller weight-mile tax.

Connecticut moved from monthly to quarterly returns on October 1, 2023 (Connecticut’s page). Advice that says “file every month” is out of date.

New York says it will update OSCAR in 2027 (New York’s highway use tax page). The steps above may look different on the screen by then.

There are things we could not check. We could not open New Mexico’s new rate table. Its Motor Vehicle Division page and the Legislature’s copy of the new law both refused our automated reading. So we give the old rates and the official 35% rise. We could not confirm whether a New Mexico trip permit covers the tax. New York does not say how long a new account takes to open. And we found no fee for Kentucky’s license. Check these with the State before you rely on them.

If you would rather have someone open these accounts, keep the miles by State and file every return on time, here is what it costs.