New York, Kentucky, New Mexico and Oregon charge heavy trucks a tax based on the miles they drive inside the state. Each one runs its own registration, its own returns and its own credential, separate from your plates and your fuel tax license. Here is who owes each one, how it is calculated, how often you file, and what you carry in the truck.
The four taxes side by side
| State | Who has to register | Regular filing | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York HUT | Gross weight over 18,000 lb | Quarterly, then monthly or annual based on last year’s tax | Certificate of registration and a decal per vehicle |
| Kentucky KYU | Combined license weight over 59,999 lb | Quarterly | A KYU number tied to your USDOT number |
| New Mexico WDT | Declared gross weight or GVW over 26,000 lb | Quarterly, annual by election for some | An electronic permit per vehicle, renewed each year |
| Oregon weight-mile tax | Over 26,000 lb | Monthly, quarterly on approval | CCD account with the vehicle enrolled, or a temporary pass |
The thresholds are not the same, so a truck can owe in one state and not another. A 40,000 lb straight truck is inside New York, New Mexico and Oregon, and outside Kentucky. All four states expect a return for every period once you are registered, including periods when you never entered the state.
New York highway use tax (HUT)
- Who registers. Any truck, tractor or other self-propelled vehicle with a gross weight over 18,000 lb, alone or in combination. If you report on the unloaded weight method, the test is a truck over 8,000 lb unloaded or a tractor over 4,000 lb unloaded.
- How to apply. Open an account with Form TMT-39, or through OSCAR, New York’s one-stop credentialing site. The fee is $1.50 per vehicle and covers the certificate of registration and the decal.
- How the tax is computed. Miles on New York public highways, not counting toll-paid Thruway miles, multiplied by a rate that depends on the vehicle’s weight and the reporting method. You pick gross weight or unloaded weight on your first return of the calendar year, and that method applies to every vehicle for the whole year.
- How often you file. Quarterly, due April 30, July 31, October 31 and January 31, even when no tax is due. The Tax Department reviews last year’s total each year: more than $12,000 makes you a monthly filer, and $1,200 or less makes you an annual filer if you were subject to HUT all year.
- The decal. Goes on the body or bumper as close as possible to the front plate. It cannot be moved to another truck, and it must be surrendered within five days once you no longer control the vehicle.
If you only go into New York now and then, a HUT trip certificate costs $25 and lets you run until midnight of the third day after it is issued. You can buy up to 10 in a calendar year, and you keep copies for four years. Regular filers keep daily mileage records for each vehicle, and the department may ask you to renew your certificates once a year.
Kentucky weight-distance tax (KYU)
- Who registers. Every carrier running on Kentucky roads with a combined license weight greater than 59,999 lb. Vehicles on farm plates are exempt.
- How to apply. Online through the Motor Carrier Portal with a KYID account, or on paper with Form TC 95-1, which the Transportation Cabinet says takes 10 to 14 business days to process.
- How the tax is computed. A flat rate per Kentucky mile set in KRS 138.660, the same for every qualifying vehicle regardless of weight.
- How often you file. Quarterly through KYU E-File. Filing opens on April 1, July 1, October 1 and January 1, and the return is due by the last day of that month. If you did not travel in Kentucky that quarter, you still file zero miles. Missing a return brings penalty, interest and a $500 revocation fee.
- The credential. There is no paper license or decal. The KYU account is linked to your USDOT number electronically. You only display a KYU number when you are leased to another carrier and running under that carrier’s DOT authority.
Keep your KYU vehicle list current in the portal, because every qualifying vehicle has to be listed. If you are not making regular trips through the state, Kentucky sells a one-time temporary KYU permit per truck instead of a full account.
New Mexico weight distance tax (WDT)
- Who registers. Registrants, owners and operators of most vehicles with a declared gross weight or gross vehicle weight over 26,000 lb that use New Mexico highways (Section 7-15A-3 NMSA 1978).
- How the tax is computed. A rate per mile driven on New Mexico highways, set by declared gross weight, rising with each weight class. The rates went up 35% on July 1, 2026, the first change since 2004, so any rate card printed before that date is out of date.
- How often you file. Quarterly, due April 30, July 31, October 31 and January 31. Some taxpayers can elect to pay annually. A return is still due if you did not travel in New Mexico, and anyone paying for two or more trucks has to file electronically.
- The credential. A New Mexico Weight Distance Tax Electronic Permit for each vehicle, applied for every year. Permits are bought through the Taxation and Revenue Department’s TAP portal, and you need your WDT account number, FEIN and USDOT number to do it.
A separate trip tax applies to certain for-hire commercial vehicles that are not registered or licensed in New Mexico. It is paid in place of registration and use fees, it is based on the vehicle’s weight and its New Mexico miles, and the Motor Transportation Police Division usually collects it at a port of entry.
Oregon weight-mile tax
Oregon’s program is run by ODOT’s Commerce and Compliance Division (CCD). If you are looking for the Motor Carrier Transportation Division, this is the same office, and its web pages still sit under the old /MCT/ address.
- Who registers. Vehicles operating in Oregon over 26,000 lb. Carriers with a CCD account enroll every qualifying vehicle, including leased and rented ones.
- How the tax is computed. Oregon taxable miles multiplied by the rate for the vehicle’s declared weight. The declared weight is the heaviest weight the vehicle will run at in a given configuration during the reporting period, and it has to be on file before you run at that weight. Empty return miles are taxed at the loaded declared weight.
- Current rates. Table A on ODOT form 9928-2024, effective January 1, 2024, runs from 7.64 cents a mile for 26,001 to 28,000 lb up to 25.12 cents a mile for 78,001 to 80,000 lb. Table B covers special-permit weights above 80,000 lb.
- How often you file. Monthly by default, due the last day of the following month. You can apply for quarterly reporting with form 9030; quarterly reports are due May 31, August 31, November 30 and February 28. A report is required even with no Oregon miles, and late reports carry a 10% charge on the late tax.
- The credential. Enrollment under your CCD account. Without an account, you buy and carry a temporary pass before entering Oregon: $9 plus the weight-mile tax for the miles you buy, valid for 10 days.
The rules are about to change. Under House Bill 3991, from July 1, 2027 the tax weight becomes the vehicle’s registered weight, the number of rates drops from 85 to 10, and CCD will ask enrolled carriers to amend their vehicle weights in spring 2027. New rate tables (form 9928-2027) are already posted. If you enroll now, expect to update your weights again next spring.
What a new carrier should set up first
- Check your routes against the four thresholds above, per truck, not per company.
- If a state is on your regular routes, open the account before the first trip. New York’s trip certificate is capped at 10 a year, and Kentucky’s temporary permit is meant for carriers not making regular trips.
- Record miles by state and by vehicle from day one. Every one of these returns is built from those records.
- Put the zero-mile returns on the calendar. All four states expect a return for a period with no miles, and Kentucky and Oregon spell out revocation or suspension for skipping one.
If you would rather hand the paperwork off, our state permits service covers the New York HUT permit, the Kentucky KYU number, the New Mexico weight distance permit and the Oregon mileage permit.
Related reading
Weight-distance taxes sit next to apportioned plates, and how IRP fees are calculated is covered in IRP apportioned plates: how the cost is calculated. Where these registrations fall in the order of getting a new authority running is set out in the requirements checklist, and the full year of filings is in the 2026 trucking compliance checklist.
Sources
- New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, Highway use tax (HUT), and technical bulletins TB-HU-40, TB-HU-115, TB-HU-116, TB-HU-160, TB-HU-260 and TB-HU-360.
- Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, KYU (Motor Carriers), the KYU Registration Guide 2026 and the Audit Assistance Manual 2026.
- New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department, Weight Distance Tax, Trip Tax, decision Star Paving Co. (20-01), and the release Vehicle registration fees, weight-distance tax to increase July 1, 29 June 2026.
- Oregon Department of Transportation, Commerce and Compliance Division, Weight-Mile Tax Program Enrollment, File a Tax Report, Weight-Mile Temporary Tax Pass, CCD Modernization Projects, and Mileage Tax Rates (form 9928-2024, rates effective January 1, 2024).
