Bought a 26ft box truck to move across country...need help!!

I would love some advice from the experienced professionals on here, I'm in WAY over my head.

I live in NC. Used to live in Oregon. All my stuff is on an '88 International 26' double axle box truck # a storage facility in Oregon. I own the truck. I need to get it back to NC. It weighs just under 26k, and is 110% non-commercial.

Truck is titled in NC. My family bought & registered & insured it in NC, drove it to Oregon when we moved there a few years ago, turned in the tags, and let it sit. Currently has no registration and no insurance, and I just assumed sole ownership of the title in NC.

So...now that I'm trying to get all the paperwork straight for a friend of mine to drive it to NC, I'm realizing that this is CRAZY complicated, and I have ZERO prior knowledge of anything DMV/DOT related outside of regular ol' cars. I had no idea

Here are the options I've found, and I'm hoping you guys can provide some insight and advice, or possibly know of something that I'm totally unaware of!

1) Sign the title over to a friend in Oregon (the same one who will be driving the truck) and let him register ($300) and insure (???) it all in his name. This seems like the simplest way, but that's putting a LOT of trust into someone else's hands. (I have no reason NOT to trust him, but I'm skeptical by nature...) I can't title/register it in Oregon b/c I no longer live there and have no proof of residence.

2) Get a "Heavy Trip Permit #302" from the state of Oregon. Permit lasts 10 days ($43/ea) and I can stack them (up to 30 days) just in case. This is what I would prefer to do, but it leads to confusing insurance issues and most importantly, DO ALL STATES HAVE TO HONOR IT? ODOT tells me it's only good w/in state of Oregon; ODMV tells me it's good in all surrounding states; a couple states in the middle of the country (DOT) are telling me it "should" be fine. "Should" is a little scary, considering what could happen if it's NOT fine.

Also, NC (state) won't let me insure the truck here b/c it's not registered here. Can't register it here b/c it hasn't been inspected here. Can't get inspected here until it GETS here.

Oregon won't let me insure it there b/c I no longer live here (this is from the ins companies I've called, I may still be able to find one). Though Oregon WILL let the driver insure it w/ the trip permit.

I just need to get this thing across the country safely. When it gets to NC it will almost certainly be parked and used as a storage building unless someone wants to buy it.

Anyone want to help me make sense of this? I wish there was some kind of federal 30-day registration...

Thanks to everyone that read this far...

 

Thanks for all the responses!

1) I'm physically in NC, so getting someone to vouch for my Oregon residency would require a plane trip...and even more $$. (I vouched for my partner's residency when we lived there b/c all the utilities were in my name, Oregon really does make a lot of things blissfully simple and sane, but I don't think that would work in this case.)

2) I like the idea of putting both names on the title...and like Allow Me said, I *do* trust him to drive the truck, and I have absolutely no reason to NOT trust him. (And as flaky as it may sound, I'm pretty #### intuitive, and he's *never* done anything to ping my radar...it's just a little freaky to trust someone with 25k+ of stuff and have zero recourse if something goes wrong...) Anyway, in this case, I'm more worried about DOT regs that I don't understand anyway.

3) Truck has been sitting for approx 18 months but was in really good shape (and passed NC inspection, fwiw) when it was driven out to Oregon (18 months ago) and has cranked and been moved several times without any problems whatsoever. It's an '88 International DIESEL, and the driver is also a mechanic (that's why he's driving!). He will be going over the whole thing this week to check for issues - I KNOW it needs an oil change just b/c it's been sitting so long.

4) We looked into PODS etc. when we moved out there, and the cost was insane. Bought this truck from a friend for 3k and only put $500ish into it to pass NC inspection etc. I would consider selling it in Oregon, but since my partner and I aren't out there, that seems like a massive and expensive headache...and I'm also considering using it in the future for other projects. (Think retrofitted schoolbus, only box truck instead. Don't know if that will happen, but between POD costs, limited funds, and possible use, I'd like to at least get it back here - if nothing else, it's great storage. (I live on 18 acres and have a small farm here.)

Keep 'em coming, and THANKS!!

 

I'll call Oregon and NC back again tomorrow and ask...but from what I've found so far, NC won't give me ANYTHING but a 10-day moving permit to drive it EMPTY (under 10k#) and Oregon will only give me the stackable 10-day Heavy Vehicle Trip permits (anything between 10k# - 26k#).

I don't know enough about this to know if a temp operating permit is the same thing or not. Maybe that would be different if I didn't have the NC-title-but-currently-in-Oregon issue, I dunno. The $312 it would cost for my driver to title & reg it in Oregon only covers one quarter (til June 30) which is more than enough...if I put the title in his name.