Independents....what do you do for permits(OD loads)

Not on my own, but ive handled things just straight to the state using my company numbers as well as using west coast permits.

It depends on what state and what commodity youre running, for the annuals, unless theyre just frustrating to deal with, may as well set up on your own. For everything else, i recommend wcs, not because itll be cheaper, its not, they do charge a chunk of change. (Not exhorbitant, but its an expense) but because of the lower hassle of only having to deal with 1 person back and forth

 

you should be able to go to each state website for oversize permits you run in. You will be able to open an account with each to order and pay for them with credit cards. It generally fairly straight forward to do this - the mapping programs will be the largest pain in the buttocks (some will require that you run internet explorer NEBRASKA ) and nothing else.

you can then order states you don’t often run in through a permit service or open an account at that time. You will likely have to have your insurance guy send certificates to the states to open the accounts.
Even the holdout states like Louisiana will allow you to purchase permits with a credit card now instead of an escrow account.

I think I have log ins for about 25 states - if I can remember where I keep all the login credentials.

you will save quite a bit of money doing your own and the turn around can be faster as you don’t wait in the permit companies que. this is especially true if you run heavy where the permit companies assess surcharges for superload permits that can be pretty steep - take Nebraska for example the permit is $25 for 200,000 lbs (10 axles at 20k per) but the permit company fees could be an additional $150.

if you run California- order through a permit service (take my word for it)

Oregon’s permitting will make you want to jump off a very tall cliff…

good luck

 

I only run O/S in two States, NY & VT. I set up an on-line account in NY via OSCAR, this also covers IFTA & HUT. VT was the old paper application via snail mail. NY was $360 & VT was $112. Was quite simple actually, couldn't tell you about other States though..

 

As mentioned, set up your own accounts. Really is easy and you can save a lot of money doing it yourself.
I think Ohio and Louisiana require a certificate of insurance on file.
When I need a permit and don't have the time, I use Permit Wizard, Working with one company does make it much easier when ordering multiple permits.
Good luck

 

If you can add $25 / state to your invoice you can get a 3rd party to do it otherwise as other ma have said just do it yourself.

It’s super easy

 

Ouch. Fair assessment, ive not been burned like that, sorry that happened

 

I've found that it takes much longer to figure my routing that it did getting the permits..