Trucking compliance in Alabama

A carrier whose principal place of business is in Alabama registers UCR with Alabama as its base state. For IFTA, Alabama taxes special diesel at $0.3100 a gallon in 4Q2026, in the middle half of listed rates, number 25 of 46 US jurisdictions shown here.

UCR fee calculator IFTA calculator

1Diesel tax 4Q2026 $0.3100
2UCR base state AL
3UCR 2027, 0–2 trucks $55
4Form 2290 at 80,000 lb $550

AL special-diesel rate against the 4Q2026 median, lowest and highest of 46 US IFTA jurisdictions shown here, bars to scale.

UCR

Participates

IFTA diesel, 4Q2026

$0.3100

UCR 2027, 0–2 / 3–5 / 6–20

$55 / $167 / $333

HVUT, 55,000 lb / over 75,000

$100 / $550

UCR in Alabama

Alabama participates in the Unified Carrier Registration Agreement, which makes it the base state for any interstate carrier, broker, freight forwarder or leasing company whose principal place of business is here. You register once a year, through the national UCR system, and the fee is the same six-bracket federal schedule used everywhere: $55 for 0–2 vehicles, $167 for 3–5 and $333 for 6–20 in the 2027 registration year, rising to $54,165 above 1,000. The fee is set by federal rule (49 CFR 367), so it is the same whichever state you register through; what Alabama adds is enforcement — roadside officers in a participating state can check UCR status during an inspection.

Alabama also serves as a base state for carriers from non-participating jurisdictions — specifically, a carrier based in Florida that has no office in a participating state may choose Alabama.

IFTA fuel tax in Alabama

Under the International Fuel Tax Agreement you owe Alabama fuel tax on every gallon you burn inside the state, worked out from your miles here and your fleet's average miles per gallon, and you get credit for tax paid on fuel you bought here. Alabama reported a special-diesel rate of $0.3100 per gallon for 4Q2026.

That puts Alabama at number 25 of 46 US IFTA jurisdictions shown here, 2 percent below the median of $0.3150. At a mid-table rate, fuel-stop decisions in Alabama matter less than pump price; the return will roughly net out as long as purchases track miles. The closest rates to Alabama's are Vermont ($0.3100), Maine ($0.3120), Nebraska ($0.3180).

A worked example

Run 1,000 miles in Alabama at 6.5 mpg and you burned 153.8 gallons here, which at $0.3100 is $47.68 of Alabama tax. If you bought 153.8 gallons in Alabama on that trip you have already paid $47.68 at the pump and owe nothing more; if you bought none, the whole $47.68 is due on the return. The IFTA calculator does this for every state on a trip.

Federal filings that apply in Alabama as everywhere

Heavy Vehicle Use Tax, IRS Form 2290: $100 a year for a 55,000 lb vehicle, $550 for anything over 75,000 lb, logging vehicles at 75 percent; due the last day of the month after first use.
Operating authority: $300 per authority type under 49 CFR 360.3T, a USDOT number at no charge, $10 per insurance filing.
Medical certificate: the 49 CFR 391.41 standards (20/40 vision, 70-degree field, forced whisper at 5 feet), renewed every 24 months, or 12 for some conditions.
Carrier lookup: check any USDOT or MC number in FMCSA's SAFER system before you lease on or hire.

Not on this page yet

Alabama's IRP apportioned-plate fees, intrastate operating-authority rules, size and weight limits and state DOT contacts are not published here, because they were not available from a source this site could cite on 2026-10-23. They are listed as gaps in the methodology and will be added when they can be sourced.

Sources: UCR Plan — FAQ; IFTA, Inc. tax rate matrix 4Q2026 (updated 2026-10-21; not final until 2026-12-04); FMCSA final rule, 49 CFR 367.50 (FR Doc. 2026-17893, Docket FMCSA-2025-0655); IRS Form 2290 (Rev. July 2026), Tax Computation. Checked 2026-10-23.