By Evan Reid, Founder of Haul Handbook · Updated Jul 29, 2026
The North Carolina requirements table
- Agency
- North Carolina Utilities Commission (certificates for household goods, bus, broker, and ferry carriers) and the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles (for-hire carrier registration and insurance verification)
- Program name
- Certificate of Exemption to Transport Household Goods (NCUC Form CE-1), plus the for-hire intrastate motor carrier registration required by N.C. Gen. Stat. 20-382.1
- Application
- Household goods: NCUC Form CE-1, Application for Certificate of Exemption to Transport Household Goods. The original and two copies go to the Office of the Chief Clerk, North Carolina Utilities Commission, 4325 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-4300. Passenger carriers and brokers use the NCUC passenger transportation application or broker's license application from the same forms page.
- Filing fee
- There is no state operating-authority fee for a general intrastate freight carrier in North Carolina because the state issues no such authority. The NCUC certificate of exemption for household goods carries no application fee; the only money the Commission collects with the application is $38.00 per company principal for a criminal history records check. The costs that do exist are listed in the fee schedule below.
- Renewal
- The NCUC certificate of exemption has no stated expiration or renewal cycle on Form CE-1; it remains effective until revoked under G.S. 62-261(8). Certificated household goods carriers do file an annual report with the Commission, along with a verification form and an annual update of each principal's criminal history and work-authorization status. The G.S. 20-382.1 insurance verification is an annual filing with the Division of the for-hire vehicles the carrier operates in the State.
Authority fee schedule
North Carolina charges a fixed amount per filing rather than pricing registration by term. Each charge below is set by its own statute or rule section.
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Who the requirement covers
- GVWR threshold
- NoneThere is no weight trigger for a general-freight operating authority because North Carolina issues none. The household goods certificate of exemption is triggered by the commodity, not by vehicle weight: a mover transporting household goods by motor vehicle for compensation within North Carolina needs one at any size. The weight number that does matter to an intrastate carrier is 26,000 pounds GVWR, above which G.S. 20-101(b) requires the USDOT number and NC marking.
- For-hire only
- YesBoth live obligations are written around for-hire operation. G.S. 62-262(a) reaches transportation of passengers or household goods in intrastate commerce, and the NCUC certificate of exemption is for transporting household goods by motor vehicle for compensation. G.S. 20-382.1 is written for a for-hire motor carrier operating a for-hire motor vehicle in intrastate commerce. A private carrier hauling its own property inside North Carolina needs neither.
- Property carriers
- NoSourced negative. General freight property carriage in intrastate commerce carries no state certificate requirement.
- Passenger carriers
- Regulated. Regular-route bus companies and passenger brokers hold Commission certificates; G.S. 62-260(a) exempts taxicabs carrying 15 or fewer passengers, hotel shuttles, airport transfers, school and religious transportation, employee transportation, and wholly intra-municipal passenger movement.
- Household goods
- Regulated at any vehicle weight. A household goods mover must hold an NCUC certificate of exemption before transporting household goods for compensation within North Carolina, must abide by the Commission's Maximum Rate Tariff, and must attend a training seminar within three months of the order granting the certificate.
- Hazmat
- NoSourced negative. North Carolina issues no intrastate hazardous materials operating authority. What placarded hazmat does is pull the carrier inside Chapter 20 Article 17 at any vehicle weight: G.S. 20-376(5)(c) defines an intrastate motor carrier to include one operating a vehicle used in transporting a hazardous material in a quantity requiring placarding under 49 C.F.R. Parts 170 through 185, alongside the 26,001-pound and 16-passenger triggers in the same definition. The consequence is safety regulation, not a certificate: G.S. 20-381(a)(1b) charges the State Highway Patrol with enforcing the federal safety and hazardous materials regulations, and G.S. 20-381(a)(3) with adopting rules to minimize the dangers of transporting hazardous materials. There is therefore no state hazmat authority fee or threshold to record.
North Carolina insurance minimums
State minimums can differ from the federal filing levels; the federal side is covered in our insurance filings guide.
- Liability minimum
- $750,000 (G.S. 20-309(a1) requires the owner of a commercial motor vehicle, as defined in G.S. 20-4.01(3d), to carry financial responsibility in an amount equal to that required for for-hire carriers transporting nonhazardous property in interstate or foreign commerce under 49 C.F.R. 387.9. NCDMV states the same figure on its Commercial Trucking page: the minimum required is $750,000. The unusual part is the reach, not the number. North Carolina applies the federal for-hire interstate floor to commercial vehicle owners generally, including intrastate and private operation.)
Minimum liability by operation type
General freight is not the floor for every carrier. Hazmat and larger passenger operations carry higher minimums; buy against the row that matches what you haul.
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Other North Carolina insurance requirements
Insurance filing forms
Your insurance company makes these filings with the state, not you.
- Liability proof
- Form E, Uniform Motor Carrier Bodily Injury and Property Damage Liability Certificate of Insurance
- Interstate federally regulated
- Form BMC-91, filed with the Division of Motor Vehicles before an apportioned license can be purchased
- Note
- Filings are made by the insurance company. NCDMV requires a Form BMC-91 from each motor carrier regulated by the Federal Highway Administration and a Form E from each for-hire interstate motor carrier before an apportioned plate is issued, and requires the registrant to notify the Division of any change in liability coverage.
More North Carolina authority rules
- Answer summary: text
- North Carolina does not issue an intrastate operating authority for general freight. Chapter 62 Article 12 reaches only the intrastate transportation of passengers and household goods, so a for-hire property carrier that hauls general freight inside North Carolina needs no certificate from the Utilities Commission. Three obligations still apply. A household goods mover needs an NCUC certificate of exemption before it moves anything. Any for-hire intrastate carrier must register its operations with the Division of Motor Vehicles, verify insurance on each for-hire vehicle, and pay the fee in G.S. 20-385. And any intrastate commercial vehicle rated over 26,000 pounds must display the carrier's USDOT number followed by the letters NC.
- Certificate required for: household goods
- Certificate required. The Commission exempted household goods transportation from full rate-and-route regulation by order dated February 22, 2002 in Docket No. T-100, Sub 49, and replaced it with a requirement that a mover first obtain a certificate of exemption under G.S. 62-261(8). The certificate is issued as a C number.
- Certificate required for: passenger bus
- Certificate required. A regular-route bus company needs a Commission certificate (B number) to transport passengers over fixed regular routes by motor vehicle in intrastate commerce.
- Certificate required for: passenger broker
- Certificate required. A passenger broker needs a Commission certificate (B number) to arrange for the transportation of passengers by motor vehicle in intrastate commerce.
- Certificate required for: ferryboat
- Certificate required. A ferryboat operator needs a Commission certificate (A number) to transport passengers as a common carrier in ferry operations by water.
- Certificate requirement statute: detail
- Except as otherwise provided in G.S. 62-260, 62-262.1 and 62-265, no person shall engage in the transportation of passengers or household goods in intrastate commerce unless that person has applied to and obtained from the Commission a certificate authorizing such operations.
- Certificate of exemption statute: detail
- G.S. 62-261(8) empowers the Commission to find that household goods transportation by a carrier or class of carriers does not substantially affect or impair uniform regulation, and on so finding to issue a certificate of exemption that releases the carrier from the rest of Article 12 subject to whatever reasonable terms and conditions the public interest requires. The Commission used that power in 2002 to move the whole household goods class onto certificates of exemption.
- Hazmat intrastate regulation: detail
- A vehicle used in transporting a hazardous material in a quantity requiring placarding pursuant to 49 C.F.R. Parts 170 through 185 makes its operator an intrastate motor carrier for the purposes of Chapter 20 Article 17 regardless of vehicle weight. Article 17 defines the federal safety and hazardous materials regulations as 49 C.F.R. Parts 171 through 180, 382, and 390 through 398, and gives the State Highway Patrol the power to enforce them, to set safety standards for intrastate vehicles, to determine the safety fitness of intrastate motor carriers, and to assign them safety ratings as defined in 49 C.F.R. 385.3.
- State number marking: format
- The name of the owner, plus the motor carrier's identification number preceded by the letters USDOT and followed by the letters NC
- State number marking: placement
- Printed on each side of the vehicle in letters not less than three inches in height
- State number marking: applies to
- A motor vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of more than 26,000 pounds used in intrastate commerce
- State number marking: exceptions
- Does not apply if the vehicle is subject to 49 C.F.R. Part 390, is of a type listed in 49 C.F.R. 390.3(f), or is licensed at the farmer rate under G.S. 20-88. A vehicle subject to regulation by the Utilities Commission is marked as the Commission requires and as this section otherwise requires.
- For hire registration: detail
- A for-hire motor carrier may not operate a for-hire motor vehicle in intrastate commerce in North Carolina unless it has registered its operations with the State, verified that it has insurance for each for-hire motor vehicle it operates in the State, and paid the fees set in G.S. 20-385. A carrier that hauls household goods registers by obtaining an NCUC certificate of authority or a certificate of exemption from the Division; a carrier that does not haul household goods registers its operations with the Division. Insurance verification is done by submitting an insurance verification form to the Division and filing annually with the Division a list of the for-hire vehicles the carrier operates in the State.
- For hire registration: fee detail
- Application by an intrastate motor carrier for a certificate of exemption, $77.25. The fee schedule also sets $77.25 for certification by an interstate motor carrier that it is not regulated by the United States Department of Transportation and $29.50 for an interstate motor carrier's emergency trip permit application. These fees are in addition to any fees required under the Unified Carrier Registration Agreement.
- For hire registration: published process
- 19A NCAC 03C .0501 is the published rule. A carrier seeking a for-hire license must meet any applicable requirements of city boards under G.S. 160A-304, of the North Carolina Utilities Commission under G.S. 62-260, and of the Unified Carrier Registration Agreement and the International Registration Plan, before the licence issues. Its History Note cites G.S. 20-382 as authority and the rule was readopted effective June 1, 2021.
- For hire registration penalty: detail
- A motor carrier that operates a for-hire motor vehicle in North Carolina without registering its operations, or that operates a for-hire motor vehicle in intrastate commerce for which it has not verified insurance as required by G.S. 20-382.1, is subject to a civil penalty of $1,000. When the State Highway Patrol finds a for-hire vehicle operating in violation, it must place the vehicle out of service until the carrier is in compliance and the penalty is paid, unless the officer imposing the penalty determines that operation will not jeopardize collection. A carrier that denies liability may pay under protest and seek departmental review under G.S. 20-178.1. No North Carolina court may enjoin collection of the penalty or permit the vehicle to operate without paying it.
- Interstate registration: detail
- For interstate operation the parallel section is G.S. 20-382: the carrier registers its operations with its base state, either files a copy of its USDOT certificate of authority or certifies to the Division that it carries only unregulated items, verifies insurance on each for-hire vehicle, and pays the G.S. 20-385 fees. A carrier that is not registered may obtain an emergency trip permit good for no more than 10 days.
- Application form detail: household goods
- Application for Certificate of Exemption to Transport Household Goods (transCE-1), plus the Application for Transfer of Existing Certificate of Exemption (transCE-2) when an existing certificate changes hands.
- Application form detail: passenger
- Instructions for Passenger Transportation Application and Application for Passenger Transportation; Application for Sale or Transfer of Bus or Ferry Certificate.
- Application form detail: ongoing
- Household Goods Carrier Annual Report Instructions and Form, Household Goods Carrier Verification Form Filed with Annual Report, Household Goods Carrier Verification of Principals Form, and the annual Household Goods Carrier Principal's Criminal History and Citizenship/Employment Authorization Update Form.
- USDOT prerequisite: note
- Not established as a prerequisite to the NCUC certificate of exemption. Form CE-1 asks for federal authority only if the applicant happens to hold it, and does not condition issuance on a USDOT number. Separately, G.S. 20-101(b) requires an intrastate vehicle over 26,000 pounds GVWR to display a USDOT number with an NC suffix, which means a heavy intrastate carrier will need one, but the CE-1 packet does not make it a filing condition, so no prerequisite is asserted here.
- Household goods insurance detail: liability form e
- $100,000 per person / $300,000 per occurrence / $50,000 property damage for a gross vehicle weight of 26,000 pounds or less, and $750,000 for a gross vehicle weight of more than 26,000 pounds
- Household goods insurance detail: cargo form h
- $35,000 for loss of or damage to household goods carried on any one motor vehicle and $50,000 for loss of or damage to household goods occurring at any one time and place
- Household goods insurance detail: filing
- Forms E and H are filed with the Division of Motor Vehicles, or with the Commission if they are not on file with DMV. A certificate of insurance issued by the applicant's insurer goes to the Office of the Chief Clerk and should be marked CONFIDENTIAL.
- Statutory insurance floor: detail
- No certificate or broker's license issues or remains in force until the applicant has procured and filed with the Division of Motor Vehicles the security bond, insurance, or self-insurance the Commission requires by regulation. The statutory floor is $50,000 for bodily injury to or death of one person in any one accident, $100,000 for bodily injury to or death of two or more persons in any one accident subject to that per-person limit, and $50,000 for injury to or destruction of the property of others in any one accident. The Commission may require more. Bus companies instead file proof of financial responsibility at the levels prescribed for motor carriers of passengers under 49 U.S.C. 31138.
- Process: steps
- Household goods: read the CE-1 instructions, complete the application, and mail the original and two copies to the Office of the Chief Clerk with the fingerprint cards, the signed Authority for Release of Information for each principal, and the $38.00 records-check payment per principal. The Chief Clerk assigns a docket number at filing. An incomplete application can be finished within 120 days of receipt. Certification is by Commission order, and the certificate is issued as a C number.
- Process: training required
- All new carriers must attend a Maximum Rate Tariff training seminar within three months from the date of the order granting the certificate of exemption. The seminars are run jointly by the Commission, the Public Staff, and the North Carolina Movers Association.
- Process: contact
- NCUC application questions: (919) 733-4036. Public Staff Consumer Services: 866-380-9816.
| Title | Detail |
|---|---|
| No authority is not no paperwork | A carrier reads that North Carolina deregulated intrastate freight and concludes there is nothing to file. G.S. 20-382.1 still requires a for-hire intrastate carrier to register its operations with the Division, verify insurance on every for-hire vehicle, and pay the G.S. 20-385 fee, and G.S. 20-382.2 backs that with a $1,000 civil penalty plus an out-of-service order until the carrier complies and pays. G.S. 20-101(b) still requires the USDOT number with an NC suffix on anything over 26,000 pounds GVWR. And G.S. 20-309(a1) still puts a $750,000 floor under the liability policy. |
| The $750,000 floor is not just for interstate carriers | Carriers who never leave North Carolina often shop a policy at state minimum limits. G.S. 20-309(a1) sets financial responsibility for the owner of any commercial motor vehicle at the federal for-hire interstate figure in 49 C.F.R. 387.9, and NCDMV states the minimum as $750,000. Registration depends on maintaining it continuously through the registration period. |
| Household goods is regulated even though freight is not | Moving household goods for compensation inside North Carolina requires an NCUC certificate of exemption, Form E and Form H insurance filings, fingerprints and a criminal history check for every principal, and adherence to the Commission's Maximum Rate Tariff, which caps what a mover may charge. A mover cannot start on the strength of a USDOT number alone. |
| The C number is a household goods number, not a freight credential | Carriers see C numbers on North Carolina moving company paperwork and assume there is a general state carrier number to apply for. There is not. The Commission's list of C numbers is titled as the list of carriers issued a certificate of exemption authorizing household goods transportation, and held 360 certified household goods carriers when read on July 28, 2026. |
Who the Utilities Commission actually regulates
G.S. 62-262(a) requires a Commission certificate from a person engaging in the transportation of passengers or household goods in intrastate commerce. General freight sits outside the Article, which is why the state issues no freight authority and charges no freight authority fee.
Four classes do hold Commission credentials. Household goods movers hold a certificate of exemption, issued as a C number. Regular-route bus companies and passenger brokers hold a B number. Ferryboat operators hold an A number. Several passenger operations are exempted by statute, among them taxicabs below a published seat count, hotel shuttles, airport transfers, school and religious transportation, employee transportation, and wholly intra-municipal movement.
The household goods exception
Moving household goods for pay inside North Carolina is regulated at any vehicle weight. The Commission took the whole class out of full rate-and-route regulation by order and replaced it with a certificate of exemption under G.S. 62-261(8), so a mover files Form CE-1 with the Office of the Chief Clerk before it moves anything.
The packet is heavier than the word exemption suggests. It carries fingerprint cards, a signed release for each company principal, a criminal history payment per principal, and liability and cargo insurance filings made by the insurer. New carriers also attend a Maximum Rate Tariff training seminar inside the window the granting order sets, because the Commission caps what a mover may charge.
The registration duty nobody publishes
This is the trap in a deregulated state. G.S. 20-382.1 says a for-hire motor carrier may not operate a for-hire motor vehicle in intrastate commerce in North Carolina unless it has registered its operations with the State, verified insurance for each for-hire vehicle, and paid the fee set in G.S. 20-385. A household goods mover satisfies it through the Commission certificate; everyone else registers with the Division.
The penalty is real. G.S. 20-382.2 sets a civil penalty for operating without registering or without verified insurance, and the State Highway Patrol must place the vehicle out of service until the carrier complies and pays, unless the officer decides collection is not at risk.
Here is the honest part. No Division page or downloadable form describing how a non-household-goods carrier makes this filing was published when we looked. The obligation is in statute and so is the penalty; only the how is missing. Call Division customer service before deciding it does not reach you.
Insurance minimums and filings
North Carolina sets its liability floor by reference rather than with its own number. G.S. 20-309(a1) requires the owner of a commercial motor vehicle to carry financial responsibility equal to the amount required of for-hire carriers transporting nonhazardous property in interstate commerce under the federal rule, and the Division of Motor Vehicles states the same figure on its commercial trucking page.
What differs is reach, not amount. The federal rule binds interstate for-hire property carriers; the state statute binds the owner of any commercial motor vehicle registered here, intrastate and private included. Passenger operations sit higher, household goods movers add cargo coverage, and carriers holding a Commission certificate also meet a statutory floor of their own. The schedule below lists each operation type with its amount, and the insurer makes the filings, not the carrier.
Marking, and the state carrier number that does not exist
There is no North Carolina carrier number to apply for. The C number on a mover's paperwork belongs to the household goods certificate of exemption and to nothing else; bus companies and passenger brokers carry a B number, and ferryboat operators an A number.
What a heavy intrastate truck does display is a USDOT number with a state suffix. G.S. 20-101(b) requires the owner's name plus the carrier identification number, preceded by USDOT and followed by the letters NC, on each side of a vehicle rated above the published gross weight rating and used in intrastate commerce. Vehicles already subject to the federal marking rule, vehicles of a type that rule lists, and trucks licensed at the farmer rate sit outside it.
Where this fits in the North Carolina launch
A cell reading "Not confirmed" means the agency did not publish a figure we could verify, so we left it open rather than guessed. For the full launch order, work through start a trucking company in North Carolina, then line up IRP registration and IFTA if you run beyond state lines. To compare every state at once, see the national intrastate authority table.
Frequently asked questions
Does North Carolina require intrastate operating authority for for-hire trucking?
- Only for passengers and household goods. G.S. 62-262(a) limits the Commission certificate requirement to those two classes, so a for-hire general freight carrier operating inside North Carolina has no certificate to obtain. The duties that remain are registration with the Division, insurance verification, and vehicle marking.
What is a North Carolina C number?
- The certificate of exemption number the Utilities Commission issues to a household goods mover. It is not a general carrier credential and a freight carrier cannot obtain one. Bus companies and passenger brokers carry a B number, ferryboat operators an A number.
What insurance does North Carolina require for an intrastate carrier?
- The same liability amount federal rules require of interstate for-hire property carriers, applied by statute to the owner of any commercial motor vehicle. Household goods movers add cargo coverage on Form H and file liability on Form E through their insurer. The schedule below carries each operation type with its amount.
Do I have to register with the Division if I only haul general freight in state?
- The statute says yes. G.S. 20-382.1 reaches any for-hire motor carrier operating a for-hire motor vehicle in intrastate commerce, and G.S. 20-382.2 backs it with a civil penalty plus an out-of-service order. No published Division page explains the filing, so call before assuming otherwise.
What does household goods authority cost in North Carolina?
- The Commission charges no application fee for the certificate of exemption. What the applicant does pay is a criminal history records check for each company principal, plus the Division fee the statute sets for an intrastate carrier's certificate of exemption application. The schedule below lists both.
Haul Handbook publishes educational information about trucking registration and compliance requirements. This is not legal, financial, or tax advice. Rules, fees, and deadlines change; confirm with the agency before you file or pay.