IFTA Decals: Requirements, Cost, and Placement

Every IFTA-qualified vehicle needs two decals, one on each side of the cab, generally placed in the lower rear corner. Both decals need to stay clearly visible during operation, not tucked somewhere they'd be hard for an inspector to actually see at a roadside stop. This is a uniform requirement across IFTA member jurisdictions, part of the shared agreement rather than something each state or province defines independently.

The decals themselves rotate through a security color and number scheme on a set cycle, a detail most fleets never need to think about but that exists specifically to make counterfeit or reused decals easier for inspectors to catch. A decal from an old cycle displayed on a vehicle is a real red flag at inspection, which is one more reason letting decals lapse without renewing is a genuine compliance risk, not just a paperwork oversight.

Most IFTA member jurisdictions don't charge anything for the initial decals issued with a new license. That's the norm across the large majority of states and provinces. New Jersey is a notable exception, charging a per-set fee for decals, whether for initial issuance, additional vehicles added mid-year, or replacements for lost or damaged decals, a genuine outlier worth budgeting for specifically if a fleet operates there.

Decals are tied to the license they're issued under, which in most jurisdictions runs on a calendar year. That means a decal is generally valid only through the license period it was issued for, and a new set is needed at renewal even if the old ones are still physically intact.

A lost, stolen, or damaged decal needs a replacement request through the vehicle's base jurisdiction, not through IFTA, Inc. directly, since IFTA, Inc. coordinates the agreement between jurisdictions but doesn't issue credentials to individual carriers itself. The exact process varies by state or province, but generally involves specifying the reason for the replacement, decal error, destruction, or loss, when submitting the request.

Operating without a valid, visible decal on both sides of the cab is a real inspection finding, not a minor detail. Treating decal replacement as urgent rather than something to get to eventually is worth doing given how directly visible a missing or invalid decal is to any inspector at a routine stop.