Oregon Bonds and Road Tax Questions
 

Anyone here have any experience in applying to have their Oregon road tax filings changed from the monthly requirement to quarterly? I was looking at the info the OR DOT sends out to all its registered carriers and we meet the requirements. I just wonder how often they actually let a carrier go to a quarterly filing schedule. It sure would be nice to not have to send them money every month or file a report even when we have no Oregon mileage.

Also, for those who have their own authority and are apportioned in OR, do you post a cash bond, or pay a bonding company yearly to put one up for you? We’ve been using a bonding company, but I was considering just posting a cash bond… it’s only $2k after all. Do they pay interest on your money (if so, how much), and do you have to file any additional paperwork each year, or just send them the $2k once and forget about it until you stop running there?

The interest isn't enough to justify paying a cash bond. Decent financials(and past payments) should keep you from posting any bond.

Some years ago I had the Oregon plate. They used to issue a red tag for the truck. I now just order a trip permit any time I go into the state. I just don't want to deal with the extra paperwork. If I ran out there every week then I might want to post the bond. I can't see giving them that much of my money for them to use without paying me interest. In my case, I don't go there very much. You can order trip permits on line with a credit card. It costs $9 for using a credit card, but you don't need to worry about getting back in time to do your monthly reports.

I've never been late with a payment or a monthly filing and they still require the bond from us. A corporate credit rating is hard to come by when you don't operate anything on credit in the first place. If they were to use my personal credit rating, perhaps they wouldn’t require a bond, but it doesn't work like that. I thought I saw where you could petition to have the bond requirement dropped, but I can’t recall now where I read it. I suppose I could just call the ODOT up. Last time I spoke with them they were very polite and helpful.

I don't worry about getting back in time to file the monthly reports. I can literally do anything on the road from my truck that I can do from my home office. I've even done IFTA quarterlies before while sitting in my truck at a Flying J. I prefer NOT to do those things while on the road, but I can if the need arises.

We do our best to stay out of Oregon, but sometimes it is unavoidable, and to me it makes more sense to just keep a yearly permit and file the monthly reports, though doing so quarterly would be more convenient. You can log onto the ODOT website and it takes all of about two minutes to file (and pay if necessary) a monthly statement.

My primary reason for considering posting the cash instead of the bond is not to gain whatever interest they may pay, but to save the 10% fee the bonding agency demands. Eliminating a 10% is effectively the same as putting $2k in the bank at that same interest rate. Same reason I started doing my own tires. Not paying for mounting really adds up over the year, especially if you like rotating frequently as I do.

It has been quite a few years since Oregon issued the red base plates for those traveling in the state. I don't believe we had to put up a bond at that time. It is my understanding that there were a lot of carriers who failed to pay their fuel tax bills and that is the reason that they started requiring the bond. I seem to remember reading on their website that you can request that the bond be waived after a certain time frame as long as you have not been late on any of your payments. Before doing anything you may want to look into it and see if that may work for you.

Musicman.... I just so happen to know a thing or two about Oregon's scam of weight per mile.... I own a small fleet based and plated here and I deal with ODOT-MCTD all of the time and have first hand current knowledge. 1) Get a bond, it easy and 200 bucks a year. 2) You will be required to file monthly mileage reports,even if you have no operations in this anti-business state. (you can do this and pay online). 3) You MAY get the bond requirement waived after TWO years of on time reports with NO mistakes. 4) Quarterly filing status is very difficult to acheive, it took me 5 years to be approved for it, and that is with not one late or erroneous report. Feel free to ask me any other questions about ODOT-MCTD as I have first hand knowledge, not "years ago" or "I heard from another driver" knowledge....:thumbsup:

BigD, we're not new to filing with OR, we've been doing it for about a year and a half now. It really isn’t a big deal, though it CAN be a big expense. Log on, select trucks, enter beginning and ending odometer readings for the month, enter OR miles run, and bend over.

I certainly appreciate the info on the two year requirement before asking for waiver of the bond. That was my primary interest. Did ODOT ever give you a reason why they made you wait five years before approving you to go to a quarterly filing schedule? I know you can apply after 13 months and no late or erroneous payments… of course that is the MINIMUM criteria.

It is a shame that such a beautiful state is so anti business. I hate the expense and the BS 55mph speed limit, and worrying about chaining in the winter, but still love running the Columbia River Gorge and counting bald eagles every now and then.

You say you try your best to avoid going there but sometimes it can't be helped. So how often do you get there? With one truck, it's easiest to just do as Gman said and get a trip permit each time. Go online or call and have them fax it to your truck. Takes me 2 minutes and costs an extra $9 per permit which is good for 7-10 days (I can't remember exactly) which is plenty long for a round-trip. If your bond is going to cost you $200 a year, you'd have to make 23 trips before you saved any money.

Ummmmmmm..... you forgot the weight per mile tax of .1316 cents per mile traveled as determined by ODOT.....