KYU Number on a Truck: What It Is and What to Confirm

If you keep seeing a KYU number on truck registrations, door lettering or load paperwork, here is what it is: a tax license, not a carrier ID like a USDOT number. KYU is a weight-distance tax license issued by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) to carriers traveling Kentucky roads with a combined license weight greater than 59,999 pounds (KYTC). Whether and how the KYU number itself goes on the vehicle is a question for KYTC, and the last section below lists what to ask.

What the KYU license is

KYTC's KYU page describes a tax charged by the mile for travel on Kentucky roads, at $0.0285 per mile under KRS 138.660. KYTC's Division of Motor Carriers issues KYU numbers, and the license requires quarterly tax filings. All qualified vehicles must be listed on the KYU inventory "to avoid citations," according to the same page.

So the number on your paperwork identifies a tax account. It does not identify the carrier or its operating authority, which is the job of the USDOT and MC numbers.

Who needs it: the weight test

KYTC's weight table lists "KYU: KY Weight Distance license is required" for 60,000 to 80,000 pounds combined license weight, for intrastate and interstate carriers alike (KYTC weight table). The statute text says weight "in excess of" 59,999 pounds.

Combined license weight is the greater of two figures: the declared combined maximum gross weight of the vehicle and any towed unit for the registration period, or the highest actual combined gross weight on Kentucky highways in that period (KYTC). Towing a heavier trailer can therefore change your number, not just the truck itself.

KYU, USDOT and KIT are three different things

• KYU: the weight-distance tax license above.
• USDOT number: KYTC says carriers running vehicles of 10,001 pounds GVWR or more in Kentucky need a USDOT number and must display it. Its table lists a USDOT number as not required for vehicles under 10,001 pounds GVWR (KYTC). For the federal marking rule, see 49 CFR 390.21 or our display rules page.
• KIT: the Kentucky Intrastate Tax license, which KYTC lists as required for intrastate vehicles of 10,001 to 26,000 pounds GVWR with three or more axles, and for intrastate vehicles over 26,000 pounds combined license weight (KYTC).

A heavy intrastate tractor-trailer can therefore fall under all three at once. Keep the numbers straight when you letter the truck.

Does the KYU number go on the truck? What to ask KYTC

This is the question behind most searches, and we are not going to guess at it. Kentucky's motor carrier regulation, 601 KAR 1:200, covers how a KYU number is displayed, and the state's regulation site also shows a proposed amendment to it. Display wording that may be changing is a risky time to order lettering, so confirm with KYTC before you order. Ask:

• Does my vehicle need the KYU number displayed today, and under which version of the regulation?
• Where on the vehicle does it go, and in what format?
• If I run under another carrier's account or lease my truck, whose number applies?
• Does my KIT license, if I have one, change the answer?

Write down the date, the person and the answer. Rules change, and this is not legal advice.

Ordering a KYU decal

If KYTC tells you to show the number, our KYU number decal prints the number you type on a rectangle in the background color you choose. The single regulation number decal works the same way. Decals are priced per decal, so order 2 for both sides.

Do not let the KYU question hold up the USDOT number. See who needs a USDOT number and where to put it on the truck, and compare other states in USDOT number requirements by state.