How to renew a California TCP permit

A charter-party carrier permit or certificate (any of the TCP types, and the PSC certificate for scheduled service) is issued for a fixed term and expires on the end date printed on your certificate and shown in the CPUC TCP portal. Let it pass and you are operating without authority, which is a citation on the road and a fresh application at the Commission.

Know your date

Sign in to the portal, open your carrier account, and look at the Contracts list. Each authority shows a status and an end date. That end date is the deadline. keepmytcp reads the same public record every night and shows it on your status page, but you should look at the source at least once so you know what it looks like.

Start four months out

Renewal is not one form. The Commission will not renew an authority that has any other deficiency, so the renewal is really a review of everything below. The renewal must be filed at least three months before the end date (General Order 157-E, Rule 3.05), so start a month before that to leave time to fix what turns up.

1. Insurance on file. Your liability policy must be current and filed by the insurer with the Commission, at the minimum for the largest vehicle on your equipment list. See the insurance guide. Ask your broker for the filing confirmation, not just the certificate.
2. Workers' compensation. A policy on file, or a signed exemption if you truly have no employees. A lapse here suspends the authority just as fast as liability does.
3. PUCTRA fees current. Every quarter filed and paid, including any zero-revenue quarters. An unfiled quarter blocks renewal. See the PUCTRA guide.
4. Equipment list accurate. Every vehicle you run is listed, and nothing you have sold is still there. A sold bus left on the list can raise your insurance minimum above what you carry.
5. Drivers and testing. Enrollment in a controlled-substance and alcohol testing program, current driver records through the DMV Employer Pull Notice program, and for drivers of larger vehicles, the medical card and endorsements their class of license requires.
6. Vehicle registrations and CHP inspections current for anything that needs them.

File the renewal

In the portal, open the authority and choose the renewal action. Confirm the business details, upload anything it asks for, and pay the renewal fee shown on the payment screen. The portal is the only place the current fee is published, so do not rely on a number from an old email. Once submitted, the authority shows a pending renewal and an analyst reviews it.

After you submit

• Watch the portal and your email for a deficiency letter. Letters list what is missing and a date to cure it. Missing that date restarts the clock.
• Reply through the case in the portal, not by emailing the analyst directly, so the response is on the record.
• When the status changes to Active with a new end date, download the new certificate and give a copy to your insurer and your airport permit office.