Interstate vs Intrastate
Interstate and intrastate are concepts that have great implications in business and transport. This is because of the fact that trucks that roam inside a state are governed by the laws of that state alone while intrastate trucks are allowed to go inside other states also thereby being governed by a different set of laws. The same applies to interstate and intrastate conflicts and interstate and intrastate businesses. Many people fail to appreciate the differences between these two concepts. This article attempts to highlight the differences between interstate and intrastate.
Interstate
As the word implies, interstate means anything that involves more than a single state. There are carriers and transport companies that operate in several states and their trucks pass between many states. For this, these carriers have to obtain authorization from different states. Heb trucks that roam around various states are governed by the rules of the Department of Transportation and have to follow the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. If a victim of road accident has been hit by an interstate truck, the compensation or the recovery is dependent upon the rules of DOT and not the laws of the state. If one is talking about interstate business, a company that is in one state provides its products and services to a customer in another state or several states.
Intrastate
Intrastate refers to anything that pertains to a single state and does not require crossing over the boundaries of a single state. Thus, carriers operating inside a single state are governed by the state laws and not the rules and regulations of the Department of Transportation. This has implications for unfortunate victims of road accidents as their compensation claim will depend upon state laws, if they are hit by an intrastate truck. Though DOT rules are not applied in case of intrastate movement, many states adopt DOT rules to make them as their own state laws. In the case of intrastate business, the company and its customers happen to be inside the same state.
What is the difference between Interstate and Intrastate?
• Intrastate refers to anything within a single state in the country whereas interstate refers to anything involving two or more states.
• In the case of intrastate transport, rules of the state apply whereas interstate movement of trucks requires authorization from al concerned states as well as application of rules of Department of Transportation.
• There is implication for business conflicts and carriers for interstate and intrastate parties.
Question: How does the FMCSA compliance definition of Interstate as between two places within a state as part of trade, traffic, or transportation originating or terminating outside the state or the U.S. impact the definition of Intrastate commerce when a driver picks up a shipment from a DC that originated in another state but delivers it within the same state of pick up. Does the fact that the shipment originated in another state or country now make him a interstate operator. The product belongs to the same company at pick up as delivery. They are merely shuttling it to the same owner.
Thanks
It is very possible ( think UPS) for a driver to pick up a load ( or package) in one town and drive 10 miles to deliver it still within the same state and it can be INTERSTATE commerce if the truck or truck and trailer used weighs or is registered over 10,000 pounds. This would assume that the package/load came from outside of the state and has not reached its final destination.
Another example that is different. You pick up a load of brick in Ohio and bring it to a Lowe’s in Pennsylvania. The final destination is Harrisburg, PA. Certainly that’s interstate commerce. A company buys the bricks at the Harrisburg Lowes and takes them to a job in Hershey, PA about 15 miles away. Since the original load of bricks was fully destined for Harrisburg , its interstate movement was over. The new purchaser bought the bricks in PA and moved them in PA. Now its an INTRASTATE movement.
Your company orders a large trailer full of warehouse shelving from Michigan. It gets delivered to your warehouse in Tenn for future use. It is fully destinated. Two weeks later you need it for a job within your state. The next transportation is in the back of an F-350 ( bunch of trips) is an interstate movement in a Non-CMV.
Keep in mind that states have their own laws on Commercial vehicles. In PA , any truck or truck and trailer combination over 17,000 pounds used in commerce is considered a CMV even if they drive one mile. Such a truck must have DOT #, driver needs a DOT med Card, hours of service rules apply etc. But if the truck and trailer were at 16,000 pounds and never leaves PA ( and doesn’t haul placarded haz mat or transport an interstate load to its final destination) it is not DOT regulated.
North Carolina does not regulate any intrastate commerce ( Non haz mat or 8+ passengers) at or under 26,000 pounds.