For several weeks now we have been struggling to get our TERO permit. TERO is an integral part of living on the reservation. Our Life on the Bakken is found to be much more colorful because of the reservation.
TERO stands for - get this - Tribal Rights Employment Office (no...I did not say TREO and no I did not say Tribal Employment Rights Office.) YEP! That's what it stands for. AND this is part of the Three Affiliated Tribes (TAT) known as the MHA (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara) Nation located on the largest reservation in the United States and North Dakota known as Fort Berthold.
The TAT TERO office issues annual permits allowing companies working on the reservation to continue operating their vehicles and their businesses here. The permit helps them guarantee their cut in the revenue pie here on the Bakken/Reservation and this year's fees indicate they are wanting a good chunk of pie (so-to-speak). With the inital filing fee at $100 - we all think that is reasonable. But then there's the Contractor's Permit Application - $1000, and you have to register your trucks you'll be driving on the reservation but not just with TAT TERO, but also with MHA DOT (Department of Transportation) at $1000 for every FIVE vehicles that's $200 per STICKER per truck and if your pickups have any form of a logo on them, they must have their sticker too. Say you have SIX vehicles to register? $2000!!! YEP! There's no prorating this.
But there are several different forms to fill out and they want copies of your vehicle registrations, unit numbers identified, along with your certificate of insurance. You can't get TAT TERO to talk to you until you have your form signed by MHA DOT. You can't get MHA DOT to talk to you until you have the TAT TERO receipt for your initial filing fee. You can't pickup your stickers until your TAT TERO application if formally approved and you have your TAT TERO Permit Number. Then you have to make sure you have duplicate copies of everything because TAT TERO and MHA DOT don't like to share and they BOTH need copies of everything you bring in. And make sure you give the check to the right place or you'll be tracking those down too!
Needless to say, our permit was up in March but we were unable to acquire our renewed permit until June 25. I had to go back in 5 times to get things finalized and get checks cut and brought to the right place, make duplicate copies of everything and STILL lost my initial application and vehicle application copies somewhere along the way! I spent over two weeks worth of man hours trying to get this figured out and about 400-600 miles in the car. And to add insult to injury - the day I got this all finalized we were pulled over by a TAT TERO officer and fined for not having our sticker in the window!!! I mean really?!?!
