What is CTC-VIS?
CTC-VIS is CARB's online portal at cleantruckcheck.arb.ca.gov. If your fleet has any vehicles over 14,000 lb GVWR operating in California, you have to use CTC-VIS to manage compliance. That includes setting up your entity account, adding each vehicle to your account, paying the annual compliance fee per vehicle, viewing test results submitted by your tester (or by an Clean Truck Check device), and downloading the compliance certificate that proves your vehicle is current.
CTC-VIS is genuinely useful but the interface is dense. The documentation assumes you already know the regulatory framework, and the workflows have edge cases that aren't obvious from the dashboard. These guides walk through the common tasks in operator language, with screenshots of the actual CTC-VIS screens. The walkthroughs are written by the same team that operates Smart CTC and CTCP, which means we have run through these flows on hundreds of fleet accounts.
Where to start
If this is your first time touching CTC-VIS, start with the account-setup walkthrough. Everything else assumes you have a CTC-VIS account with at least one vehicle on it.
If you're trying to figure out when your test is due (rather than how to do something in CTC-VIS), the free test-due calculator we're publishing in our next release is the faster path. For the longer conceptual treatment of testing options, the testing options comparison covers in-shop, mobile, and Clean Truck Check device in depth.
Available walkthroughs
Setting up your CTC-VIS account
Five-step walkthrough: create account, set password, add vehicles, pay the annual compliance fee, download the compliance certificate.
Logging into CTC-VIS (after first setup)
What to do when you can't find the login page, password reset, account recovery, multi-user dashboards.
Coming soon
Paying CTC-VIS fees — credit card vs. eCheck, prorated fees, payment failures
Deeper than the account-setup walkthrough. Includes the common payment-failure paths and how to resolve them.
Coming soon
Managing multiple vehicles in one CTC-VIS account
Adding, removing, and updating vehicles. Bulk-add for fleets. What happens when a vehicle changes ownership.
Coming soon
Responding to a Notice to Submit to Testing (NST)
What an NST is, what triggers one, and how to respond in CTC-VIS to clear it before enforcement.
Coming soon
Need a real human?
These walkthroughs cover the standard happy path. If you're stuck in an edge case — a vehicle that won't add, a fee that won't process, a certificate that won't download — the fastest unstuck path is usually CARB's own Clean Truck Check helpdesk. The Smart CTC support team also walks operators through CTC-VIS setup as part of onboarding, since the same workflow applies whether you're using in-shop, mobile, or Clean Truck Check device testing.