Tired of your NYS Commercial Plates?

[BeerBrewer]

I finally got sick and tired of the insanity of the NY State DMV requiring that pick-ups over 6000 lbs be register as commercial vehicles. The actual use of the vehicle should determine the whether or not it needs commercial plates and NOT its weight! There are plenty of vehicles over 6000 lbs that are legally registered with passenger plates, so why not pickup trucks?. So I've written the head of the NYS DMV, Attorney General and my local New York State Senator John J. Flanagan the Minority Conference Leader. Senator Flanagan actually called me and was sympathetic to my issue. So those of your who live in NY I strongly suggest that you call, email or write your NY State Senator as well. You can reach Senator John J. Flanagan at the following web page.

https://www.nysenate.gov/registration/nojs/form/start/message-senator?senator=4518701

It's time we stand up for our rights. We can complain to DMV until the cows come home. They are only enforcing the STUPID law the NYS Legislature passed, so only they can fix this!

[BurbMan]

Beer brewer, I agree the law is crazy. My Suburban weighs 6700 lbs empty with 8600 GVWR and has passenger plates like a station wagon. We recently acquired a truck camper, so will be looking for a 3500 truck at some point.

FWIW, the parks and parkways were the vision of famous civil planner Robert Moses, and the bridges on the parkways were built low on purpose so that buses couldn't use them. This meant that people from the city couldn't take the bus to the state park....only people who were well-off enough to own a car (this was late 1930's post-depression era) could use the parkway and access the parks and beaches. This type of discrimination was not uncommon all over the US in that era.

[ACZL]

mooky stinks wrote:
My problem (I have others) is with paying $128 per year for a trailer that sees maybe 1500 miles a season.

Don't renew the reg until May. The whole fee will be pro-rated so you end up paying less. I save 50-60 bucks +/-. I reg my utility and snowmobile trailers in Maine for 22 bucks each. Same thing in NY would be like 30-35 and 60-75 respectively. NYS can KMA !

ONLY place NY reg IMO shines is for my super duty which has comm plates. 155 bucks for 2 years (74.50/yr).....so don't think this is too bad.

[mooky_stinks]

My problem (I have others) is with paying $128 per year for a trailer that sees maybe 1500 miles a season.

[Bedlam]

In my state, we pay for GVWR on the vehicle and GVWR on the trailer. We do not have permanent trailer plates until you get to Class 8 style ones, so we do not have an option to pay for GCWR.

RV's have an exemption to paying GVWR, so I plan on my next enclosed trailer to have minimal living quarters and be titled as an RV.

[gmw_photos]

In Missouri, we have to register the truck to include the weight of the trailer. The registration comes in 6K lb increments. So for instance, my Nissan Frontier, if all I was doing was running it by itself, I could buy a 6K lb plate. But since I tow the trailer with it, I am at about 8500 lbs combined weight, so I must buy a 12K plate.

The reasoning is, because when we buy a plate for the trailer, it can be a one time fee and the plate is "permanent".

I have been told the fine for overweight is $1/pound. Ouch.

[BeerBrewer]

mkirsch wrote:
What makes any of you think that a "passenger" license on a pickup truck will cost any less than a "commercial" license?

For me this issue has nothing to do with cost. It's about being able to use the parkways when not towing, being able to park in New York City without worrying about getting a ticket, not having to install seats (which no one can legally ride in) and a cap on my truck. It's about getting this old insane law changed. Did you notice that there is no mention of seat belts in this law? Why..... because this law was written before seat belts were invented! Its time that this law is changed.

[mkirsch]

The 6000lb limit is the CURB WEIGHT of the vehicle, not the GVWR. I think a lot of people are getting that confused.

Indeed by the letter of the law, to register a pickup truck that is over 6000lbs as a passenger vehicle, it must have a permanently affixed "camper top" and "seats, seat fittings or camper equipment" permanently installed:

https://dmv.ny.gov/registration/register-pick-truck-passenger-class-vehicle

You may not ever get pulled over and ticketed for violating these requirements, but they are there to be enforced should the current condition of your truck cause "problems."

What makes any of you think that a "passenger" license on a pickup truck will cost any less than a "commercial" license?

[blt2ski]

Auto parts stores locally had Ford Escorts in the past, prious today with truck plates, paid for max gvw of 4000 lbs. Allows them to park in truck loading zones etc.
As noted, depending on use of a vehicle, one may want truck or commercial plates on your rig.
I'd still do truck plates, if in states where a truck is pulling a trailer, hauling any kind of load with car plates, you may be over GVW per taxing code, get a ticket, told to Coe back with a truck with correct GVW! IE paid for truck commercial plates. I've heard of that happening.

Marty

[BeerBrewer]

badercubed wrote:

nickthehunter wrote:

ACZL wrote:
Saw a reg cab F150 Sunday w/ comm plates. Had to laugh.

Why? We have 20 or 30 of Reg Cab F150's where I work.

People are confusing commercial plates with commercial vehicles. There are plenty of F-150s with commercial plates that are privately owned.

In NY state, if you use your Pickup truck for commercial purposes it must have commercial plates, regardless of its weight. So if you use your 1/2 tone truck for business purposes it should have commercial plates on it. Also all pickup trucks that weight over 6000 Lbs are supposed to have commercial plates unless it is capped and has seats, seat fitting or camping equipment mounted in it. They only have this stupid weight rule for pickup trucks.

If your vehicle has commercial plates it is considered a commercial vehicle. So if you enter a Parkway that bans commercial traffic you can be ticketed and fined. Ownership does not determine whether the truck is considered commercial of not, the plates determine it.

[dedmiston]

My dad told me when I was a kid, "We pay extra for commercial tags, so I get to park in the special parking spots."

[badercubed]

nickthehunter wrote:

ACZL wrote:
Saw a reg cab F150 Sunday w/ comm plates. Had to laugh.

Why? We have 20 or 30 of Reg Cab F150's where I work.

People are confusing commercial plates with commercial vehicles. There are plenty of F-150s with commercial plates that are privately owned.

[nickthehunter]

ACZL wrote:
Saw a reg cab F150 Sunday w/ comm plates. Had to laugh.

Why? We have 20 or 30 of Reg Cab F150's where I work.

[ACZL]

Saw a reg cab F150 Sunday w/ comm plates. Had to laugh.

[badercubed]

BeerBrewer wrote:
Grit dog....yeah I know that I have a better chance of winning the lottery than getting the law changed.

I was originally looking to buy a 1500 but most of the trailers that we were considering started to max out the trucks payload capacity. So we went with a 2500. In the end, I'm probably going to cap the truck, install some sort of seat bracket and register it as a passenger vehicle.

Stop, you don't need to install anything. A privately owned vehicle with commercial plates is not held to the same standard as a business owned vehicle with commercial plates and DOT numbers.

In 15 years at my old job, between F150s and F250s I've never had a problem in NYC or upstate parkway with any pickup truck having commercial plates and not DOT numbers shown.

NYC specifically says to be considered commercial it needs to have commercial plates AND displaying DOT numbers, which you don't have to do as a private vehicle.

Let me say it again, YOU DO NOT NEED TO DISPLAY DOT NUMBERS ON A PRIVATELY OWNED AND COMMERCIALLY PLATED 1/2, 3/4 OR 1 TON PICKUP TRUCK.