"Truck" or "Commercial" license plates?

[geek11111]

In states that has "Commercial" or "Truck" license plates, I've seen a lot of personal use pick-up trucks are also having "Commercial" license plates.
Why DMV not issue passenger plates to them, to differentiate them from commercial use pickups?
I *guess* this can be done by adding a field on license plate application form:

What will be the main usage?
__ Personal Use
__ Commercial Use
__ IDK

Or, issuing PASS or TRUCK depending on the car model first.
For example, tow trucks, dump trucks, box trucks, vans designed mainly for commercial (like Chevy Express) => COMM/TRUCK only. No exceptions.
Pick-ups => Ask the owner at the window
Sedan, SUV => PASS only. Exceptions include taxicabs, delivery cars, ...

[Scott5114]

Your question seems to be based on an inaccurate assumption of what the categories are for. The definition of the three terms varies from state to state, but I'm going to use Oklahoma's definitions because they are clear and simple.

- Personal vehicles: A vehicle owned by one or more individuals for personal use. Could be a car, could be a truck, could be a van.
- Commercial vehicles: According to Oklahoma, "A commercial truck or truck tractor is a vehicle used primarily for business or commercial purposes." In practice, these will be vehicles owned by a corporation (C-corp or S-corp) or limited liability company (LLC), because otherwise there's really no way to prove whether a car is "primarily" used for business purposes, unless the owner tracks their business mileage for tax reasons, which is a good idea but not everyone does. Someone who does enough commercial work to have a commercial vehicle will generally not own it themselves, but rather have an LLC to own it, because then any vehicle maintenance costs can be written off on taxes as a business expense, and the LLC, rather than the individual owner, would be liable for any damages that the vehicle causes in an accident. (This is great for the business owner because it means they can't lose their house or personal savings if their business truck runs over a person and they get sued–only the business assets can be taken.)
- Trucks: According to Oklahoma, "A truck is defined as a vehicle that has a permanently attached bed. A truck-tractor has no permanently attached bed and utilizes a detachable trailer." So a "truck" is a pickup truck and a "truck-tractor" is a semi. Trucks can be either commercial or not–my mom's pickup truck that she uses to haul trash to the dump has a personal plate, but if you are House Construction Inc. who uses the same model of pickup to haul lumber to work sites, you will have a commercial plate. (I suppose theoretically you could have a personal-use truck-tractor, but that is implausible because they are so expensive there's really no reason to buy or operate one without a profit motive.)

There is no "IDK" whether you're a commercial vehicle or not. Either you own the vehicle personally (the title says "Scott Nazelrod") or you own a commercial entity that owns the vehicle (the title says "Denexa Games LLC"). Chances are the "personal use" vehicles you think you see are actually owned by an LLC/corporation.

You can have a commercial vehicle that is not a truck. Suppose you were a consultant that drove to various businesses to advise them on ways to improve their business. You could form an LLC and have it own a sedan you drove around from site to site. That would be a commercial vehicle.

So why is there a separate designation for trucks? Because they are larger and cause more wear on the roads. In some states, that means they pay more in taxes and registration fees than a sedan of the same classification to make up for it.

[Road Hog]

Oklahoma didn't have "Commercial" on its license plates but required commercial trucks to be labeled clearly as "Commercial," which I always thought was unusual.

[SectorZ]

In Massachusetts, any truck over a certain weight needed a commercial plate, even if for private passenger use. This went away before the turn of the century.

[MATraveler128]

In Pennsylvania, they use the ABC 1234 format for their license plates and Zxx and Yxx are reserved for trucks and they say "truck"  on them even if the truck is for personal use.

[tigerwings]

California considered my personal use F150 a commerial truck. Seems they think all pickups are commerial, use the same plate format.

[hotdogPi]

I don't understand why pickup trucks are even considered trucks. They don't have to follow truck restrictions.

Also, when is truck month? I've seen October, February, and March in various commercials.

[Scott5114]

I don't understand why pickup trucks are even considered trucks. They don't have to follow truck restrictions.

As I said, it is so that they can be charged a higher rate for registration and renewal than sedans and coupes.

Also, when is truck month? I've seen October, February, and March in various commercials.

This is just a marketing ploy by truck manufacturers, so it has no real meaning as a concept. It is probably just tied to whichever month a particular manufacturer sells the least trucks and needs to goose sales. Ford has theirs in March around here.

[US 89]

I don't understand why pickup trucks are even considered trucks. They don't have to follow truck restrictions.

As I said, it is so that they can be charged a higher rate for registration and renewal than sedans and coupes.

This varies by state. In Utah, I believe pickups are considered "light trucks", which is the same category as SUVs, and they get license plates just like any regular car. But every pickup I've ever seen from Wyoming has a license plate with a big "TRUCK" label at the bottom and an extra T next to the county code.

[Big John]

Wisconsin has separate plates for trucks, and they have a class A, B or C sticker affixed to it. (A for the smaller trucks)

[ilpt4u]

Illinois has multiple Truck and/or Commercial Plate types/classes

Most private/consumer pickup trucks and some SUVs get B-Plates
Some SUVs get standard plates. I never figured out a pattern there

[mgk920]

Can you legally drive it on a NYC parkway?  If 'yes', then it is a personal vehicle.  If 'no', then it is a commercial vehicle.

WisDOT makes no distinction on a vehicle's intended use whether personal or commercial.  In Wisconsin, if it is a car, it gets car plates.  If it is a truck of any kind, it gets truck plates of whatever class and registration period is applicable to the vehicle.  I do very occasionally see cars with commercial logos on the side with truck plates.

Mike

[Ted$8roadFan]

Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Vermont require trucks to be registered as commercial vehicles - even if they are not used for business or commercial purposes.

[geek11111]

AFAIK: OK, OR, NY, FL are the only states that (trying to) differentiate personal trucks from commercial trucks.

[triplemultiplex]

It's an end-around emissions standards.

[Scott5114]

Can you legally drive it on a NYC parkway?  If 'yes', then it is a personal vehicle.  If 'no', then it is a commercial vehicle.

So a sedan used for commercial purposes wouldn't be allowed on an NYC parkway?

[Ted$8roadFan]

Can you legally drive it on a NYC parkway?  If 'yes', then it is a personal vehicle.  If 'no', then it is a commercial vehicle.

So a sedan used for commercial purposes wouldn't be allowed on an NYC parkway?

Someone from NYC can confirm, but I think the parkway restrictions are for big trucks, not pickups.

[formulanone]

The EPA Vehicle Classification chart comes in handy for situations like this. Basically, any vehicle under 6,000 pounds is considered a "passenger car", and those under 10,000 pounds in another category of "light-duty truck", with overlap for small trucks and SUVs that are essentially beefed-up minivans. Pretty darn sure any vehicle under the 8,500 pound rule can drive on just about any open route except if a weird bridge can't handle it, or it has a massive antenna sprouting from it.

https://afdc.energy.gov/data/mobile/10380

License plates vary from state to state, medium-duty is up to 26,000 pounds (no commercial drivers license endorsement needed), and heavy-duty is the big stuff that is somewhere on the spectrum of highly-regulated and holy crap, this doesn't have enough regulation to the sudden emergency situations... dang it, there's a sudden molybdenum shortage and the world needs that.

[kalvado]

Can you legally drive it on a NYC parkway?  If 'yes', then it is a personal vehicle.  If 'no', then it is a commercial vehicle.

So a sedan used for commercial purposes wouldn't be allowed on an NYC parkway?

At least sedan featuring commercial livery, like business name in big letters or pizza delivery markings is not allowed. They may remove Moses name from the road, but his spirit still rules NYC

[Scott5114]

Can you legally drive it on a NYC parkway?  If 'yes', then it is a personal vehicle.  If 'no', then it is a commercial vehicle.

So a sedan used for commercial purposes wouldn't be allowed on an NYC parkway?

At least sedan featuring commercial livery, like business name in big letters or pizza delivery markings is not allowed. They may remove Moses name from the road, but his spirit still rules NYC

That's absurd. I struggle to think of a rational reason for banning that kind of traffic.

[kalvado]

Can you legally drive it on a NYC parkway?  If 'yes', then it is a personal vehicle.  If 'no', then it is a commercial vehicle.

So a sedan used for commercial purposes wouldn't be allowed on an NYC parkway?

At least sedan featuring commercial livery, like business name in big letters or pizza delivery markings is not allowed. They may remove Moses name from the road, but his spirit still rules NYC

That's absurd. I struggle to think of a rational reason for banning that kind of traffic.

Reason is to preserve the beauty of the park and not pollute the view with business related markings. Rational or not, but it's enforceable.

[US 89]

^ Having a NY tag cost less than half of the standard rate is discrimination of the highest order and should really be illegal.

[jeffandnicole]

Can you legally drive it on a NYC parkway?  If 'yes', then it is a personal vehicle.  If 'no', then it is a commercial vehicle.

So a sedan used for commercial purposes wouldn't be allowed on an NYC parkway?

At least sedan featuring commercial livery, like business name in big letters or pizza delivery markings is not allowed. They may remove Moses name from the road, but his spirit still rules NYC

That's absurd. I struggle to think of a rational reason for banning that kind of traffic.

Reason is to preserve the beauty of the park and not pollute the view with business related markings. Rational or not, but it's enforceable.

But this array of signage doesn't prohibit a commercial sedan from using a NY Parkway.  It shows trucks are prohibited.  A passenger vehicle would be permitted, regardless of how it's plated.

^ Having a NY tag cost less than half of the standard rate is discrimination of the highest order and should really be illegal.

That can be fixed by eliminating the $2.64 charge and everyone pays $6.00.

[kalvado]

But this array of signage doesn't prohibit a commercial sedan from using a NY Parkway.  It shows trucks are prohibited.  A passenger vehicle would be permitted, regardless of how it's plated.

DOT brochure shows 3 version ls of sign - passenger car only, commercial vehicles excluded, and no commercial vehicles. Looks like brochure doesn't differentiate between those.
Parkway Truck Brochure - NYSDOT https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/operating/osss/repository/parkway%20truck%20brochure.pdf

[Road Hog]

Around about 2012 Texas quit distinguishing between cars, SUVs and trucks and finally started issuing mainline tags for all of the above. They do still have a specialized tag for farm trucks, for which I suppose you have to qualify similarly as you would for an ag sales tax exemption.