36' Commercial plates/ Calif.

banjoQ

banjoQ

Senior Member
Ca. DMV has declined to re-issue my plates for the last time. I did every thing they asked, provided correct paperwork, original documentation, photo-copies of the plates and it's still a no-go. My truck had plates issued in 60' and these are not YOM. Never mind that I have CA.DMV documentation connecting plates to the truck. The rub is that they are not commercial plates. Those old enough to remember will recall that only "work" trucks used commercial plates back then. Regular vehicle plates were issued unless otherwise noted. Fast forward to 2014, now all trucks in Ca. are issued commercial plates. They state that their reason is that their computers will not allow regular vehicle plates to be issued to a truck. I called Sacramento to get this lame excuse.
So now I am going to try to find 36' commercial plates. Does anyone know of the rarity of these? I have found a real nice pair of regular vehicle plates but I cannot use them. Any suggestions or leads would be greatly appreciated. It's nice to hear good stories involving CADMV, and I am glad those folks that made it work. Just don't ask me, cuz I can't think of one.
 
Try this guy. http://www.oldpl8s.com/sale-truck.htm $700/pair of 36 restored commercials. Seems pricey but who knows with the new CA Regs regarding YOM truck plates that might not be out of line. As a frame of reference I found a pair of decent unrestored 40 Commercials at the Petaluma AV8 Swap Meet for $75.00 about 10 years ago. There is a vendor that shows up at Tulare, Pleasanton and Hot August Nights who has a lot of CA plates. Sorry, I can't think of his name. Hitting the swap meets and pawing thru boxes of plates will be the cheapest way to go. Also, you may luck out and find them on EBay.
 
expavr- Thanks for the link, those are beauty's. I am going to Petaluma in a couple of weeks and I will keep my eyes open. If I can't turn up anything those plates are an option. Those are really top shelf stuff. Thanks, Q
 
Interesting that DMV is requiring you to have commercial plates on a 36 pickup. To my knowledge any pickup 36 or older does not have to pay the commercial weight fees. I have a '41 pickup and recently( Oct 2013) put '41 passenger car plates on it. Nobody said a word about it at DMV and I'm still charged for commercial plates(weight fee) on my last renewal which was in April.
 
My 41 pickup has vanity plates on it "41PICUP'". Issued in 2004. But I did have to get it weighed because it was a truck. Got to love the DMV. Remember that when you use YOM plates, you have to have two plates, can't go with just one.
 
You might do better, checking with license plate collectors, rather than antique car parts vendors.
You might GOOGLE License Plate Collectors Asscs., etc.
Your plates might not be so high from them.
MIKE :) (mikeburch)
 
TJ said:
Interesting that DMV is requiring you to have commercial plates on a 36 pickup. To my knowledge any pickup 36 or older does not have to pay the commercial weight fees. I have a '41 pickup and recently( Oct 2013) put '41 passenger car plates on it. Nobody said a word about it at DMV and I'm still charged for commercial plates(weight fee) on my last renewal which was in April.
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2 of my 3 '40 1 1/2 ton trucks have non commercial YOM plates just had to pay the appropriate weight fees (the truck in my avatar is one of them). Suggest you check with a DMV service that specializes in old vehicle issues. Or contact you local state assembly member or senator and have them contact the DMV to get a straight answer on your behalf. I worked for a state agency for over 30 years and can attest that an agency will respond to an official inquiry from an elected official post haste. Just a thought.
 
Actually banjoQ' statement about "only work trucks needed commercial plates back then" is not correct...
In the '60's you could purchase passenger car plates for a pickup under 10k GVW if the unit was used to carry only passengers, i'e. RV's, etc. If a smart officer noted that you had a load in the bed of your truck, even golf clubs, you could get cited.. Been there done that with a '37 Ford 1/2 ton.
Dedicated RV's, motor homes, etc., are still registered as being passenger vehicles.. A loop hole in the law allows this.. My 37' diesel pusher is a passenger car.. No safety inspections, going through the scales or speed restrictions like a truck.. Kind of crazy if you think about it.. I drive my motor home, pulling a 25' enclosed trailer with a regular license.. The same size and weight of truck would require a commercial license, which I had until three years ago.
 
banjoQ said:
Ca. DMV has declined to re-issue my plates for the last time. I did every thing they asked, provided correct paperwork, original documentation, photo-copies of the plates and it's still a no-go. My truck had plates issued in 60' and these are not YOM. Never mind that I have CA.DMV documentation connecting plates to the truck. The rub is that they are not commercial plates. Those old enough to remember will recall that only "work" trucks used commercial plates back then. Regular vehicle plates were issued unless otherwise noted. Fast forward to 2014, now all trucks in Ca. are issued commercial plates. They state that their reason is that their computers will not allow regular vehicle plates to be issued to a truck. I called Sacramento to get this lame excuse.
So now I am going to try to find 36' commercial plates. Does anyone know of the rarity of these? I have found a real nice pair of regular vehicle plates but I cannot use them. Any suggestions or leads would be greatly appreciated. It's nice to hear good stories involving CADMV, and I am glad those folks that made it work. Just don't ask me, cuz I can't think of one.
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I am not sure of what you are trying to do. It sounds like you are trying to use the plates that were current on the truck in 1960. The system is not set up do do that. You can get current plates (passenger car, not commercial or if you want for some reason, current commercial plates), or YOM plates but the system is not designed to accomplish what you want. Talking to a couple of plate dealers you can probably use non commercial YOM plates for 1936. This is probably true since you can use non commercial plates on your vehicle. The correct commercial plates for your vehicle should have small letters (about 1 inch high) "PC" standing for "pneumatic commercial" (not solid tires). This is my understanding. I currently have a 1931 RDPU in the garage with passenger car plates and it was done without gaming the system. I have been looking for commercial YOM plates for my truck for a couple of years without success. I will keep you in mind if I see any for a '36. They won't be cheap. This is my understanding of the situation but as usual, DMV will have the final call.


Charlie Stephens
 
TJ said:
Interesting that DMV is requiring you to have commercial plates on a 36 pickup. To my knowledge any pickup 36 or older does not have to pay the commercial weight fees. I have a '41 pickup and recently( Oct 2013) put '41 passenger car plates on it. Nobody said a word about it at DMV and I'm still charged for commercial plates(weight fee) on my last renewal which was in April.
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Like TJ said 36 and older are exempt from weight fees, see link.
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d03/vc9401.htm

Bob
 
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Section 2 says they MAY pay the weight fee. I have two trucks that I do not
pay the fees.

Bob
 
About forty years ago CA DMV changed the rules so 1936 and older pickups could be registered with passenger plates. I was sent a passenger plate to replace the commercial plates I had on my '34 pickup back then.
A few years ago I bought another '34 pickup and I had to inform them (politely!) at the DMV office that it could be registered with passenger plates. Happily, they called Sacramento and "learned" that I was correct. Now both my pickups have passenger plates.
Incidentally, when the change-over occurred back in the day it seems that many early trucks got the LTD (light truck delivery) plates. Perhaps somebody at DMV was "aware" back then. I have personally seen a half dozen of these veteran CA vehicles with those LTD plates.
 

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Thanks to all that responded to this post. Charlie S.s comment about CADMV having the last call sums it up. All I can do is what they ask or demand. The truck had plates on it when I dragged it out a year ago. Unfortunately, I had no paperwork on the truck at that time. So I went to the DMV office and began the process of registration. In the beginning they said I would be able to use the plates as a check on them came back clear. Then they started to go back and forth on this decision. During this time I found the original reg. papers connecting the plates to the truck. DMV asked that I get the vehicle inspected for vin. verification, have the truck weighed and fill out the paperwork to claim the plates. All of which I did. Upon my return to the office for the fifth time, they refused to issue the old plates to the truck and issued new commercial plates. They could tell I was pissed and said I could appeal the decision, which I did. Three months later I received a letter saying my appeal had been denied. A call to Sacramento informed me that their computer cannot issue passenger plates to a truck in Ca. I guess my frustration comes from all the tangles lines of communication and mixed messages on their part. I am not so surprised. So now I will look into the possibility of using passenger plates as YOM. These I can lay my hands on. I am doubtful as they had stated that I would need commercial plates from 36' to comply with this provision. Time will tell, Thanks again. Q
 
Bob C- That was the first thing that came to mind. However, they said that matters such as these were beyond the scope of their capabilities. Renewals, title transfers and the like are all they are set up to do. I will figure something out. I just don't understand why I cannot use the plates that I have proven to be registered to the truck in the past. It's a cryin' shame.
 
banjoQ said:
Bob C- That was the first thing that came to mind. However, they said that matters such as these were beyond the scope of their capabilities. Renewals, title transfers and the like are all they are set up to do. I will figure something out. I just don't understand why I cannot use the plates that I have proven to be registered to the truck in the past. It's a cryin' shame.
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Unless things have changed the local DMV can't handle it either. They will take your application (and plates) and send everything to Sacramento for approval. Be sure to submit plates with patina as they may or may not accept restored ones (probably because they look like "new").

Charlie Stephens
 
In re reading your post the '60 plates are the 1956 issue with a 60 tab on them. In your case "the fly in the ointment" so to speak is the 1956 plates were discontinued and replaced with the black and gold plates. The black and gold are still technically current issue. That put those plates (1956) now in the category of YOM plates like all other earlier plates. In your case you have 1960 YOM plates which will not go on a 1936 vehicle. It looks like your case is one of those that "falls between the cracks" and DMV will not make an exception. The good part is you can put YOM 1936 passenger car plates on your pickup and those plates are much cheaper than YOM commercial plates and you are not subject to the weight fees. Keep the current '60 plates and hang them on the wall as they are part of the history of your truck. Do not surrender them to DMV! Put on the new plates issued by DMV and then wait two or three months and add the YOM '36 plates. Do not try to add YOMs at the time of initial registration or you will really confuse them. That advice came to me from a person who is licensed to do DMV paperwork.
 
banjoQ said:
Ca. DMV has declined to re-issue my plates for the last time. I did every thing they asked, provided correct paperwork, original documentation, photo-copies of the plates and it's still a no-go. My truck had plates issued in 60' and these are not YOM. Never mind that I have CA.DMV documentation connecting plates to the truck. The rub is that they are not commercial plates. Those old enough to remember will recall that only "work" trucks used commercial plates back then. Regular vehicle plates were issued unless otherwise noted. Fast forward to 2014, now all trucks in Ca. are issued commercial plates. They state that their reason is that their computers will not allow regular vehicle plates to be issued to a truck. I called Sacramento to get this lame excuse.
So now I am going to try to find 36' commercial plates. Does anyone know of the rarity of these? I have found a real nice pair of regular vehicle plates but I cannot use them. Any suggestions or leads would be greatly appreciated. It's nice to hear good stories involving CADMV, and I am glad those folks that made it work. Just don't ask me, cuz I can't think of one.
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Your problem may be that you are calling it a "truck". A pickup is not a truck, it is a commercial vehicle. Many states, including mine (GA) issue the same plates as used on passenger cars.
 
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