NJ- Commercial plates needed?

[mkwl]

I'm wondering, do I need to have commercial plates on my truck to get the tailgate lettered? I have regular plates on it now, and wanted to see if a cop could pull me over for having my tailgate lettered but not having commercial plates?

Thanks,
Matt

[JRS Landscaping]

yes you have to have commercial plates for lettering

[mkwl]

Anyone know about magnets?

[Petr51488]

Yep, unfortunately you do. I have passenger/commercial registration which gives me a commercial registration, but residential plates. I do this because i want commercial registration, but i don't want to letter up my truck, thus giving me the option of driving on the parkway, parking in street etc. If you want to letter it you need commercial plates. I don't know what the ticket is, but you might get a cop thats having a bad day and get slammed. The magnets will also do a number on your truck. If your going to letter, i would not go with the magnets but rather with the vinyl.

[CLARK LAWN]

you are using your truck to make money therefore you should have commercial plates.

[TXNSLighting]

wow thats gay!

[mkwl]

wow thats gay!

What- commercial plates?

[TXNSLighting]

yeh, i have lettering and dont need commercial plates...

[shade tree landscaping]

and the opposite is true as well, if you have commericial plates your TRUCK must be lettered. Just another way of the Great State of NJ finding a way to make money off of you!

[Petr51488]

and the opposite is true as well, if you have commericial plates your TRUCK must be lettered. Just another way of the Great State of NJ finding a way to make money off of you!

Yep, that too.

[marie1260]

Any soul proprietors having difficulty getting the corp code from nj motor vehicles which is needed before they will allow you to get commercial plates?

We're scheduled to get the lettering but I am told we can be fined for having lettering without the plates

[TPS]

I cant get commercial plates because my truck was financed in my name. My bank will not refi in the business name because I am only in my second year. Therefore I can NOT get commercial tags on my truck. Hoping I don't have any trouble this year with that. I do however have commercial insurance.

[scaglawnsnj]

In NJ a lawn contractor must hold a commercial insurance policy.
I believe its a 1mil general liability policy. On a second thought, would you want to hurt somebody walking. Like take out there eye by flung debris. And then they will sue you for every little penny you have and maybe your house.
If you take a risk with out this. well, you may be fine or you may get fu**ed.
I don't think you can even dump at the compost yard with out commercial policy. When I filed out the paper work, they have a section for your commercial policy and number. Good luck with lawn business. Take my advice Get what you need, then get out asap. your call

[scaglawnsnj]

My truck has a commercial reg and insurance. the dealer sent me regular plates. My truck is lettered out he balls and never had a problem. Then again is the plate is ran it comes up commercial. Dont worry about plates, worry about insurance. Commercial insurance.

[Mack77]

I have commercial insurance, tow a trailer and have plans to have an employee drive the truck. I don't want to put letters on my truck, can I stick with a "personal" non-commercial plate?

[mdlwn1]

I have commercial insurance, tow a trailer and have plans to have an employee drive the truck. I don't want to put letters on my truck, can I stick with a "personal" non-commercial plate?

Only if the driver tells a cop that he is merely transporting equipment.....not operating a business.

[shovelracer]

This is bull, you do not need a corp code to get "X" plates, but you do need one to register in the company name. You do not need to register in the company name to get "X" plates. If your vehicle has "X" plates it must be lettered and have a commercial policy. If your commercial policy is in the company name you need to have the vehicles registered owner attached to it.

If you use your vehicle for commercial purposes it must have "X" plates, be lettered, and have a commercial policy. Yes mowing lawns is a commercial operation. In addition if you have an "X" vehicle you will need additional permits/licenses to haul debris, carry pesticides, offer any other service than cutting, have an amber light, and cross state lines. Why do you guys think we get upset when Jonny Just Cuts pulls up in his passenger S-10 to cut a lawn and apply some weed n feed and spread some bagged mulch.

[SimonCX]

Yup shovelracer is right, trucks used for business not lettered and no commerical plates is a automatic ticket just go ask any cop.

[mkwl]

What kind of rates are you guys paying for comm vehicle insurance with a $1,000 deductable for 1 vehicle and $500,000 liability?

[shovelracer]

Our deductible is 500, but we pay about 1000 per truck with full coverage, however this seems to be the lowest my carrier will go because it does not get any lower for older vehicles. For those that are not aware we are talking about vehicle insurance not business liability. You need both and they are different.

[mkwl]

Our deductible is 500, but we pay about 1000 per truck with full coverage, however this seems to be the lowest my carrier will go because it does not get any lower for older vehicles. For those that are not aware we are talking about vehicle insurance not business liability. You need both and they are different.

Ok thanks for the info- who are you going through? Right now, I have a Comm policy on my truck, but am paying a good bit more than that, despite a clean driving record.

Also- does the DMV need to see the business liability as well for comm plates, or just the vehicle's policy?

What are you paying for business liability?

Sorry for all the questions- just curious to see where my rates are falling compared to others.

[Petr51488]

Try going with pallisades. I was paying a little over 7.5k (went up 1k for no reason). I called my insurance company told them i wanst going to pay this much for insurance with a perfect record. They called pallisades and i got it for right around 4k for 2 trucks, full coverage. Its still high, but much better then it was.

[shovelracer]

Bus. Liability will vary greatly based on your actual work. We carry landscape contractor insurance which is more than Landscape Maintenance and have a bunch of additional riders for plowing, pesticide, equipment, etc. By the time you add the vehicles, liability, and WC we are in the 10-12K range with our yearly audit correcting +/- 2000 based on the prior years workload compared to expected.

[Petr51488]

I was talking about commercial auto insruance. My liability is around 600 and 400 for 15k in equipment coverage.