Washington, D.C. Commercial (Truck) Plates

DCplates.net feels compelled to begin this page with an apology: We're sorry about the relative complexity and length of the discussion that follows. Plate collectors and registration historians have probably already scrolled down this page and thought to themselves "why has it taken so many words to describe a jurisdiction's most plentiful non-passenger type?" Our response is based upon the premise that it's far more difficult and time-consuming to describe the various pieces of extant random evidence about a type's history and to then speculate about what may have happened than it is to simply describe, with brief blocks of text accompanied by photos, what is commonly known to have occurred.

When it comes to documenting the history of plates of most U.S. jurisdictions, hypothesizing about what may have been issued based upon scant evidential matter only needs to be done in instances of rare, seldom-seen types. In D.C., however, the history of all types, even the most common ones, is hazy. With types that have a history as long as commercial it takes a while to lay it all out. Our humble apologies. Give yourself a gold star if you make it all the way through this page, and please help us to fill in the gaps in our information.

In Summary

As with less common D.C. types, what we know about early commercial plates is based almost exclusively on observation of existing examples rather than historical records of what was actually issued. The letter C is most often associated with this type, but A, B, and D have also been used, sometimes alone, at other times following a C. Here's a summary of the type history that's detailed below:

• Specially-marked 1927 plates are believed to be the first distinctive truck plates issued in D.C.
• It is assumed that letter prefixes used on truck plates for 1927 (B and C) were also used through 1934.
• Plates of 1935 through early 1948 include COMMERCIAL. Letter prefixes appear on most plates of this period.
• Between April 1948 and March 1969 the letter C, most often in a prefix position, designates commercial plates. In most years a second letter (usually A, B, or another C) follows the C prefix.
• Since April 1969 all commercial plates have been marked simply with a C prefix followed by up to five numbers.

Through 1953: More Questions Than Answers

Details, assumptions, and speculation about this type's history follow. Most of the discussion centers on numbering formats because this is how D.C. plates of various types were most often differentiated.

Before 1927. It is unknown whether distinctive plates were issued for use on commercial vehicles prior to 1927. That special truck plates were not introduced until so relatively late in the registration process seems unusual, so it would not be surprising for evidence of an earlier separate series to surface. Nevertheless, the image below of what is obviously a commercial truck registered with a 1923 passenger plate strongly suggests that distinctive commercial or truck plates were not then being issued. It's possible that there was a separate commercial registration classification (with a registration fee different from that charged for private passenger cars) by the early 1920s even though specially-marked plates were not provided. However, until definitive information is located this type's history can be traced only as far back as 1927, the year that a uniform system of plate type identification was introduced.

1927-1934. Effective with the 1927 registration year there were two series of D.C. plates for commercial vehicles: a letter B prefix marked plates issued for use on vehicles with a manufacturer's rated capacity of 2,500 lbs. or less, and C-prefix plates were issued for trucks with a capacity greater than 2,500 lbs. By December 1932, the manner of classifying commercial vehicles had been changed. B-prefix plates were then used on vehicles with an empty weight of up to 3,000 lbs., and C-prefix plates were displayed on heavier commercial vehicles as well as tractors. It is reasonable to assume that these two letter prefixes were used through 1934, although no evidence to support this assumption has been found. The first period during which numbers on most D.C. non-passenger plates began with a letter to indicate the registration type came to an end with the close of 1934.

1935-1947. This is a confusing era for all D.C. non-passenger plates, and commercial is a particularly difficult type to understand due to the resumption of letter prefixes in 1938. No prefix letters appeared on plates of most (if not all) other types during this period.

From 1935 through the 1946 (3-31-47) baseplate (which was revalidated for 1947 with a "48" tab to expire 3-31-48), private passenger plates were numbered from 1 through 9999, and then numbers that began at some five-digit number substantially higher than 10-000. The lowest five-digit numbers, beginning at various points at or above 10-000 for various types, were used for non-passenger plates of most types throughout this period but on commercial plates apparently only for 1935, 1936, and 1937. Listed here are numbering formats and plate characteristics reported (but in some cases not verified) about 1935-47 commercial plates as well as numbers and information about examples actually observed.

Upon reviewing this data, a question arises about the significance of the letter prefixes. Before we consider that, however, let's look at the all-number plates issued for 1935, 1936, and 1937. If we assume that for 1934 registration purposes all commercial vehicles were still classified in one of two categories, as we know they were in 1927, and if we assume that there were different registration fees for each class, then it makes sense to assume that those classifications were not discarded for 1935. Therefore, it seems reasonable (but by no means certain) to speculate that two separate blocks of all-number registrations may have been set aside for the two classes of commercial registrations. Hopefully we can collect more registration number data for truck plates of this era. The lowest observed passenger plate from this three-year period is from the 47-000 series. Perhaps truck plates of the two weight classes were numbered in the 20-000 and low 40-000 series.

As for the 1938-47 letter prefixes, if certain number blocks were indeed assigned to the two different commercial vehicle classes from 1935-37, it's a reasonable assumption that the distinction was too difficult for police officers and others to make, and that the pre-1935 letter prefixes were therefore restored in a period during which they were not used on other plate types. It seems likely that the previous letters for the two weight classes, B and C, were brought back into use. As for the appearance of A and D prefixes, they may be overflow series. After plate no. B-9999 was assigned, numbers A-1, A-2, etc. were probably issued for light trucks. Similarly, upon issuance of heavy truck plate no. C-9999 numbers were probably assigned sequentially beginning at D-1.

1937	1938	1940
1946	1946	1946 base validated for 1947

Plates of this era that include both COMMERCIAL and a B prefix to the number have, in some past writings on the subject, been classified as bus plates. Bus is a type that's as confusing as commercial, and there is no definitive information as to the proper classification of post-1934 B-prefix plates. However, we assume that they were not issued exclusively for buses due to our knowledge that the letter was set aside in 1927 for use on all commercial vehicles with a particular carrying capacity, not just buses.

Since 1948: C is for Commercial

1948-1952. Effective April 1, 1948, if a weight class distinction was still being made on D.C commercial plates, it was abandoned. Beginning with the dated 1948 plate, numbering on commercial plates began at C-1 and continued to C-9999, after which the type designation letter, which the Dept. of Vehicles and Traffic called a "key letter," was moved one space to the right. Although we don't know the first number of each number-prefix series with certainty, based upon the existence of plate no. 3-C38, we assume it was 1, e.g. 1-C1. A February 4, 1948 Washington Star article about the new numbering format indicates that "in these [non-passenger] groups, the key letter would be moved to the right when 9,999 was reached, to make more numbers available without increasing the total characters - 1-H001, for example." It appears that this quote is correct except that leading zeros were not used. The final number in each number-prefix series is 999, so we assume that annually from 1948 through 1951 the commercial registration numbering progression was: C-1 to C9999; 1-C1 to 1-C999, 2-C1 to 2-C999, 3-C1 to 3-C999, etc. Note in the plate images below, however, that for 1950 and 1951 the dash was moved to between the second and third characters.

We are unaware of any documented information about the change made to the commercial registration numbering format for the 1952 registration year. However, the existence of plates marked C-2943, CD-466, CH-518, and CI-483 suggests that the 1948-51 system was abandoned in favor of plates numbered C-1 through C-9999 (as before), followed by the introduction of a serial letter, presumably beginning with A, then numbers 1 (or perhaps 100) through 999.

1953-1954. The numbering format of the two-year 1953 baseplate appears to be similar to the 1952 plate except that the number of digits following two-letter prefixes was increased from three to four. Numbers C-7761 and CJ-3770 are known. The second of these two registration combinations presents a problem, however, in that it suggests a quantity of truck registrations far in excess of what is expected. Assuming that the first numbers distributed were C-1 through C-9999 accounts for 9,999 registered vehicles. If we assume that numbering then began at CA-1000 and progressed to CA-9999, that's another 8,999 trucks. If this is indeed the way truck plates were numbered, and if we further assume that all letters from A through J were used in the second (serial letter) position (note that the letter I was indeed used on 1952 truck plates), the issuance of registration CJ-3770 suggests that there were at least 93,760 trucks registered during the two-year period that this base was distributed, which sees unreasonably high. There were not quite 200,000 autos, trucks, and buses registered in 1950.

1955-1964. Truck plates were replaced annually from 1955 (marked 3-31-56) through 1964 (3-31-65), and things seem to have gotten a little more predictable and uniform during this period. With one exception, plates of this type shared color schemes and other characteristics with passenger car plates. The type name continued to be omitted, but C-prefix registration numbers remained.

1955	1957	1958
1959	1960	1961
1962	1963	1964

Regarding 1955-64 numbering, the first series used in previous years, C-1 through C-9999, was abandoned, and numbering for each year began at CA-1000. However, at least one exception was made. According to a DMV memorandum dated January 17, 1957, which was 9.5 months into the life of the black-on-yellow 1956 plate (the only year missing from our collection pictured above), the supply of commercial plates was amended to include only plates numbered through CC-20-00, with higher-numbered CC-series plates, namely CC-20-01 through CC-99-99, being released for issuance to private auto owners.

Most interesting about this era, and perhaps all years of this type, is the 1957 design. As discussed on a separate page, the appearance and numbering of D.C. license plates was changed significantly for the 1957 registration year. New dies introduced are wider than those used to make 1956 and earlier plates such that a six digit registration number, which was in the late 1950s a standard feature of commercial plates, could not be accommodated. Judging by the appearance of 1958 truck plates, which introduced the distinctive, diagonal CA and CB prefixes used through the 1964 registration year, officials were apparently determined to not change the truck number configuration, but they also apparently couldn't devise a way to present six digits on 1957 plates using the new dies. Therefore, they (presumably quickly) devised a hybrid.

With the sole exception of its color scheme, every visual characteristic of 1957 truck plates is reminiscent of earlier auto and truck plates rather than 1957 plates made for other vehicle types. (Click here to see 1957 plates of a variety of types.) Plates of both types are steel, but as is evident in the size and placement of the bolt slots, not only were the older dies used to make 1957 truck plates, but they even were made on older metal stock. Careful examination shows that all of the dies needed to make 1957 commercial plates, including those used to emboss the slogan, expiration date, and city name, are of the earlier style. By the time 1958 plates were manufactured, however, diagonal CA and CB prefix dies that occupy about the same space as a single character had been created, allowing truck plates to be made in the same style as plates of other types.

1965-1968. The 1965 commercial baseplate, used for four registration years from April 1965 through March 1969, introduced the slender dies that made their debut on passenger plates in the following year and became synonymous with D.C. plates used through the end of the century. An unusual feature of this base is the raised sticker area and corresponding 1966-68 (dated "67" through "69") stickers centered vertically on the right border. The earliest plates of this base have the original expiration date debossed in the sticker area whereas this feature was removed from later plates.

1965 base	1965 base validated for 1966

Numbering on the 1965 base continued in the format that had been used since 1953 (as discussed above), although there at least a few changes were made as the years passed. For example, the leading zero on plate CC-013 pictured is unexpected and unprecedented. Exactly how truck plates were numbered from 1965 through 1968, especially in the later years, is unknown. With a single plate style needed for a four-year period, more registration numbers were required compared to the previous several years, when plates were replaced annually.

1969-1973. Dated black-on-white plates were issued annually during the this five-year period.

1969	1970	1971

1972	1973

Since 1974. Multi-year baseplates that correspond in appearance and introduction timing with auto plates have been issued since April 1974. Numbering began at C-101 on the 1974 ("BICENTENNIAL") base and have since been assigned sequentially.

1974 base validated for 1975	1978 base validated for 1979	1984 base validated for 1989
1991 base	2000 base validated for 2001	2000 base

	This page last updated on August 22, 2010
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