2 different license plates on a same tractor

That would be correct. You had to have plate from every state. In those. Days. Computers were still primitive so everything was done on paper. And mailed in at the local DMV. I remember seeing trucks with as many as 15 plates on the front. The last state to quit issueing plates for fuel tax. Was Oregon. Times were quite differnt Back then. And now. I believe that by 2020. We won't have plates for motor vehicles. They will have the cars and trucks set up. Where you will pay an activation fee to use the car on the pubilc roads. Weather you own the car or not. Which will bring an end to suspend and UN insured drivers on the road. Plus the black box is going to get mandated into ever motor. Vehicle. And I believe that it will be setup so the cops can investigate the car and the driver with out having to stop the car at all. And the ticket will be sent to you into the mail. Which is going to have a major impact on speeding and unsafe driving. Which will make the high ways much safer to travel. And put bad drivers of all types off the road permanently.how do I know this? Simple! I am writing the post from my phone. That is a computer. So to keep this post short. Any car built before a certain time in the future. Will be required to have an e.p.a. permit. A fuel consumption permit. Plus a higher cost for registration. And insurance. Plus then. The patrol officers will be stooping and giving you a hard time because. They don't want the old car on the road at all.

 

You didn't need a plate for every state you ran in... it depended on what state you were based out of. And the multiple plate deal was really just a west coast deal.

Many states had reciprocity agreements with each other. For instance, when I was running east of the MS in the very early 70's, my WI base plate was good everywhere. We DID have to have bingo cards (different than bingo plates) and proper fuel permits. But our plates were valid everywhere out east.

When I started to run west in '73 that all changed. Now I needed a Wyoming tag, an AZ tag, one for Oregon, Nevada and a couple other states. Still didn't need that stuff for the east coast.

My boss even went so far as to have a "shell" office in Altoona, IA which was run by Joy Fitzgerald (of Overdrive Magazine fame). An Iowa base plate was more "west coast" friendly. Later I became an unofficial resident of Nevada and had mail sent to "my office"...a PO box) so we could base out of Nevada.

It was all an elaborate game designed to make it easier to run certain states and get less hassles from the law.

IRP change all that... believe me when I tell you that you could really get hassled when you were stopped and got checked for permits... that part of trucking was really the wild west. I spent two days in jail, one in NM (San Jon) and the other in IA (Tipton), because of permit problems... and I was a company driver.

 

The last two states to join IRP was NJ & RI around 92 - 94 I did all the 'conversions' from commercial to IRP for a couple companies and O/O's.

 

He put the plate where it belongs. That is the reciprocity plate that belongs on the tractor. I was base plated out of Ohio and had a sticker on that plate for Illinois. Basicly all i did was run Oh to Chicago so i only had the Il. sticker. Before the Co.(Branch Motor Express) got me the plate i had to stop at Crossroads T/S and get a trip permit if i wanted to be legal in Il. Back then the Union Co's bought all the permits for the O/O's. Even paid the HUT tax. Crossroads T/S was where the Flying J is now at Lake Station,In. They tore the old place down. A guy named Otis had some forklifts in the back of the parking lot and used to transfer freight. Or you could go up to Hammond,In at Calumet Storage and they did the same thing with overhead cranes in their building. That's when we used to double in to Chicago depending where you were delivering your two or three loads. Yeah i said it right!

 

We used to have to carry a BINGO CARD. It showed our vehicle ID,owners info , etc. On the back side it had every state listed , with a place to put a postage size stamp in that states square.Looked like a BINGO card. The state would sell you the stamp, after you registered your insurance / authority with that state.Had to renew every year. Had nothing to do with fuel stickers. Most states back then had there own fuel decal that had to be placed on the truck, showing you were registered with that state .You could have 15 different decals on your doors.Ohio had to be in passenger's windshield, Mississippi had one for each side, total chaos. Had to file a fuel report every quarter for each state showing miles operated and fuel purchased.
Mississippi even had the law that each time you entered the state, they would take a stick and measure your fuel in the tank. As you left the state,they would stick your tank again,and you had better have a fuel receipt showing you bought fuel on that trip in their state, and the tank have more fuel in it than when you entered. This fuel checking was done at the scales.
Remember, back then there were no computers,no way for Law Enforcement to verify your paper-work.
We were outlaws back then, but it was fun.

 

In addition to several license plates +/or that 'waffle' plate w/ all the little stickers...and a door of fuel decals, you also needed to prove your authority like was mentioned above this all started long b/4 computers were used for anything non military.

You needed to have your insurance company file a 'Form E' "Proof of insurance" with each you state were going to operate, well 32 out of 48 that participated. You also sent in money to the state for stamps to be placed on the 'Uniform Cab Card'.

You then filled in a new card for each truck and on the back you stuck on the stamp for the states you planned to use that truck. There were some states that didn't sell stamps, IN and MO you typed in the number, KY sold you a separate paper instead of a stamp. You also needed to know that NJ & PA were a couple of the places that did not issue stamps & that if you bought VA stamps @ $5.00 ea. you didn't need the $15.00 fuel decal, etc.

I remember that J J Keller's 'Permit guide' used to fill a while book shelf!

Since the rows and rows of squares for the stamps resembled a bingo game card 'Uniform Cab Card' became the Bingo Card.

This was replaced by the RS3 form which was a paper version that was lately replaced w/ another paper form...

Towards the end the bingo stamps stared coming w/ self adhesive instead of lick 'N stick. I spent a Sunday between deer hunting & Christmas sitting w/ the typed out cards and a sponge sticking stamps for each truck while I watched the kids, the had to be out there for Jan 1. No extensions like now!

 

What about have 2 different registrations for the tractor?

Have your normal CMV apportioned plate and also have truck registered as an RV if you live in a residential area. You could swap plates when you get home and if a nasty neighbor calls zoning on you, just say it's an RV not a CMV.