License Plate on front ?

Here is the TN code for plate location, 1 ton and up goes on the front.

TENNESSEE CODE ANNOTATED
© 2016 by The State of Tennessee
All rights reserved

*** Current through the 2016 Regular Session and the 2nd Extraordinary Session of the 109th Tennessee General Assembly ***
Title 55 Motor and Other Vehicles
Chapter 4 Registration and Licensing of Motor Vehicles
Part 1 General Provisions
Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-4-110 (2016)
55-4-110. Display of registration plates -- Manner -- Penalty for violation.

(a) The registration plate issued for passenger motor vehicles shall be attached on the rear of the vehicle. The registration plate issued for those trucks with a manufacturer's ton rating not exceeding three-quarter (3/4) ton and having a panel or pickup body style, and also those issued for all motor homes, regardless of ton rating or body style thereof, shall be attached to the rear of the vehicle. The registration plate issued for all other trucks and truck tractors shall be attached to the front of the vehicle. All dealers' plates, as provided in § 55-4-221, and those registration plates issued for motorcycles, trailers or semitrailers shall be attached to the rear of the vehicle.

(b) Every registration plate shall at all times be securely fastened in a horizontal position to the vehicle for which it is issued so to prevent the plate from swinging and at a height of not less than twelve inches (12'') from the ground, measuring from the bottom of the plate, in a place and position to be clearly visible and shall be maintained free from foreign materials and in a condition to be clearly legible; provided, if a motorcycle is equipped with vertically mounted license plate brackets, its license plate shall be mounted vertically with the top of such license plate fastened along the right vertical edge. No tinted materials may be placed over a license plate even if the information upon the license plate is not concealed.

(c) (1) Except as provided in subdivision (c)(2), for all motor vehicles that are factory-equipped to illuminate the registration plate, the registration plate shall be illuminated at all times that headlights are illuminated.

(2) Subdivision (c)(1) shall not apply to any antique motor vehicle as defined in § 55-4-111(b).

(d) (1) A violation of this section is a Class C misdemeanor. All proceeds from the fines imposed by this subsection (d) shall be deposited in the state general fund.

(2) A person charged with a violation of this section may, in lieu of appearance in court, submit a fine of ten dollars ($10.00) for a first violation, and twenty dollars ($20.00) on second and subsequent violations to the clerk of the court that has jurisdiction of the offense within the county in which the offense charged is alleged to have been committed.

(3) If the violation of this section results solely from the failure to illuminate the registration plate at all times headlights are required to be displayed, the fine set out in this subsection (d) shall be the only amount the person is assessed. No litigation tax levied pursuant to title 67, chapter 4, part 6 shall be imposed or assessed against anyone convicted of a violation of this section nor shall any clerk's fee or court costs, including, but not limited to, any statutory fees of officers, be imposed or assessed against anyone convicted of a violation of this section. Further, the lighting violation described in this subdivision (d)(3) shall be considered a nonmoving traffic violation and no points shall be added to a driver's record for such violation.

HISTORY: Acts 1951, ch. 70, § 46 (Williams, § 5538.146); Acts 1953, ch. 167, § 7; 1955, ch. 52, § 5; 1957, ch. 108, § 1; 1959, ch. 26, § 2; 1973, ch. 234, § 3; 1974, ch. 525, § 2; 1975, ch. 128, § 2; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 59-410; Acts 2004, ch. 698, §§ 1, 2; 2010, ch. 1151, § 5; 2013, ch. 223, §§ 1, 2.

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I wouldn't worry about it too much. The only regs in the FMCSA that I could find about markings on a CMV concerned name and DOT number and whatnot. No mention of plates.

Maybe someone in the know like @Scalemaster could comment on this. My limited personal experience on this involves hanging out in the scale house at Brownsville for a little bit recently getting my CVSA sticker. They were running them through like cattle and I was trying to pay attention to their screens. As best I could tell, the bypass lane was getting an aerial photo taken and the ones running across the scales (might have been both, couldn't tell for sure) were having their DOT number and name, possibly VIN too, recorded with times and weights. Didn't see anything capturing plates, at least that I could see.

 

The tag display is a state by state thing and there is confusion. A friend was stopped and ticketed for the plate being on the front, made it 100 miles and was ticketed for being on the back. He went to court and the judge dismissed the charges cause he did not know the law and apparently was too lazy to look it up and this was in TN.

Another was stopped in NC while hauling, county officer wrote a ticket for TN tag on the front, driver went to court, showed the judge the TN code and the judge tossed it out. I know of others but I guess everyone sees the pattern like everything else, mine is on the front and TN is a one plate state.

 

Ryan
Here it is from the NC statutes 20-63 for registration plates, I just copied the section that would answer your question and to the rear it goes in NC in most cases.

(d) Registration plates issued for a motor vehicle other than a motorcycle, trailer, or semitrailer shall be attached thereto, one in the front and the other in the rear: Provided, that when only one registration plate is issued for a motor vehicle other than a truck-tractor, said registration plate shall be attached to the rear of the motor vehicle. The registration plate issued for a truck-tractor shall be attached to the front thereof. Provided further, that when only one registration plate is issued for a motor vehicle and this motor vehicle is transporting a substance that may adhere to the plate so as to cover or discolor the plate or if the motor vehicle has a mechanical loading device that may damage the plate, the registration plate may be attached to the front of the motor vehicle. Any motor vehicle of the age of 35 years or more from the date of manufacture may bear the license plates of the year of manufacture instead of the current registration plates, if the current registration plates are maintained within the vehicle and produced upon the request of any person

 

From the FMCSA:
Can we obtain apportioned tags from the FMCSA web site?
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No. License plates and stickers are State matters, and you should contact your State vehicle registration office for the requirements.

Should Ryan be able to claim his car hauling truck a tractor then per NC code he can legally run his plate on the front.