PENNSYLVANIA COMMERCIAL/TRUCK PLATES
SOLID TIRE VEHICLE Issued 1914-19 only. Known assignments in bold.
1914 20000 - 26235 (30000 - 39999, 27127 - 27827 issued as passenger)
1915 20000 - 27967 (28915 - 29744 issued as passenger)
1914-19: Base 6" x 15 1/4", tab 6" x 1 1/4".
1914-15: 2 extra holes at left to mount vertical aluminum strip tab with
1-5 stars. 1914 strip is undated, 1915 has date at top.
1916-19: 1-5 stars embossed vertically at left (or at right 1919).
Strips still issued for weight-change transfers, dated each year.
2-star high 1916-17. 4-star low 1916, high 1917-19.
1917: #S51 - S6011 have "PENNA/1917", #S7896 - S20501 have "PA/17".
1918: 2-star low #C3147 - C5690, C7698, 2-star high #C6506 - C6944.
1919: 2-star low #C 6883 - C11078, 2-star high #C13132 - C15246.
1916 1917 1918 1919
* 20000 - 21901 S1 - S1999 C292 - C2413 C 47 - C745
** 21945 - 23445 S2000 - S4499 C3147 - C7698 C 5850 - C16742
*** 23562 - 26610 S4500 - S10499 C8564 - C22694 C20995 - C38479
**** 27348 - 28749 S10500 - S12499 C25687 - C27050 C50576 - C54492
***** 29566 - 29999 S12500 - S14399 C30810 - C32367 C60843 -
***** S14434
** S15297 - S15871 C35129 - C36549
*** 03371 - 04299 S16465 - S18985
** S20316 - S20501
TOTAL (6,990) (20,501) (24,691) (32,994)
WEIGHT CLASSES (Fee)
* 1 - 3,999 lbs. GVW ($5)
** 4,000 - 4,999 lbs. GVW ($10)
*** 5,000 - 9,999 lbs. GVW ($15)
**** 10,000 - 14,999 lbs. GVW ($20)
***** 15,000 - 24,000 lbs. GVW ($25)
COMMERCIAL Issued 1920-23 only.
Only issued to trucks 2,000 lbs. chassis weight or more.
First digit is weight class code 1 to 7 (becoming S to Z in 1924).
Formats: (Class 1) 1 1 - 1 99, 1-100 - 1-999, 11-000 - 19-999, 110-000 - 129-999.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 TOTAL
1920 T.1 (see below) 213-275 4-181 51-411 61-676 7-143
T.2 (see below) 214-785 37-159 (42-118)
(115-113) 218-671 37-382 (46,514)
1921 116-013 218-143 39-393 41-852 51-526 7-186 (46,213)
1922 120-960 212-244 310-451 44-342 52-331 61-470 7-745 (52,543)
1923 T.1 122-620 26-939 37-308 41-281 54-186 63-523
T.2 124-249 214-052 56-188
127-398 (59,750)
Description of Types:
1920 Type 1 - "COMMERCIAL" top, "PENNA 1920" bottom 12 - 13-971, 17-623, 110-742
Type 2 - "PENNA COMMERCIAL 1920" bottom 14-310, 15-214, 16-434, 16-703, 19-481
1923 Type 1 - Inner slots (47,859)
Type 2 - Outer slots (3,152)
WEIGHT CLASSES
1920-21 CHASSIS WEIGHT LOAD LIMIT 1922-23 CHASSIS WEIGHT LOAD LIMIT
AA 2,000 - 2,999 7,000 AA 2,000 - 2,999 7,000
A 3,000 - 4,499 11,000 A 3,000 - 3,999 11,000
B 4,500 - 5,999 15,000 B 4,000 - 4,999 15,000
C 6,000 - 6,999 20,000 C 5,000 - 5,999 18,000
D 7,000 - 7,999 D 6,000 - 7,499 22,000
E 8,000 - 9,999 E 7,500 - 8,499 25,000
F 10,000+ F 8,500+ 26,000
2-AXLE TRUCK Began 1924.
FORMATS 1924 R1 - R9999, R10-000 - R99-999,
1-R - 999-R, 1000-R - 9999-R
FORMATS 1925 R1 - R-999, R1000 - R9999, R10-000 - R99-999,
1-R - 999-R, 10-00R - 999-99R
1924-25: W series one size larger due to wide "W".
FORMATS 1926-29 R1 - R999, R1-000 - R99-999,
1R - 999R, 10-00R - 999-99R
1926: All have full-size prefix letter, unlike passenger.
1926-29: W series one size larger due to wide "W".
1928: S52-928 has inverted "S", S9 - S32-880 normal.
FORMATS 1930
00AA - 999UZ Allocated to R-Z trucks below
00VA - 999VE Allocated to trucks, possibly for ZZ weight (5,000),
but 00ZA - 999ZZ may have been used instead.
00XA - 999YK Allocated to Dealer (30,000), but X0000 used instead.
1930-67: No I,O,Q,T,W,X used, except as weight code.* Numbers
always progress before letters, regardless of position.
*W seen 1953, T seen 1954.
FORMATS 1931
R0A01 - R9A99, R0B00 - R9Z99
R00A0 - R99Z9
R000A - R999Z
0R0A0 - 9R9Z9
0R00A - 9R99Z
ZZ0A1 - ZZ9Z9
FORMATS 1932-33
R10-000 - R99-999 (Trailer T1 - T9999)
FORMATS 1934-56 OVERFLOW FORMATS
R000A - R999Z RA000 - RZ999 (1934 - all overlap passenger)
R00A0 - R99Z9 R00-00A - R99-99Z (1935-37)
R0A00 - R9Z99 R00AA - R99ZZ (1938-56)
R0AA0 - R9ZZ9 (1946-56)
R0A0A - R9Z9Z (1949-56)
T,W in all formats (1953-56)(Capacity 30,000)
R0000A - R9999A (1956)
FORMATS 1957-67 (no hyphen 1957)
R00-00A - R99-99Z
R00-0A0 - R99-9Z9
R00-A00 - R99-Z99 (added 1962)
VARIATIONS
1952: Samples R123A, U123D, V456E, W789F, Y123G, Z456H.
1956: R8J5J, R15AW, R19WM, R2MW7, R7TA4, R2T6B, W496S, Y31J3 have 1956 dies,
R6T8R - R1U7Y, R6W2M, W86B1, Y95S2 have 1957 dies.
R0000A format has 1957 dies, 1957 map style.
1957: R9933Z, S6680M, T0415C, U4841G, V1564F, Y2461C, Z0857B
have 1957 dies; R422B7 - R955B6 have 1958 dies.
Aluminum reported - late issues?
1958: Different "R" and "U" dies seen; no pattern.
1963: S90-6Z5 also seen; not counted.
2-AXLE TRUCK
1935 initial order in bold; RU999 and SG999 listed, but this format
was dropped and replaced by the R00-00A format before manufacture.
R S T U V W Y Z
1924 2011R S24-832 T12-954 U11-793 V4551 W5803 Y698
1925 90-87R S25-276 T14-333 U11-835 V5-799 W6-624 Y6-002 Z-844
1926 134-30R S31-210 T15-474 U7-995 V10-463 W7-410 Y-202
1927 72-45R S42-129 T16-704 U12-612 V13-096 W7-932 Y5-565 Z2-113
1928 11-82R S53-745 T20-813 U6-472 V12-427 W6-041 Y1-938 Z3-149
1929 R99-285 S69-961 T22-861 U12-649 V11-326 W8-646 Z1-073
1930 START 00AA 00GA 00LA 00NA 00PA 00RA 00SA 00UA
1930 564EK 49JP 934MD 693NL 411PM 459RD 892UE
1931 1R4Y7 6S3J4 T44L5 U2J97 V9L31
1932 R93-480 S76-054 T46-340 U21-234 V21-581 W16-746 Y13-973 Z13-097
1933 R90-504 S77-692 T52-646 U21-443 V20-991 W16-090 Y14-255
1934 RS665 SH287 T3H91 U245S V856L Z687A
1935 RU999 SG999 T9B99 U999L V999L W499H Y999E Z499D
R62-38B S15-51B T7H31 U888N
1936 R20-08B S22-16B T7S98 U55U2 V480C W716C
1937 R68-26A S87-93A T7S50 U5G17 V300M W168F
1938 R83AD S12EL T92Y2 U9F16 V382K W709G Z050D
1939 R46DK S84KS T7M88 U7Y68 V815K W357H Y040D
1940 R63BA S22KB T7E35 U3V33 V082V W959F Y154F
1941 R01BA S09MJ T32Z5 U0Y96 V125N W403C Y799G Z168D
1942 R48DB S37NZ T8F15 U51GY V405K W644J
1943 TAB R62439 S55311 T 2991 U60275 V18215 W 9222 Y 5581 Z 2521
1944 R00KE S7E49 T70M8 U98AR V818J Y096G Z140E
1945 R27PY S0K46 T43P2 U74DR V043Y W947K Y623G Z543D
1946 R8CP1 S16Z3 T12U7 U98PC V72C1 Z372E
1947 R4LG7 S36FY T3C02 U52RZ V19G7 W890R Y297M
1948 R9RZ8 S73LS T53S9 U54US V05R2 W472N Y649J Z048K
1949 R4B0G S95RV T1A95 U35NC V89R0 W294R Y535N Z237H
1950 R7J1D S05VL T21Y7 U62NN V08Y1 W483Z Y535R Z153K
1951 R5P7L S4CA5 T72Z4 U82JC V4D44 W430M Y32C8 Z347L
1952 R5U3B S1DB2 T88S5 U68ER V99S5 W315Y Y227U Z369P
1953 R9Z9Z+ S4GD0 T04J2 U13HL V85U2 W107U Y91J2 Z502L
1954 R9Z9Z+ S0DZ0 T74M7 U86EZ V9H09 W12A9 Y18L9 Z806L
1955 R9Z9Z+ S4HC6 T86V4 U65CH V0C07 W439Z Y02P3 Z028N
1956 R4379A+ S3KF1 T71R3 U77BU V5H54 W86B1 Y95S2 Z553P
1957 R955B6 S6680M T4289D U6938G V1564F W8593B Y5013D Z3986B
1958-63
W/SLOT R14-2M8 S03-74S T30-46F U85-14G V20-61G W04-73C Y48-23E Z73-88B
NO SLOT R76-5M7 S99-95S T75-68F U39-56H V97-62G W34-37D Y60-72F Z41-93C
" R69-K39 S60-4E6 T07-85K U06-42L V19-90L W54-75E Y76-71K Z88-47C
1964-67 R29-H61 S90-0A3 T09-17J U62-62H V08-79J W29-55E Y94-55G Z23-60C
+ Omitted letters used (none counted):
1953 R4W66
1954 R549T, R6W84, R14TM, R08WK, R41WP, R26WV
1955 R436T, R442W, R78GW, R44WF, R4DW6, R3JT3, R1ZT5, R2JW9, R6WV0, R6T6H
1956 R15AW, R65RT, R19WM, R7TA4, R2T6B, R6T8R, R6W2M
AMOUNTS R S T U V W Y Z TOTAL
1924 102,010 24,832 12,954 11,793 4,551 5,803 698 (162,641)
1925 109,086 25,276 14,333 11,835 5,799 6,624 6,002 844 (179,799)
1926 113,429 31,210 15,474 7,995 10,463 7,410 202 (186,183)
1927 107,244 42,129 16,704 12,612 13,096 7,932 5,565 2,113 (207,395)
1928 101,181 53,745 20,813 6,472 12,427 6,041 1,938 3,149 (205,766)
1929 99,285 69,961 22,861 12,649 11,326 8,646 1,073 (225,801)
1930 89,565 53,050 23,935 10,694 11,412 3,460 4,893 (197,009)
1931 78,147 68,634 30,446 8,297 9,931 (195,455)
1932 83,481 66,055 36,341 11,235 11,582 6,747 3,974 3,098 (222,513)
1933 80,505 67,693 42,647 11,444 10,992 6,091 4,256 (223,628)
1934 75,666 67,288 47,392 15,246 10,857 688 (217,137)
1935 77,000 67,000 42,000 11,000 11,000 7,500 5,000 3,500 (224,000)
76,239 71,552 47,732 12,889 (235,412)
1936 72,009 72,217 55,799 36,553 2,481 2,717 (241,776)
1937 66,827 68,794 55,751 46,518 11,301 5,169 (254,360)
1938 60,384 69,013 38,923 45,917 9,383 6,710 3,051 (233,381)
1939 66,947 79,585 51,789 58,769 9,816 7,358 3,041 (277,305)
1940 62,064 78,123 44,736 57,334 17,083 5,960 5,155 (270,455)
1941 62,002 82,810 39,326 58,097 12,126 2,404 6,800 3,169 (266,734)
1942 66,149 85,938 45,816 73,852 9,406 8,645 (289,806)
1943 TAB 62,439 55,311 2,991 60,275 18,215 9,222 5,581 2,521 (216,555)
1944 78,401 44,750 31,709 61,499 8,819 6,097 4,141 (235,416)
1945 87,828 49,047 33,433 67,475 18,044 9,948 6,624 3,544 (275,913)
1946 105,382 39,164 36,128 86,299 22,722 4,373 (294,068)
1947 120,648 71,837 42,303 89,953 26,198 14,891 11,298 (377,128)
1948 129,999 81,574 35,540 93,555 34,053 12,473 8,650 9,049 (404,893)
1949 142,641 89,796 42,656 84,236 34,891 14,295 12,536 7,238 (428,289)
1950 156,372 95,006 38,218 85,263 38,082 19,484 14,536 9,154 (456,115)
1951 167,058 104,046 39,725 82,145 43,445 11,431 22,329 10,348 (480,527)
1952 172,154 106,113 35,886 69,469 35,996 18,316 16,228 13,370 (467,532)
1953 180,000 112,341 28,043 75,014 39,378 16,108 28,913 10,503 (490,000)
1954 180,000 107,901 31,748 69,987 47,910 20,130 30,190 10,807 (498,673)
1955 180,000 114,247 37,865 64,766 42,008 19,440 33,024 12,029 (503,379)
1956 184,380 118,532 34,714 63,678 47,555 21,862 35,953 13,554 (520,228)
1957 219,557 116,681 34,290 66,939 51,565 18,594 35,014 13,987 (556,627)
58 SLOT 311,429 150,375 53,047 68,515 62,062 20,474 44,824 17,389 (728,115)
NO SLOT 179,283 86,052 33,218 26,687 32,229 12,039 41,600 4,655 (415,763)
TOTAL 496,940 246,047 90,786 100,643 101,991 45,476 97,672 28,848 (1,208,403)
1964-67 472,962 209,004 80,918 76,263 80,880 42,956 69,456 22,361 (1,054,800)
3-AXLE TRUCK (-Z) Began 1932. As of 1947-48, only TZ-ZZ issued.
As of 1965, only UZ-ZZ issued.
1932-33 FORMAT: RZ1-001 - ZZ9-999
1934-56 FORMATS: RZ00A - ZZ99Z, RZ0A0 - ZZ9Z9
1957-67 FORMATS: RZ0-00A - ZZ9-99Z (no hyphen 1957)
1935 ORDER (TOTAL) PLATES SEEN
RZ00A - RZ09A (10) 1932 ZZ1-329 1948 UZ24A, WZ54B
SZ00A - SZ99B (200) 1933 SZ1-160 1949 WZ57R
TZ00A - TZ99C (300) 1934 SZ27C 1951 VZ98B, WZ87B
UZ00A - UZ49B (150) 1935 ZZ1C4 1953 VZ51B, YZ55C
VZ00A - VZ29A (30) 1936 UZ02F 1954 ZZ3M8
WZ00A - WZ49A (50) 1937 ZZ57D 1955 VZ77B, ZZ7P7
YZ00A - YZ74A (75) 1942 ZZ50B 1956 VZ77B, ZZ0L5
ZZ00A - ZZ99D (400) 1943 TAB ZZ 137
(TOTAL 1,215)
1952 Samples RZ78J, SZ90K, TZ12L, UZ34M, VZ56N, WZ78P, YZ90R, ZZ12S
1958-63 (slot) RZ0-04A, SZ0-04A, TZ0-07A, UZ3-29A, VZ5-18A, WZ2-50C, YZ3-49A, ZZ4-78K
(no slot) UZ4-62A, VZ7-07A, YZ2-89B, ZZ9-98K
UZ5-50A YZ2-00D ZZ3-49S
1964-67 TZ0-04A, VZ1-57A, WZ4-32A, YZ6-86A, ZZ4-84S
4-AXLE TRUCK (-X) Earliest seen 1962. As of 1965, only YX,ZX issued.
1958-63 YX0-08A (slot), ZX1-14A - ZX4-99A (no slot)
1964-67 YX0-04A, ZX0-04A
3-AXLE TRUCK TRACTOR (-T) Earliest seen 1963. As of 1965, only WT,YT,ZT issued.
1958-63 WT3-19A - WT3-20A, YT0-09E, ZT0-19B (no slot)
1964-67 WT3-16A, YT7-4C4, ZT7-66C
KNOWN WEIGHT CLASSES
2-AXLE TRUCK:
1924-46 CHASSIS 1924-46 LOAD 1956-67
R 1 - 2,000 1 - 5,000 1 - 5,000
S 2,001 - 3,000 5,001 - 7,000 5,001 - 7,000
T 3,001 - 4,000 7,001 - 11,000 7,001 - 11,000
U 4,001 - 5,000 11,001 - 15,000 11,001 - 16,500
V 5,001 - 6,000 15,001 - 18,000 16,501 - 21,000
W 6,001 - 7,500 18,001 - 22,000 21,001 - 26,000
Y 7,501 - 9,000 22,001 - 25,000 26,001 - 30,000
Z 9,001+ 25,001 - 26,000 30,001 - 33,000
ZZ 12,001+ (6/1/29)
3-AXLE TRUCK (-Z), TRUCK TRACTOR (-T, 1963-67 only):
(As of 1965, only UZ-ZZ and WT-ZT issued)
-Z -T 1932-46 CHASSIS 1935-46 LOAD 1956-67
RZ RT 2,001 - 3,000 1 - 12,000 1 - 12,000
SZ ST 3,001 - 4,000 12,001 - 14,000 12,001 - 14,000
TZ TT 4,001 - 5,000 14,001 - 16,000 14,001 - 16,000
UZ UT 5,001 - 6,000 16,001 - 22,000 16,001 - 26,000
VZ VT 6,001 - 7,500 22,001 - 26,000 26,001 - 31,000
WZ WT 7,501 - 9,000 26,001 - 30,000 31,001 - 36,000
YZ YT 9,001 - 12,000 30,001 - 34,000 36,001 - 40,000
ZZ ZT 12,001+ 34,001 - 36,000 40,001 - 47,000
4-AXLE TRUCK (-X), 1956-67 only): (As of 1965, only YX-ZX issued)
-X 1956-67
RX 1 - 14,000
SX 14,001 - 16,000
TX 16,001 - 26,000 (Probably never issued; TX = Tractor Dealer)
UX 26,001 - 31,000
VX 31,001 - 36,000
WX 36,001 - 40,000
YX 40,001 - 47,000
ZX 47,001 - 60,000
COMMERCIAL
1968-71 BASE No I,O used.
1968 "68" CA*10000 - CP*31867 (1,191,868 S)
1972-77 BASE No I,O,Q used.
1972 "72" CA*10000 - CY*49998 (1,929,999 S)
1978-84 BASE No I,O,Q used.
1978 Undated Type 1 CA-10000 - CZ-99999 (2,070,000 S)
1983 "1-84" Type 1a 10000-CA - 28637-CD (288,638 S)
(TOTAL 2,358,638 S)
1984-2002 BASE No I,O,Q,U used. (CE-CJ starts 10000)
"11-84" Type 1 35369-CD - 98283-CJ (512,915 S)
"11-86" Type 1a YA-00000 - ZV-98247 (3,998,248 S)
(TOTAL 4,511,163 S)
2000-2023 BASE No I,O,Q,U used.
10-15-99 "2-00" Type 1 YAA-0000 - YRR-9999 (3,010,000 S)
4-30-05 "11-06" Type 2 YSA-0000 - ZKH-9999 (3,160,000 S)
2017 Type 3 ZKJ-0000 - ZXK-8537 (2,197,237 S)
(TOTAL 8,367,237 S)
Description of Types:
Type 2 - VISITPA.COM address, solid bands, no map
Type 3 - As Type 2, but map added in UL corner
No A or E used in 2nd position after YAZ-9999.
ZTV-9600 seen with screened "VisitPA.com" instead of embossed
"TRUCK" (ZTT-9622, ZTX-4263 normal).
Monthly Staggered Registration began 10/1/1979 for new
registrations only, same as passenger; no MAY or OCT used.
Renewals not staggered; trucks up to 26,000 lbs. expire "OCT 80",
trucks 26,001 - 73,280 lbs. expire May 1981 and issued plain "80"
sticker.
LEGENDS
1920 3-5-digit "COMMERCIAL" top, "PENNA 1920" bottom
(6 1/2" x 13 1/2"?)
6-digit "COMMERCIAL" top, "PENNA 1920" bottom
(6 1/2" x 16"?)
6-digit "PENNA COMMERCIAL 1920" bottom (6" x 16?")
1921-23 "PENNA COMMERCIAL 1921" bottom
1924-33 No legend
1934 "34*TRUCK*PA" bottom (* = keystone emblem)
1935 "*35 TRUCK PA*" bottom
1936-37 "*36 TRUCK PA*" top, no map design (6-f. 6" x 14 1/2?)
1938-57 "38*TRUCK*PA" top ("EXP.3-31-42" added 1941,
changed to "EXP.5-31-54" 1953)
1958-67 "PA TRUCK 58" top
1968-77 "COMMERCIAL" top, "(68) PENNSYLVANIA" bottom
1972-77 "(72) COMMERCIAL" top, "PENNSYLVANIA" bottom
1978-84 "( ) PENNSYLVANIA ( )" top, "TRUCK" bottom
1984-2002 "TRUCK" top, "( ) PENNSYLVANIA" bottom
2000-on "TRUCK" embossed bottom
DIMENSIONS
1932-33 6" x 15"
1944 6" x 12"
BASEPLATE COLORS
1958-63, 1964-67, 1972-77 Gold/Dark Blue
1968-71 Dark Blue/Gold
1978-84 FR Dark Blue/Gold
1984-2002 PR Gold/Dark Blue
2000-on FR (Passenger colors)
STICKER COLORS 1959-63 have "C" prefix serial, 1965-80 none.
1959, 1961, 1963 White/Red 1965, 1967 Gold/Dark Blue
1960, 1962 White/Blue 1966 White/Dark Blue
1969 Gold/Red
1970, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1980 White/Blue
1971, 1974, 1976, 1979 White/Red
