Vehicle marking/Identification - New Jersey

Intrastate

New Jersey has adopted §390.21 of the Federal Regulations.

Applicability

Section 390.21 applies to an intrastate vehicle with a gross vehicle weight, gross vehicle weight rating, gross combination weight, gross combination weight rating, or registered weight of 10,001 pounds or more, or a vehicle of any size transporting a placardable amount of hazardous materials.

Additional requirements

Every vehicle used for commercial purposes must display the name of the owner, lessee or lessor of the vehicle and the name of the municipality in which the owner, lessee or lessor has his principal place of business.

The sign or name plate must be in plain view and not less than three inches high. In the case of a combination of two vehicles the requirements are met when either unit of the combination complies with the above identification requirements.

Passenger automobiles and vehicles owned or leased by a pharmacy and utilized for the transportation or delivery of drugs are not subject to the marking requirements. Franchised public utilities and operators of fleets of 50 or more commercial vehicles, are exempt from displaying the name of the municipality, provided these vehicles display a corporate identification number. A franchised public utility means a public utility, as defined by New Jersey Statute, with a defined geographical service territory approved by the Board of Public Utilities.

GVWR display: Commercial motor vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating or a combined gross vehicle weight rating of 26,001 pounds or more and registered or principally garaged in New Jersey must display the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) for the vehicle in plain view with numbers not less than three inches high. GVWR means the value specified by the manufacturer as the maximum loaded weight of a single or combination (articulated) vehicle, or registered gross weight, whichever is greater. The GVWR can be found on the vehicle's identification plate.

Interstate

All commercial motor carriers (for-hire and private) operating interstate are subject to the marking requirements of 49 CFR 390.21 which requires all CMVs to display, on both sides of the power unit, the US DOT number and the legal name of the business entity that owns or controls the motor carrier operation, or the “doing business as” (DBA) name, as it appears on the Form MCS-150.

Any new or used commercial vehicles added to a motor carrier’s fleet must be identified with the US DOT number and single trade name before being put into service.

The regulations do not require the MC Number or city/state to be displayed on the vehicle.