A Pictorial History of Pennsylvania License Plates
Truck Plates Dated 1914 to Present

Trucks

1914-1915 trucks
Specific plates for trucks were issued during the last two years that Pennsylvania made porcelain-coated license plates; these were similar in appearance to passenger car plates. The major difference was that the plates were wider in order to accommodate a column of small stars to the left of the state abbreviation "Penna", the keystone tab, and the four-digit year. One to five stars were embossed on a vertical metal band was affixed to the plate. The number of stars indicated the weight class of the truck, with five stars used for the heaviest trucks.

Today, 1914-1915 porcelain truck plates are often seen with the band of stars missing. These plates can still be identified as truck plates, or at least potential truck plates, because of the blank space where the band would have been. In 1914, wider plates intended to be truck plates were made approximately in serial block 20000 to 39999. Of the examples I've seen and recorded, only serials up to 22766 have the band of stars applied; serial 25047 and up do not have the band applied. In 1915, the wider plates were only made approximately in serial block 20000 to 29999. Serials up to 27791 have the band; serial 29110 does not.

My hunch is that, 1914 being the first year issue for truck plates, the state way over-estimated the number of plates needed. It either ended up not issuing plates in the upper half of the 20000 series and entire 30000 series, or else perhaps issued them without the band of stars to passenger cars. In 1915, they only made half as many potential truck plates, and apparently registered significantly more trucks, but probably still had a small number left over at the end of the year.

1916-1919 trucks
Like passenger car plates, truck plates from 1916-1919 were all-embossed, but were otherwise similar in appearance to the earlier porcelain plates. Truck plates again had the column of small stars to the left of the state abbreviation, the keystone, and the year, but now the stars were embossed directly onto the plate itself. Again, the number of stars indicated the weight class of the truck, with five stars used for the heaviest trucks. 1916 truck plates were embossed with the state abbreviation Penna and the four digit year, above and below the keystone, respectively. During 1917-1919, on truck plates the state abbreviation was shortened to just "Pa" and only the last two digits of the year were indicated.

Some serials for plates made during these years were all-numeric, and some have prefix letters C or S; the meaning of these letters is not certain. It's been suggested that "S" stood for "solid tire" while "C" stood for "cushioned (pneumatic) tire". I have my doubts about this.

Among the examples I've seen and tracked, 1916 truck plates only had all-numeric serials and again were made in the 20000 series. I haven't seen any 30000 series 1916 plates in either truck or passenger car versions. Since the stars now had to be stamped on the plates at the time of manufacture, they couldn't just issue any leftovers to passenger cars. Anyway, all 1917 truck plates I've seen had the "S" serial prefix, while all 1918 and 1919 truck plates I've seen were made with the "C" prefix. Therefore, until proven otherwise, I'll speculate that a single letter was used for all truck plates in a given year. Who knows what "S" might have stood for, but since the 1920-1923 truck plates bore the legend "Commericial", I'll guess that "C" also stood for "commercial".

Similar to passenger cars, the embossed keystone was enscribed with the VIN number of the vehicle; if the registration was transfered to another vehicle during the year, a silver-colored keystone was rivited to the plate with the new vehicle's VIN number engraved on it. Similarly, if the new truck was of a different weight class than the original, a silver band with the appropriate weight class stars was attached to the plate over top of the embossed stars. It's also possible that these silver bands were used in instances where the DMV office ran out of truck plates in a given weight class.

1920-1923 trucks
For the first four years of the 1920s, Pennsylvania truck plates were identified with the legend "Commercial". There was no apparent way to identify the vehicle's weight class on these plates. Serials were again all-numeric.

The one 1920 truck plate I've seen had "Commercial" along the top of the plate, with the abbreviation "Penna" and the year at the bottom. The plate was only wide enough to accommodate the five-digit serial in 00-000 format, but was taller than a passenger plate so that text could be placed both above and below the serial.

I've seen 1921, 1922, and 1923 plates, all of which had "Penna Commercial 19yy" (where 19yy indicates the actual year) running along the bottom of the plate, and 16 inches wide regardless of serial length, in order for this bottom text to fit on the plate. With no text at top, the plates were the standard 6 inch height. I've seen these with five-digit serials in format 00-000, as well as six-digit serials in format 000-000.

1924-1929 trucks
During these years there was no legend to identify truck plates. They were distinguishable from passenger car plates or other types of plates only by the single serial prefix letter, which could be R, S, T, U, V, W, Y, or Z. (Letter X was reserved for dealer plates. Also note that TE prefix plates were issued to farm tractors, and TT prefix plates were issued to trailers.) On truck plates, prefix letters were weight class codes, with "R" indicating the lightest weight class and "Z" indicating the heaviest. These truck weight class codes were used from 1924 through 1967, with the exception of 1930 and some 1931 plates.

Truck plate serial letters were the same size as the numbers from 1924 through 1926. At least since 1927, and also possibly on late 1926 issues, serial letters have always been noticeably smaller than serial numbers. In 1924 and 1925, six character serials, and some five character serials, had a dash between the third and fourth characters from the right. Starting in 1926, five character serials consistently had a dash in this same location. I haven't seen any examples with four or fewer characters from these years.

Pennsylvania plates with an "R" serial suffix were also made during at least some of these years. No one seems to know for certain the purpose or usage of these plates. It's been suggested that these were not truck plates, but rather were either replacement plates for motorists who lost their originals, or plates issued to vehicles rebuilt or reconstructed from multiple (presumably junked) vehicles.

However, I'm not willing to blindly accept that "R" suffix plates are not truck plates. I believe that it's at least possible that these were also R-class truck plates, assuming that the number of R-class registrations exceeded 99,999 in a given year. I've seen 1920s "R" prefix plate numbers as high as R89-720 (1925) and R91-253 (1926), so it's not much of a stretch for them to have hit the 100,000 mark.

1930-1931 trucks
Even to someone familiar with old Pennsylvania license plates, 1930 and 1931 truck plates can be easily mistaken for passenger car plates. All 1930 and some 1931 truck plates can be identified as such only because they have letters in serial positions four and five; in other words, serial format 000xx. This format was used for passenger cars in the late 1940s and throughout the 1950s, and therefore is often assumed to be a passenger car plate format for 1930 and 1931 as well. 1930 and 1931 truck plates had no identifying legend, and apparently all had five-character serial numbers.

Also adding to the confusion, 1930 and 1931 plates in format 000xx were the only truck plates from 1924 to 1967 where the first letter was not limited to the range R to Z. In the case of 1930 plates, both the first and second letters could fall pretty much anywhere in the alphabet, while 1931 first letters in this format seem to be limited to the beginning of the alphabet. In both cases, first letters from the beginning of the alphabet indicate lower weight classes, and first letters toward the end of the alphabet indicate higher weight classes, but the distribution is not straightforward.

While 1930 truck plates were only issued in format 000xx, apparently in 1931 the state resumed issuing truck plates with the first letter again R through Z but excluding X, and again positively identifying the weight class. To distinguish them from passenger car plates, these R-to-Z truck plates also had at least one additional non-adjacent letter. It seems that 1931 truck plates in format 000xx must have been issued for class R trucks after all of the R-prefix formats had been exhuasted.

For the first time, beginning in 1931, distinct serial formats were issued to three-axle trucks vs. two-axle trucks.

1930 and 1931 plates with a single letter R through Z, or with two letters, adjacent to each other in positions other than positions four and five, are passenger car plates, farm tractor plates, trailer plates, or dealer plates, depending on the letter or letters.

• 1930 trucks - All 1930 truck plates had serial format 000xx. The first letter could fall nearly anywhere in the alphabet. First letters early in the alphabet indicated lighter weight trucks, and first letters later in the alphabet indicated heavier trucks.

• 1931 two-axle trucks - Most 1931 two-axle truck plates had a first letter in the range R to Z, indicating the weight class, followed immediately by a numeric digit, with one other letter later in the serial number. On 1931 two-axle plates with weight class letters, the first letter wasn't necessarily in the first serial position; as far as I know, this is the only year where that is the case. Possibly this only occurred for weight class R. In theory at least, formats x000x, x00x0, x0x00, 0x00x, 0x0x0, and 00x0x could have been used. Apparently class R trucks used up all of these formats, and late in the year, reverted to the 1930 format 000xx, with the first letter in the early part of the alphabet, rather than R.

• 1931 three-axle trucks - 1931 three-axle truck plates used the initial weight class letters R to Z, but also had a second letter, always "Z", adjacent to the first letter, as well as a non-adjacent third letter elsewhere in the serial. In theory, then, possible three-axle serial formats included xZ00x, xZ0x0, and 0xZ0x, with the first letter either R to W, Y, or Z. I can't say whether all of these formats were actually used, however.

1932-1933 trucks
Again, during these years truck plates did not have any identifying legend. To distinguish from passenger car plates, 1932 and 1933 truck plates always consisted of 6 serial characters, and always were 15 inches long. Plates with an R through Z prefix with five or fewer total serial characters are passenger car plates, trailer plates, or dealer plates, depending on the letter. Six character plates with prefix TE are farm tractor plates.

• Two-axle trucks - In 1932 and 1933, the style and serial format of two-axle truck plates reverted back to that of 6 character 1924-1929 truck plates, with a prefix letter R through Z but excluding X, and 5 numeric digits following, in serial format x00-000. Reportedly the numbers started at either 10-000 or 10-001 in each weight class.

• Three-axle trucks - It's been reported that three-axle trucks again had a letter "Z" adjacent to the first letter, presumably in serial format xZ0-000.

1934-1937 trucks
For 1934, and continuing to the present, truck plates bore a legend that clearly identified them as such. The legend was yy#Truck#Pa in 1934, and # yy Truck Pa # from 1935 to 1937, with the # symbol indicating the position of embossed keystones, and the "yy" indicating the two-digit issue year. Serial formats reverted to patterns similar to those used in 1931, with a split alpha format. Again, the first letter was always R through Z excluding X, but this time the first letter was always in position 1. Although 1937 passenger plates were issued with a state map outline, truck plates continued in the plain style for one additional year.

• Two-axle trucks - The first serial character was always the weight class code, and there was always exactly one other letter. In 1934 for all weight classes, and 1935 through 1937 for weight classes T through Z, these plates had a maximum of 5 characters. In other words, the possible formats were x000x, x00x0, and x0x00. During 1934, at least in the R- and S- classs, plates with the "Truck" legend were also issued in format xx000, which was normally only used for passenger car plates. Likely they issued these after the other truck serial formats were all completely used up. Then, from 1935 through 1937, when R- and S- class plates exhausted the 5 character split formats each year, longer 6 character plates in format x00-00x were also issued.

• Three-axle trucks - Again, truck plates with a letter "Z" adjacent to the weight class letter were issued to trucks with three axles. In all likelihood these never exceeded 5 serial characters, and so possible formats would probably include xZ00x and xZ0x0.

1938-1957 trucks
Starting in 1938, truck plates bore the state map outline that was introduced on passenger plates in 1937. Again, the first serial character was always a letter in the range R through Z excluding X, and indicated the weight class. The legend was yy#Truck#Pa with # indicating embossed keystones.

Like other plate types, the registration period was changed from the calendar year to end on March 31 of the year following the year indicated on the plate, beginning with the 1941 plate. Starting with this plate, the actual expiration date was added in very small characters along the top edge of the plate. The expiration date of truck plates was changed again effective with the 1953 plates, to be May 31 of the year following the year indicated on the plate. Passenger cars continued with March 31 expiraiton dates.

• Two-axle trucks - From 1938 to 1956, in order to limit the serial number to 5 characters, two-axle truck plates could now have two or three letters. Position 1 was always the weight class code, and position 2 was always a number. Therfore, serial formats used through 1956 include x000x, x00x0, x0x00, x00xx, x0xx0, x0x0x. However, in 1956, these formats were all maxed out and a 6 character format x0000x was also issued, at least for weight class R. These 6 character 1956 plates were made using the same narrow dies as were used for the 1957 truck plates. For 1957, apparently all two-axle truck plates were issued only with 6 serial characters. Format x0000x was used for all weight classes, and x000x0 was also used for at least class R.

• Three-axle trucks - Again, truck plates with a letter "Z" adjacent to the weight class letter were issued to trucks with three axles. In all likelihood these never exceeded 5 serial characters, and so possible formats would probably include xZ00x and xZ0x0. I haven't seen a 1957 three-axle truck plate, so I don't know whether they stuck with these 5 character formats or went to a 6 character format like they did for two-axle trucks.

1958-1967 trucks
Multi-year truck base plates were issued in 1958 and again in 1964. Both of these base plates were yellow on blue, causing the truck color scheme to be opposite that of passenger cars from 1965 thorough 1967. All truck plate serial formats were 6 characters, and the first character was always the weight class code R to W, Y, or Z. A dash separator was introduced, located between the third and fourth serial characters.

Stamped along the top of these plates were "Pa Truck 58" and "Pa Truck 64", respectively. In years that base plates weren't issued, renewal stickers were applied in the upper left corner of the plate. Truck stickers were different colors than passenger car stickers. The exact expiration date was no longer indicated.

Sometime between 1958 and 1976, the expiration month for light trucks was shifted from May to October. I don't know exactly which weight classes were affected by this shift, or in what year it took place. Once it began, light trucks' registrations expired on October 31 of the year indicated on the plate or sticker. Heavy trucks, however, retained their May expiration dates, and their registrations continued to expire on May 31 in the year following the year indicated on the plate or sticker. For example, a heavy truck plate with a 1965 sticker was actually valid until May 31, 1966. The latest one of these blue truck plates could be valid was May 31, 1968.

Several additional truck plate types besides just two-axle and three-axle varieties were issued during these years.

• Two-axle trucks - These plates again always had a numeric digit adjacent to the weight class letter, and had one additional letter in the second half of the serial. Serial formats include x00-00x, x00-0x0, and x00-x00, issued in that order, at least for the lighter weight classes. Heavier classes probably did not use all of these formats.

• Three-axle trucks - Three-axle straight trucks were again indicated with the letter "Z" in the second position, and had a third letter in the second half of the serial. As far as I know, the only format issued was xZ0-00x.

• Four-axle trucks - This new category was probably limited to vehicles such as heavy dump trucks. These were identified with the letter "X" in the second position. Most likely the only serial format was xX0-00x.

• Truck tractors - Truck tractors aren't farm implements, but rather the front part of a tractor-trailer combination. These were the only years that truck tractors were issued plates distinct from straight trucks in Pennsylvania. These plates used the same weight class codes, but had the letter "T" in the second position. Probably the only serial format was xT0-00x. It's not clear whether these plates were specifically for three-axle axle truck tractors, or for all truck tractors regardless of the number of axles.

1958 -	no sticker	|	1963 -	red on white sticker
1959 -	red on white sticker	|	1964 -	no sticker
1960 -	navy blue on white sticker	|	1965 -	navy blue on yellow sticker
1961 -	red on white sticker	|	1966 -	navy blue on white sticker
1962 -	navy blue on white sticker	|	1967 -	navy blue on yellow sticker

1968-1971 trucks
The multi-year truck base plates issued from 1968 to 1971 were blue on yellow, matching the 1965-1970 passenger plate colors, and bore the legend "Commercial" along the top edge and the fully-spelled state name along the bottom edge. All trucks were issued these "Commerical" plates regardless of whether they were used for commercial purposes or not. Weight codes, axle codes, and distinct formats for truck tractors were abolished; the serial format for all trucks was Cx-00000. The plate again had a border in the shape of the state, sort of. The legend at the top necessitated redrawing the northern border of the state well into New York. These plates had a real sticker box with an embossed border in the lower left corner. Early issues of this base plate had a lightly debosssed "68" in the sticker box. The plate was used without stickers during 1968; stickers were applied during 1969-1971. Sticker colors again differed from passenger car stickers.

Sometime between 1958 and 1976, the expiration month for light trucks was shifted from May to October. I don't know exactly which weight classes were affected by this shift, or in what year it took place. Once it began, light trucks' registrations expired on October 31 of the year indicated on the plate or sticker. Heavy trucks, however, retained their May expiration dates, and their registrations continued to expire on May 31 in the year following the year indicated on the plate or sticker. For example, a heavy truck plate with a 1969 sticker was actually valid until May 31, 1970. The latest one of these yellow truck plates could be valid was May 31, 1972.

1968 -	no sticker
1969 -	red on gold sticker
1970 -	blue on white sticker
1971 -	red on white sticker

1972-1977 trucks
These plates were introduced one year after and continued to be issued one year after the corresponding Bicentennial passenger plates. 1972 to 1977 truck plates were yellow on blue, again always with "Commercial" at the top regardless of the actual usage of the vehicle. The state name was at the bottom, with sticker wells in both upper corners. The state map outline used continuously since 1938, which had become grotesquely distorted in 1968, was put out of its misery. Serial format Cx-00000 was again used, with a small keystone serial separator. Early issues had a lightly etched "72" in the left sticker well. The plate was used without stickers in 1972; stickers were applied 1973-1977. Odd years had blue on white stickers, even years had red on white stickers (opposite from passenger cars).

Sometime between 1958 and 1976, the expiration month for light trucks was shifted from May to October. I don't know exactly which weight classes were affected by this shift, or in what year it took place. Once it began, light trucks' registrations expired on October 31 of the year indicated on the plate or sticker. Heavy trucks, however, retained their May expiration dates, and their registrations continued to expire on May 31 in the year following the year indicated on the plate or sticker. For example, a heavy truck plate with a 1974 sticker was actually valid until May 31, 1975. The last sticker that could be applied to this base plate was for 1977, regardless of the truck's weight. Therefore, the latest one of these blue truck plates could be valid was October 31, 1977 for light trucks, and May 31, 1978 for heavy trucks.

1972 -	no sticker	|	1975 -	blue on white sticker
1973 -	blue on white sticker	|	1976 -	red on yellow sticker
1974 -	red on white sticker	|	1977 -	blue on white sticker

1978-2000 (yellow base) trucks
These blue-on-yellow plates were introduced about half a year after the corresponding Keystone State passenger plates, and were issued starting in October 1977 to about 1984 or so. It's entirely possible that apportioned and farm truck plates continued to be issued on this base beyond 1984. All of these could then be renewed through 2000 expiration dates. The state name was stamped at the top, between sticker wells located in the upper corners. Once again, several types of truck plates were issued; the specific plate type was stamped at the bottom of the plate.

These plates were undated and were used during their first year without stickers. This first year was from October 1977 to October 1978 for light trucks, and from May 1978 to May 1979 for heavy trucks. Red on white 1979 stickers (the same stickers used on passenger cars, which was a first) were valid through October 1979 for light trucks and through May 1980 for heavy trucks. Unlike cars, at least existing truck registrations that were being renewed received a blue on white 1980 sticker, which did not indicated a month and was of the same design as the 1979 and prior stickers. This 1980 sticker was only used on truck plates and probably some other types of non-passenger plates; in the case of trucks, this 1980 sticker expired October 31, 1980 for light trucks, or on May 31, 1981 for heavy trucks. After this, all trucks received passenger car stickers that indicated the month and year of expiration. Details of the implementation of staggered truck registrations are addressed in the next section.

• Regular trucks - "Truck" legend at the bottom; serial format was Cx-00000 until this was exhausted sometime around 1983 or 1984; then serial format 00000-Cx was issued on this base through the CC series. Undated plates used in 1978, 1979 stickered plates, and 1980 stickered plates cannot be distinguished between light and heavy truck usage, unless they also have subsequent month-year stickers. May stickers were only isused to heavy trucks, while stickers in months other than May indicate a light truck. What constitutes a light vs. a heavy truck, I can't tell you.

• Apportioned trucks - "Apportioned" legend at the bottom, format AA-00000. Apportioned truck plates were only issued in the AA series on this base. All apportioned plates expire annually each May. Pennsylvania entered the International Registration Plan (IRP) on June 1, 1983, so logically, the earliest stickers on apportioned plates should indicate a May 1984 expiration. However, I have seen Pennsylvania apportioned plates with May 1983 stickers. Note that apportioned plates in format Bx-00000 were issued to buses.

• Farm trucks - "Farm Truck" legend at the bottom, format FM-00000. This was another new truck plate type introduced on this base, however, I don't know exactly when farm truck plates were first issued. It seems that it was probably some time earlier than the debut of apportioned truck plates. Farm truck plates can expire in various months, including May; it's possible that May expirations are reserved for heavy farm trucks.

1979-1981 conversion to staggered registrations
Heavy trucks, and apportinoned trucks regardless of weight, did not convert to staggered registrations, and such vehicles renewing their registrations as well as subsequent newly registered vehicles retained their May expiraiton months. Heavy and apportioned trucks renewing in May 1980 or newly registered through May 1981 were given blue on white "80" stickers that were of the same design as the "79" and earlier year stickers. These stickers expired on May 31, 1981. Subsequently, heavy and apportioned trucks were issued standard passenger car-style May expiration stickers each year, with the earliest being a blue on white "MAY" sticker with the year 1982 in very tiny characters in the upper right corner of the sticker. I can't tell you what criteria was used to classify a truck as either light or heavy.

Existing light truck registrations were also not staggered, but retained their October expiration month. Light trucks renewing their registration in October 1979 were issued a blue on white "80" sticker, which for light trucks was valid through October 31, 1980. Upon expiration of this "80" sticker, all light trucks with existing registrations were then issued red on white "OCT" stickers, the same as were used on passenger cars. These stickers indicated the expiration year 1981 in very tiny numbers in the upper right corner. In subsequent years, light trucks plates issued prior to staggered registrations continued to get renewal stickers indicating an October expiration.

At some point, newly registered light trucks began being registered for 12 inclusive months and were issued staggered passenger car month-year expiration stickers. I don't know exactly when this occurred, but earliest it could have been was October 1979, with the earliest staggered expiration sticker being SEP 1980. It certainly could have started later, as late as mid-year 1981. In any case, an exception was made for light trucks newly registered in June; these registrations were prorated and were assigned an expiration month other than May, since May expirations were reserved for heavy trucks.

1985-2002 (blue base) trucks
Plates issued from about 1984 to June 2000 were yellow on blue and could be renewed through June 2002. Therefore, probably the earliest expiraitons were in 1985. However, it's entirely possible that apportioned and farm truck plates were not issued on this base until sometime after 1984. These blue plates had a single sticker well in the lower left corner. Serial numbers continued in the same formats from the previous base.

• Regular truck - "Truck" at the top, state name at the bottom. Initial format 00000-Cx continued from the previous base, starting in the CD series, but was discontinued well before it was exhausted, at about the CJ series, for no apparent reason. Then, formats Yx-00000 followed by Zx-00000 were used. Truck plates were being issued toward the end of the Zx series when this base was discontinued in 2000. As far as I know, all heavy trucks had May expiraitons, and all light trucks expired in any month except May.

• Apportioned truck - Format Ax-00000, issued in the AB and AD series on this base. The AB series had the state name at top, and "Apportioned" at the bottom (opposite from most other plate types on this base); with the AD series they brought this plate type in line with the others, and put "Apportioned" at the top and the state name at bottom. The AC series was apparently skipped for reasons unknown. The expiration month is always May. (The Bx series of apportioned plates were issued to buses.)

• Circus-carnival trucks - "Circus-Carnival Truck" is embossed in mostly lower case letters at the top edge, but the state name is embossed in upper case letters at the bottom edge. "Valid Apr 1 Thru Sept 30" is embossed on the left side of the plate. Serial format is B/Z00000. In addition to the embossed dates, a regular expiraiton sticker is also used to indicate the year; for obvious reasons, the expiration month on the sticker is always September. I don't know exactly when during the time this base was issued that this plate type was introduced. Since the plate is only valid for six months each year, the registration fees are half that of full-year truck plates.

• Farm trucks - "Farm Truck" is embossed at the top; serial format FM-00000 continued from the previous base, starting at about FM-50000. Farm truck plates can expire in various months, including May; it's possible that May is reserved for heavy farm trucks.

• Repair/Service Towing, or just Repair Towing - While these were seen on tow trucks, they are more correctly classified as automotive business plates similar to dealer plates. The legend was originally "Rep/Ser Towing", but this was later simplified to just "Repair Towing". These plates were issued to vehicle repair and/or towing companies and were not assigned to a specific vehicle. These plates could be legally used either on vehicles owned by the business, or on unregistered customer-owned vehicles being test-driven or moved. Serial format was RS-00000 with either legend.

2000-present (tri-color band base) trucks
Tri-color plates with blue and yellow bands that fade to white were first introduced in 1999 with 2000 expirations. Tri-color plates with solid navy and yellow bands were introduced for regular trucks beginning in 2005 as existing stock of the earlier fade plates were used up. The original tri-color plate style continues to be used and renewed.

• Regular trucks - Embossed "Truck" along the bottom; serial format Yxx-0000. Fade-style plates were issued with prefixes YAA to YRR and had a dash separator; solid band plates introduced in 2005 started at prefix YSA and use a keystone separator. As far as I know, all heavy truck plates continue to have May expiraitons, and all light truck plates expire in any month except May.

• Apportioned trucks - Embosssed "Apportioned" along the bottom; serial format and numbering are continued from the previous base. AE and AF series through AF-49999 were issued on the fade base. Finally, in the summer of 2007, apportioned truck plates began to be issued on the solid band base, and now also have a keystone separator rather than a dash. The solid band plates began at about serial AF-50000. (Bx series apportioned plates are issued to buses.) All apportioned plates expire in May each year and, although you have to look closely to see it, have distinct stickers. While normal expiration stickers say "Pennsylvania" across the top edge, stickers for apportioned plates say "Pa Apportioned".

• Circus-carnival trucks - "Circus-Carnival Truck" is embossed in mostly lower case letters at bottom edge, "Valid Apr 1 Thru Sept 30" is again embossed on the left side. Serial format B/Z00000 and numbering continue from the previous base. Expiration month is always September. These have not yet been spotted on the solid band plate.

• Farm trucks - "Farm Truck" is embossed at the bottom, with new serial format FM-0000x. Serial numbers advance before the alpha suffix. Farm truck plates can expire in various months, including May; it's possible that May is reserved for heavy farm trucks. No solid band plates yet for farm trucks, either.

• Repair Towing - While these are seen on tow trucks, they are more correctly classified as automotive business plates similar to dealer plates. Repair towing plates are issued to vehicle repair and/or towing companies and are not assigned to a specific vehicle. They can be legally used either on vehicles owned by the business, or on unregistered customer-owned vehicles being test-driven or moved. Serial format is RT-00000 on both the fade base and the solid band base.