Is my Pick-Up Truck Registration Properly a Commercial Vehicle in NYC?

Last Updated on September 23, 2021 by Lawrence Berezin

Is your pick-up truck registration getting NYC parking tickets?

Here are the DMV rules covering your choice of pick-up truck registration as a passenger or commercial vehicle. Pick-up trucks with an unladen weight of 6001 pounds or less, used as a personal vehicle, maybe:

• Registered in either the commercial or passenger class
• In either case, you will pay a commercial registration fee, along with any county commercial use tax   (Form MV-202C).

Modified pick-up truck

• If the pick-up truck, of any weight, has been modified (that is, the truck bed is completely and permanently enclosed by a camper top, and has seats, seat fittings or camping equipment mounted in the truck bed), it must be registered in the passenger class.
• You must pay a passenger fee, along with any county passenger use tax applicable (Form MV-202).

Pick-up not modified

• If the pick-up truck weighs more than 5,500 pounds and has not been modified, it must be registered in the commercial class. You must pay a commercial fee.

Here’s a FREE, helpful checklist for pick-up truck owners published by the NY DMV. No email address is required to download.

NY State DMV rules versus NYC parking rules

I’ve registered my pick-up truck as a commercial vehicle in compliance with the rules of the DMV; why am I still receiving NYC parking tickets for improper registration?

The quick answer is, even though you’ve complied with the DMV rules for registering your pick-up truck as a commercial vehicle when you park your pick-up truck bearing commercial plates on the streets of NYC, you must comply with NYC rules for parking, stopping, or standing your vehicle.  34 RCNY 4-08(k)(1) states:

Parking of unaltered commercial vehicles is prohibited.  No person shall stand or park a vehicle with commercial plates in any place unless it has been permanently altered with all seats and rear seat fittings, except the front seats, removed except that for vehicles designed with a passenger cab and a cargo area separated by a partition, the seating capacity within the cab shall not be considered in determining whether  the vehicle is properly altered, and has the name and address of the owner as shown on the registration certificate plainly marked on both sides of the vehicle in letters and numerals not less than three inches in height, in compliance with Section 10-127 of the Administrative Code and is also in compliance with paragraph (i) of the definition of commercial vehicle as in section 4-01 of these rules”

Commentary:

You have two different sets of rules to follow when you register your pick-up truck. The NY State DMV gives you choices, depending upon the weight, use, and change of your pick-up truck, whether to register your vehicle as a commercial or passenger vehicle. If you register your pick-up truck as a commercial vehicle, bearing commercial plates, and wish to park on the mean streets of NYC, you must comply with 4-08(k)(1), set forth above at length.

Here is a bunch of helpful information prepared by the NY State DMV about choosing between registering your pick-up truck as a passenger or commercial vehicle; and the consequences of your choice. Have you had any pick-up truck experiences where you received NYC parking tickets because of your alleged failure to follow DMV rules or NYC parking rules?  Please tell us about them. Your opinions matter to us!

There were some wonderful new laws passed in 2013 lending a major parking aid to the NYC driving public about parking at a muni-meter. Knowing these laws will help you keep your money where it belongs…In YOUR wallet.

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