Two or three times a week I see a truck delivering Butterball turkeys and Echridge sausages to local stores. It is a small truck for local deliveries, not an over the road rig.It has tags and “safety” inspection from Penn. Butterball is headquartered in IND.It is understandable that they’d want to register their trucks in the state with the best tax deal. For a while I thought that it was a truck that they moved down here,but the stickers expired in Jan and I saw that it has new ones from Penn. Did they have to drive it back to Penn? I once worked for a company that had an “in house” state inspector for co.vehicles and we employees were allowed to get our cars inspected too. ( The only “subjective” part of a Texas inspection is the wipers, maybe the brakes, you drive at about 20 and slam on the brakes, if it stops it passes) Is there such a thing as an in house out of state inspector? Do they import one? Can one state inspect for another state? And what are the “residency” requirements for registering a vehicle in another state? If I have one little garage in NY can I register my 500 Co. trucks there?
“Pardon me while I have a strange interlude.”-Marx
If the company trucks have their registration statement mailed to that small garage you describe, then as far as I know, yes, you can get away with it.
Like anything else though, I’m sure it is illegal, but only if you get caught. Once your vehicle stays in the same state for 30 days (I think) you are supposed to register it in that state.
Of course, no one ever does, but you’d be taking a big risk if it was 500 vehicles because somebody looking to dig up dirt on your company (competitor, ex-employee) would likely rat you out.
My wife still has her Texas plates on her car even though we moved to California over a year and a half ago, and I notice Texas plates everywhere I go. Go figure, California charges you a penalty for registering a car from out of state, charges up the ass for cars relative to Texas, and has such a damn strict smog standard that most people can’t afford to register here unless the car is already from here.
We are just waiting for the registration to expire and then we’ll bite the bullet and pay up. Many people I know, however, will just get their mail forwarded from Texas and find a ‘friendly’ garage that will just sell you the state inspection sticker without actually seeing the car.
The Texas vehicle inspection is a bit more detailed than just wipers and brakes: they make sure headlights and turn signals work, check headlight adjustment, brake and power steering fluid level, tire tread depth, exhaust pipe, and if the vehicle is new enough, make sure you have a catalytic converter, and that all emissions equipment is in place and connected. There are probably other items, too. In some cities, there is now emissions testing.
As for registering between states, it depends on the state. In Arizona, they take away your previous state’s plates, and make your car pass an emissions test. The cost of your plates depends on how new your vehicle is. In Texas, you have to pass the above vehicle inspection. Florida used to charge an expensive ($500 or $600) fee, but I think they recently rescinded that. Of course, you can keep your plates from your previous state for however long you can get away with it, but if you’re ever pulled over, better have your “just visiting” story ready. When I was in Ohio for a year, I kept my Texas plates on my truck, and nobody bothered me about them.