Commercial vehicles 101 HELP?!

[Kendall Karmanian]

Aloha,

Does anyone know the ins and outs of owning a commercial plate in the great city of Chicago?  I am getting a work van and it's considered a commercial vehicle. 

questions I have are:

how can i get a passenger plate, (i see these vans with passenger plates)

where can i park and where can i not park etc.

how do i avoid tickets and stuff. 

If anyone knows what's what, I'd appreciate the insight. 

Best,

Kendall 

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marmora.design

[ngo...@gmail.com]

hey kendall i have had pickup trucks for years and have avoided the commercial b-plates by registering the vehicles as a "carryall". im not sure exactly what that's supposed to be, but it provides a passenger plate. i think that avoids parking tickets in certain residential neighborhoods, and the possibility of moving violations on boulevards and parkways.  (lake shore drive). i've never had a problem but i also can't say that folks with b-plates are having problems.  good luck

[Andy Mikonis]

My understanding is that if a van has (side) windows it gets a passenger plate. I've seen exceptions in the wild but these things can depend on who you happen get at the secretary of state's office. Specialty plates are seen as a workaround - I had Firefighter plates on my last pickup and never had a ticket - but I think its open to interpretation on whether or not it is still a Truck plate.

Check out this article I wrote few years ago. It focuses on pickups but applies to, and mentions, vans. I believe the residential parking restriction on B Truck plates has been lifted since then, but perhaps not for commercial vehicles:

https://www.chicagotribune.com/autos/ct-pickup-trucks-chicago-problem-20160121-story.html

[Kendall Karmanian]

Thank you everyone for the replies! Very helpful, all of it! I was able to get passenger plates for the new van.  I was just freaked out cause I came very close to buying one at a dealership who refused to put a passenger plate on it, kinda glad that one didn't work out anyway!  I got a sick used promaster and I kinda love it! 

best,

Kendall 

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marmora.design

[Eric Repking]

In the 60’s I worked for Treasure Island groceries.    They used a VW van with windows for deliveries.   They had regular passenger car plates so they could drive on boulevards including the outer drive (LSD).   

Sent from my iPhone 

Eric 

On Apr 20, 2023, at 7:32 AM, Kendall Karmanian <kendallk...@gmail.com> wrote:



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