All About License Plates

TENNESSEE TRUCK PLATES

Began 1920.

Pairs 1920, 1926-34, 1937, 1939-42, 1945 (despite passenger singles),

1946, 1950-53, 1955-58. Singles for front 1944, 1947-49, 1959, 1971,

for rear 1954 (despite passenger pairs 1947-49, 1959, 1971).

(Verify 1935-36, 1938, 1960-70, 1972-76)

Numbers in bold are verified starting or ending numbers.
County codes same as passenger 1939-65, 1976-87.

1920 7221 - 18951 (11,731) 1929 X 1 - X29-200 (29,200)
1921 17023 - 1930 26 263 - 51 901 (25,639)
1922 3001 - 17546 (14,546) 1931 C 638 -[C26 600](25,963)
1923 2501 - 20235 (17,735) 1932 C2-104 - C38-950 (36,847*)
1924 4-477 - 16-255 (11,779) 1933 C 1 - C34-387 (34,387*)
1925 1 - 23-813 (23,813*) 1934 C5-398 - C37-446 (32,049)
1926 25 001 - 32 070 (7,070) 1935 C795 - C45-737 (44,943*)
1927 21 313 - 38 149 (16,837) 1936 C1-596 - C41-030 (39,435)
1928 19 587 - 38 177 (18,591)

WEIGHT CLASSES 1937-39 1937 1938
1 = 1 - 8,000 lbs. 1 12-426 - 59-070 (46,645) 1 29 847 - 51 462 (21,616)
2 = 8,001 - 14,000 lbs. 2 14-221 - 21-675 (7,455) 2 59 109 - 72 359 (13,251)

3 = 14,001 - 18,000 lbs. 3 5-417 - 5-491 (75) 3 79 133 - (1)
4 = 18,001 - 24,000 lbs.

5 = 24,001 + lbs.

(TOTAL 54,175*) (TOTAL 34,868)

1939 FORMATS 1T-1 - 9T-9999 Number blocks 1-5 by
10T-1 - 95T-999 weight class below.

1940-56 FORMATS 1 P/1-1 - 9 P/8-9999 Number blocks 1-5 by
10 P/1-1 - 95 P/8-999 weight class below.

Classes 6-8 added after 1943.

      WEIGHT LBS.        COUNTIES 1-9   COUNTIES 10-95 1943 TAB ORDER
1 =      1 - 8,000         1 - 4999        1 - 499 (29,000)
2 = 8,001 - 14,000      5001 - 7999      501 - 799 (17,900)
3 = 14,001 - 18,000      8001 - 8999      801 - 899 (6,200)
4 = 18,001 - 24,000      9001 - 9999      901 - 999 (2,600)
5 = 24,001 - 30,000      0001 - 0999      001 - 099 (1,500)
6 = 30,001 - 36,000      Y001 - Y999      Y01 - Y99
7 = 36,001 - 42,000      Z001 - Z999      Z01 - Z99 (TOTAL:
8 = 42,001 - 55,980      X001 - X999      X01 - X99 57,200)

NUMBERS SEEN BY WEIGHT CLASS (Including F (Farm) and H (Hire) for comparison)
1 Exceeds block: 1948 36 F/1-675

1949 28 F/1-664, 36 F/1-713, 62 F/1-667

1950 12 F/1-965, 13 F/1-694

1951 10 P/1-889, 10 F/1-702, 12 F/1-552, 17 F/1-803,

21 P/1-524, 22 F/1-762, 29 P/1-689, 58 F/1-598

1952 2 P/1-6126, 22 F/1-922, 39 F/1-523, 50 F/1-571
1953 26 F/1-794, 27 P/1-658, 34 F/1-855, 37 F/1-658,

53 F/1-852

1954 19 F/1-898
1955 12 P/1-795, 13 P/1-804, 14 F/1-659, 15 F/1-799,

50 F/1-909, 53 F/1-914

1956 39 F/1-706, 53 F/1-881, 56 F/1-568

Letter series: 1946 12 F/1-V12, 1949 13 F/1-V51

1950 12 F/1-A17, 14 F/1-B84, 14 F/1-E24

1951 13 F/1-Y70
Extra-long: 1951 2 P/1-10095, 12 F/1-1116,

1953 2 P/1-12635, 18 F/1-1202

1954 2 P/1-13036, 19 F/1-1226, 26 F/1-1045

1956 2 P/1-10553, 30 F/1-1112
2 Near-end: 1940 10 P/2-752, 1942 34 P/2-735, 1947 82 P/2-711
Exceeds block: 1942 10 P/2-096, 1950 29 P/2-808, 1951 10 P/2-809
3 Near-end: 1942 34 P/3-894, 1950 49 P/3-897
Exceeds block: 1955 11 F/3-1009, 20 F/3-952, 1956 53 F/3-949, 76 F/3-932
6 Earliest seen: 1951 (listed 1946-47, not 1943) 1945 5 H/6-Y020
7 Earliest seen: 1945 (listed 1946-47, not 1943)
8 Earliest seen: 1954 (not listed 1946-47)

VARIATIONS
1956: Square dies on late issues.

WEIGHT 1957 FORMATS
P/1 - P/8 1/ P/1 001 - 9/ P/8 999 Number blocks
1/A P/1 001 - 9/J P/8 999 discontinued.
10/ P/1 001 - 95/ P/8 999
10/A P/1 001 - 95/A P/8 999

WEIGHT 1958 FORMATS
P/1 - P/3 1A-P/1 0-01 - 9Z-P/3 9-99
10-P/1 0-01 - 95-P/3 9-99 (10-P/1 A-01?)

P/4 1-P/4 00-01 - 9-P/4 99-99

10-P/4 0-01 - 95-P/4 9-99
P/5 - P/8 1-P/5 00-1W - 9-P/8 99-9Z
10-P/1 0-1W - 95-P/8 9-9Z

WEIGHT 1959-61 FORMATS (No hyphen 1961 except P/9)
P/1 - P/4 (1959) 1 P/1 0-001 - 9 P/4 9-999

(1960-61) 1 P/1-0001 - 9 P/4-9999, 1 P/1-A001 - 9 P/4-Z999
10 P/1-001 - 95 P/4-999, 10 P/1-A01 - 95 P/4-Z99
P/5 - P/8 1 P/5-001W - 9 P/8-999Z
10 P/5-01W - 95 P/8-99Z
P/9 1 P/9-001-9 - 9 P/9-999-9
10 P/9-01-9 - 95 P/9-99-9

WEIGHT 1962-64 FORMATS

P/1 - P/4 1 P/1-1 - 9 P/4-9999, 1 P/1-A1 - 9 P/4-Z999

10 P/1-1 - 95 P/4-999, 10 P/1-A1 - 95 P/4-Z99

P/5 - P/9 1 P/5-1V - 9 P/8-999Z

10 P/5-1V - 95 P/8-99Z

P/10 1 P/10-1A - 9 P/10-999A

10 P/10-1A - 95 P/10-99A

P/9 added 1959, P/10 added 1963.

1957-65: P/1 - P/4 not number-blocked like 1939-56.

1962-65: Steel, not aluminum.
1963-64: Plate design same as 1962.

1964: P/4 and higher weights started being issued only from Nashville.

1964: P317R - P6912R, PA262R - PA317R, PE-674R seen with "1" in UL corner.

(Not replacement, since PA262R has small "R" in LL corner.)

2 P/2-110R also seen.

1965: Some P/1 seen in old design (5 P/1-707, 8 P/1-385)

       WEIGHT LBS.        1959-61   1962-64
1 =      1 - 8,000      Numeric      Numeric
2 = 8,001 - 14,000      Numeric      Numeric
3 = 14,001 - 18,000      Numeric      Numeric
4 = 18,001 - 24,000      Numeric      Numeric
5 = 24,001 - 30,000         W            V
6 = 30,001 - 36,000         X            W
7 = 36,001 - 42,000         Y            X
8 = 42,001 - 55,980         Z            Y
9 = 55,981 - 61,580        -9            Z
10 = 61,581 - 73,280      (none)          A

COUNTIES USING LETTER SERIES; HIGHEST REGISTRATION 1964-65
Assuming each series starts at 1, no B,D*,I,O,Q,S,V used.

1964
P/1 2-H835, 10-N3, 11-C67, 12-A39, 13-E97, 14-A54, 19-J39,
21-C20, 27-C36, 29-K24, 33-E26, 41-A30

F/1   11-H32, 12-P61, 13-U58, 14-N85, 15-C86, 16-F41, 18-L62,
      20-G25, 22-F22, 28-C97, 30-K25, 34-E20, 35-G66, 36-C65,
      38-A47, 39-E3, 42-P29, 45-G65, 46-C65, 47-E53, 48-K28,
      50-E96, 52-F6, 57-F5, 58-A86, 60-A36, 62-C57
1965

F/1 11-K91, 12-M49, 13-T95, 14-M86, 15-F17, 16-G91, 17-C78,
      18-L48, 20-H33, 22-F1, 25-C4, 26-C53, 28-E8, 30-L54,
      34-E33, 35-H11, 36-E53, 38-A84, 39-F68, 42-P86, 45-H1,
      46-A66, 47-F1, 48-L62, 50-F88, 52-E83, 56-C19, 57-F73,
      58-E40, 60-C6, 62-C90

OBSERVED LETTER SERIES PLATES (Including F for comparison)
1959 10 P/1-G80

1960 2 P/1-A656, 62 F/1-C96

1961 *36 F/1-D62, 36 F/1-F85, 51 F/1-A58

1962 2 P/1-C666, 13 F/1-U25, 14 F/1-L4, 19 P/1-E46

1963 10 P/1-E12

1965-85 FORMAT PA-0001 - PZ-9999 All letters used.+

WEIGHT LBS.        1965-80        WEIGHT LBS.       1982-2000
     1 - 8,000      PA - PL           1 - 9,000      PA - PL+
8,001 - 14,000      PM - PO       9,001 - 16,000      PM - PO+
14,001 - 18,000      PP - PQ      16,001 - 20,000      PP - PQ+
18,001 - 24,000        PR++       20,001 - 26,000        PR++
24,001 - 30,000        PS         26,001 - 32,000        PS
30,001 - 36,000        PT         32,001 - 38,000        PT
36,001 - 42,000        PU         38,001 - 44,000        PU
42,001 - 55,980*       PV         44,001 - 56,000        PV
55,981 - 61,580*       PW         56,001 - 66,000        PW
61,581 - 73,280*       PX         66,001 - 74,000        PX
                                  74,001 - 80,000        PY

*1971: 52,000, 61,000, 1980: 55,980, 62,000.
+PI (last seen 1983), PO (1977) and PQ (1980) dropped by 1989.
++overflow: PY 1971-80, PZ 1982 but not 1985.

PA-PL PM-PO PP-PQ PR/PY/PZ PS PT

1965 PB-9050 PR-7330
1966 PL-2451* PN-5078 PQ-2291* 0814PT
1967 PI-0580* PN-7052* PP-8846* PS-2279
1968 PJ-9662* PN-5807* PP-9875*
1969 PI-2403* PN-9157* PP-9867* PR-9418*

1970 PH-4644* PO-1804* PS-0776 PT-1415

1971 PG-8633 PN-4940   PQ-0452   PY-1116 PS-0926 PT-1608
1972 PH-4643 PM-6875 PP-8303 PR-7256   PS-4774
1973 PJ-3185 PN-8251 PP-6769 PR-8929
1974 PJ-0147 PM-8639   PQ-0120 PR-9362

1975 PI-4731 PN-7795 PQ-3050 PY-1235 PS-2785
1976 PJ-8051   PN-8980   PP-8575   PR-5702
1977 PI-7404 PO-1113   PQ-3499 PR-3322 PS-4630 PT-2084
1978 PJ-2440 PN-9740 PQ-2673 PY-1463 PS-0527

1979 PJ-7441 PN-4514 PQ-2066 PY-1833 PS-6130

1980 PJ-1565   PN-8181 PQ-0351 PR-7761 PS-5620
1981 PJ-1864 PM-9178 PP-8141
1982 PJ-0261 PN-7444 PP-8088   PZ-0281 PS-2676
1983 PI-5195 PN-6307   PP-4131 PR-8512
1984 PI-3062 PN-6740   PP-1931             PS-2666 PT-0666

1985 + PMU-336 PPM-546 PRD-540

1986-87 + PMX-016 PPH-650

1987 + PML-906 PPB-913 PRD-201 PSA-952 PTA-414

PU PV PW PX PY

1965 PV-2468 -

1966 -

1967 PU-1936 PX-0103 -

1968 PU-2605* -

1969 -

1970 PX-4467 -

1971 PW-0753 PX-5280 -

1972 PX-1950 -

1973 PU-1533 PV-2184 PW-2650 -

1974 PW-0857 -

1975 PV-0929 PW-0877 PX-7699 -

1976 PU-2499 PW-0472 PX-4888 -

1977 PU-1278 PV-1694 PW-1078 PX-2142 -

1978 PU-1140 PV-0959 PX-4700 -

1979 PU-1670 PX-4797 -

1980 PV-0830 PW-0905 -

1981 PV-0451 PW-1159 ?

1982 PU-1317 PX-3518

1983 PW-0574 PY-1449

1984

1985 PUA-150 PVA-719

1986-87

1987 PVA-779 PXA-510 PYB-168

+Class 1 issued multiyear base 1985-88.

No 1986 sticker issued; 1987-88 stickers expire March 1987 and March 1988.

1985-88: PAC-542 - PEZ-946, "(85) TENN 1" top, White/Red 87 or

PFY-789 - PFZ-313 White/Black 88 sticker

PFC-194 - PFX-101 "1 TENN ( )" top, 87 or 88 sticker

PGD-151 - PGX-998? "1 TENN 85" top, 88 sticker

3-89 P1-9000: 026-ACP - 265-AHM "TENN (89)" top, Green/White

P2-16000: 719-AID - 311-AIR "TENN 3-89" top, Green/White

P3-20000: 257-AJG - 231-AJI "TENN 3-89" top, Green/White

P4-26000:

P5-32000:

P6-38000:

P7-44000:

P8-56000:

P9-66000:

P10-74000:

P11-80000:

1989-94 BASE No I,O,Q used. 1995-2000 BASE No I,O,Q used.

P1-9000: PA-0001 - PL-9999, PA-A001 - PE-U285 PA-0001 - PL-9999, PA-A001 - PH-C779

P2-16000: PM-0001 - PN-9999, PM-A001 - PM-W479 PM-0001 - PN-9999, PM-A001 - PN-S388

P3-20000: PP-0001 - PP-9999, PP-A001 - PP-C117 PP-0001 - PP-9999, PP-A001 - PP-F931

P4-26000: PR-0001 - PR-9999, PR-A001 - PR-D819 PR-0001 - PR-8452

P5-32000: PS-0001 - PS-9999, PS-A001 - PS-B554 PS-0001 - PS-9999, PS-A001 - PS-A826

P6-38000: PT-0001 - PT-2043 PT-0001 - PT-4591

P7-44000: PU-0001 - PU-0001 - PU-4352

P8-56000: PV-0001 - PV-1675 PV-0001 - PV-6015

P9-66000: PW-0001 - PW-0001 - PW-3506

P10-74000: PX-0001 - PX-8686 PX-0001 - PX-8688

P11-80000: PY-0001 - PY-0169 PY-0001 -

(TOTAL 308,677) (TOTAL 394,307)

1989-94: "( ) TENNESSEE 89" embossed top, Black/Tan.

1995-2000: "BicenTENNial" design; no center graphics.

3-letter prefixes assigned up to PSZ.

2001-06: Passenger design; no center graphics.

2001-06 SOUNDS GOOD TO ME BASE 2007-22 FLAT BASE?

9000: P/1 00001 - P/1 99999, 00001 P/1 - 99999 P/1, P/1 00001 -

0 P/1 0001 - 0 P/1 3112

16000: P/2 00001 - P/2 50623 P/2 00001 -

20000: P/3 00001 - P/3 12778 P/3 00001 -

26000: P/4 00001 - P/4 17096 P/4 00001 -

32000: P/5 00001 - P/5 09382 P/5 00001 -

38000: P/6 00001 - P/6 05727 P/6 00001 -

44000: P/7 00001 - P/7 05310 P/7 00001 -

56000: P/8 00001 - P/8 04989 P/8 00001 -

66000: P/9 00001 - P/9 04521 P/9 00001 -

74000: P/10 0001 - P/10 6074 P/10 0001 -

80000: P/11 0001 - P/11 0001 -

(TOTAL 319,610) (TOTAL )

JOINT
Semi-Commercial Truck began 1966, replacing about 16% of Private
and about 28% of Farm trucks. Replaced all Farm trucks 1968.
Weight classes aligned with Private trucks; 6 classes 1966-71,
10 classes 1980, 11 classes 1982-2000 (although class 1 dropped

1983). JU seen 1977, JV-JW seen 1979, JX seen 1978, JY seen 1982.

1966-75 FORMAT SA-0001 - ST-9999 All letters used.
(F,Y,J,K added in 1st position as needed.)

        SA-SL     SM-SO     SP-SQ      SR        SS        ST
1966   SI-6177* SM-3231* SP-2957* SR-3719* SS-1393*
1967   SL-5888* SM-4170*  SP-3199* SR-3833* SS-2592*
1968   FJ-9990* SN-6689* SP-7210*
1969   YD-5065* SO-2301   SQ-7050* SS-0417

1970   YD-9731* FM-0532* SQ-6427*
1971   YG-1291   SN-5964 SP-1513                       ST-1127
1972   YI-4793 SN-7964   SP-7531   SR-3566
1973   JA-4620   SO-0699 SP-1372 SS-1993 ST-1408
1974   KF-4175 SO-6116 SP-1340

1975 + SN-8541 SP-2785 SR-1612 SS-1293 ST-1683

(+Class 1 issued 1975 sticker for 1974 base)

(1975 FM or FP reported)

1974-75: Type 1 - Dated "74" at UR KF-4175
Type 2 - Undated, sticker box at UR KG-3202 - KG-9837

1976-85 FORMATS      1J001-A - 9J999-Z       No I,O,Q seen
                      10J01-A - 95J99-Z       except O suffix
                      JA-0001 - JZ-9999       in 1977.

Progression: 1J001-A - 1J999-L, 1S001-A - 1S999-L, etc.

10J01-A - 10J99-L, 10S01-A - 10S99-L, etc.

(S,F,Y,X,W,Z added after county code as needed.)

1976 Issued for all classes 1-6.

JD-9323, JM-3200, JR-0295, JS-0800 (In addition to all county series)

1977-83 STATE SEAL BASE Issued for class 1 only.
JD-1561 (In addition to all county series)

Monthly Staggered Registration began February 1977 for Joint Class 1

only, same as passenger. Joint Class 1 plates discontinued by

Ch. 39 P 3/24/1977, but 1977 bases continued to be revalidated until

1983, when they were replaced by passenger plates.

1977-85 ANNUAL PLATES Issued for classes 2 to 11, expire FEB.
1977 JU-0218, 18J46-O (In addition to all county series 1977-85)
1978 JM-1002, JR-0033, JU-0012, JX-0063, 52F15-O, 75F22-M
1979 JM-1450, JP-0086, JR-0085, JS-0035, JT-0045, JU-0131, JV-0234,

JW-0024, 5F420-M, 5F005-T, 18F44-M
1980 JM-0640
1981
1982 JY-0038
1983 JM-1840, 2F006-M, 19H58-M, 49G52-M (G,H?)
1984 JM-0926, 43F25-M
1985 JM-0592, 12H11-M, 20G41-M, 43F75-M (G,H?)
1986-87 18G01-M, 43F81-M, 77G11-M (G?)

1987 1J134-M, 77J70-M

3-89 J2-16000: 340-AAA - 796-ABB "TENN 3-89" top, Green/White (including O,Q)

3-89 J3-20000: 730-ABL - (same)

3-89 J4-26000:

3-89 J5-32000: 865-ABQ - (same)

3-89 J6-38000:

3-89 J7-44000:

3-89 J8-56000:

3-89 J9-66000:

3-89 J10-74000:

3-89 J11-80000:

1989-94 BASE No I,O,Q used. 1995-2000 BASE No I,O,Q used.

J2-16000: SM-0001 - SN-9999, SM-A001 - SN-H849 SM-0001 - SN-9999, SM-A001 - SN-Z999,

"NOV 00" SL-0001 - SL-6082

J3-20000: SP-0001 - SP-0696 SP-0001 - SP-5140

J4-26000: SR-0001 - SR-0001 - SR-4516

J5-32000: SS-0001 - SS-3786 SS-0001 - SS-3344

J6-38000: ST-0001 - ST-0001 - ST-1456

J7-44000: SU-0001 - SU-0001 - SU-2571

J8-56000: SV-0001 - SV-1193 SV-0001 -

J9-66000: SW-0001 - SW-0001 -

J10-74000: SX-0001 - SX-0001 -

J11-80000: SY-0001 - SY-0001 - SY-4818

(TOTAL 56,492) (TOTAL 93,879)

Design same as P truck 1989-2006.

2001-06 SOUNDS GOOD TO ME BASE 2007-22 FLAT BASE

16000: J/2 00001 - J/2 73892 J/2 00001 - J/2 88781

20000: J/3 00001 - J/3 13610 J/3 00001 - J/3 10875

26000: J/4 00001 - J/4 10652 J/4 00001 - J/4 13942

32000: J/5 00001 - J/5 07540 J/5 00001 -

38000: J/6 00001 - J/6 03907 J/6 00001 -

44000: J/7 00001 - J/7 03750 J/7 00001 -

56000: J/8 00001 - J/8 04294 J/8 00001 -

66000: J/9 00001 - J/9 03130 J/9 00001 -

74000: J/10 0001 - J/10 3200 J/10 0001 -

80000: J/11 0001 - J/11 9889 J/11 0001 -

(TOTAL 133,864) (TOTAL 113,598)

LEGENDS 1920-64
1920-23 "TRUCK" bottom
1924     "TRUCK-1924" bottom
1925 Vertical "TENN" left, "TRUCK 25" bottom
1926     "TRUCK 26 FRONT" bottom, vertical "TENN" center (Verify)
1927-28 Vertical "TRUCK" prefix
1929     "TENN-29-TRUCK" bottom
1930     Vertical "TRUCK" prefix
1931-36 No legend
1937-38 No legend, small weight number prefix
1939     "1939 TENN. 1" bottom (or 2, 3, 4, 5)
1940-64 No legend, small stacked code after county prefix

LEGENDS 1965-87 PRIVATE TRUCK
No legend 1965-83, "COMMERCIAL" bottom 1984-87.
Weight code "1" to "9" or "0" at top 1965-73,

except none 1966 PT, 1967 PX, 1968 PU.

1965-67, 1969:     "TENN" in full map top, "1" UL, "65" UR
1968, 1970:        "TENN" in full map top, "68" UL, "1" UR
1971, 1973:        "TENN" in border map top, "1" UL, "71" UR
1972:              "TENN" in border map top, "72" UL, "1" UR
1974, 1976:        "TENN" in border map top, "74" UR
1975:              "TENN" in border map top, "75" UL
1977, 1979, 1981: "TENN 77" top
1978, 1980:        "78 TENN" top
1982:              "82 TENN 2" top
1983-85, 1987:     "1 TENN 83" top
1986-87:           "86 TENN 87" top

LEGENDS 1966-87 JOINT TRUCK
1966-69: "JOINT" top, "TENN. 66" bottom
1970-77: Same as Private Truck, no legend
1978-87: Same as Private Truck, "JOINT" bottom (no legend 1981)

No corner weight code numbers except "2" seen 1983, 1987.

COLORS 1920-62 (R) = Reverse colors of pass. (S) = Same as pass.
1920   (R?)     1926   (R)               1932   Cream/Green
1921 (R) 1927   (R)               1933   White/Black
1922   (R?)     1928   Black/Yellow 1934 White/Maroon
1923            1929   Red/White 1935   White/Dark Blue
1924   (R)      1930   White/Black 1936   Orange/Black
1925   (R)      1931   (R)               1937-62   (S)

COLORS 1963-87 PRIVATE TRUCK   Fully Reflective 1977-on.
1963                     White/Black           1970   White/Green
1964, 1966, 1968, 1971   Yellow/Black          1972   Red/White
1965, 1967, 1969         Black/Yellow          1973   Black/Green

1974, 1978,       1982, 1985,    1985-88 Class 1   Red/White
1975, 1979, 1981, 1986-87 Class 2+ Green/White
1976, 1980,       1983, 1984,    1987 Class 2+ Black/White
1977                             Dark Blue/White

COLORS 1966-72 JOINT TRUCK   (1975-83 stickers same as passenger)
1966   Yellow/Green               1970   Yellow/Black
1967   Green/Yellow               1971   White/Green
1968   Green/White                1972   Yellow/Green
1969   White/Red                  1973-on   Same as Private Truck