DMV-DIRECT Newsletter March 2016

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ORDERING LICENSE PLATES AND IN-TRANSIT PERMITS — A STEP-BY-STEP LOOK

Dealers who participate in the DMV’s Dealer Plate Issuance Program must use form MV-464L, to submit orders for license plates (either passenger or commercial) and in-transit permits. That form can be located and printed from the DMV web site: www.dmv.ny.gov. Individual orders consist of one to four boxes/packages, for both plates and permits. (Both come in sets of 25.)

list the number of packages, the permit sequence for each package, and the control number assigned to each shipment. If everything syncs up between the letters and their corresponding shipments, return the tear strip in the envelope provided. Keep the top half of the confirmation letter for recordkeeping purposes, in case of an audit. If the dealer finds any packages or boxes to be missing from the shipment, they actually can’t begin the tracing process until one week after the confirmation letter is received. This grace period allows the shipper to track down and deliver any outstanding packages. If the shipment is still not found, DMV must get confirmation from the shipping service that there is no record of that shipment being signed for, before they can send replacements. If shipments that were declared lost are ultimately delivered, the dealer should contact DMV Plate Issuance immediately at 518.473.8889 for instructions. The plates or permits in these packages cannot be used. At that time, the dealer can review the contents of the box/envelope to verify that the plates and permits are in sequential order and are all individually accounted for, per the confirmation letter. If upon opening a package, the dealer discovers plates/permits that are missing, mixed up, or mutilated, notify DMV in writing on dealership letterhead. Send the letter, along with evidence of the error, to the Dealer Plate Issuance Unit; DMV will replace at no extra charge. Again, keeping the shipments sealed until their contents are ready to be issued assures that any such problems did not occur at the dealership. Once a shipment has been confirmed, those boxes and envelopes should be kept sealed until opened for issuance.

DMV will ship boxes of plates and packages of permits to the dealership’s place of business at no cost to the dealer. Dealers should not open shipments of permits or plates until they have confirmed the shipment and are ready to issue them.

There are several reasons DMV insists upon this. Firstly, it’s mandatory to issue plates and permits in their proper sequence; having more than one open box of permits/plates increases the likelihood of a dealer accidentally grabbing from the wrong pile. Also, the contents of open boxes are far easier to tamper with. DMV will know if plates/permits are being issued out of order, and they could fine or suspend your dealership from the Plate Issuance Program as a result.

The DMV sends the dealership a confirmation letter when they ship the boxes (one for plates and one for in-transits). The plate letter lists the number of boxes and the range of covered numbers in each, which should be compared against what is written on the

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boxes. Do this with the in-transit letter and its corresponding packages as well. (Again, do not open the boxes/packages, at this time.) Each plate letter will include the dealer’s name, the facility ID number, and the number of boxes shipped, with the numbers listed in sequence. The letter for in-transits will