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The Wisconsin Pages:

Understanding Insert Truck and Trailer Plates

Wisconsin's "insert" plates for heavy trucks and trailers are fairly unique, and I find them to be some of the most interesting license plates in existence. They're unusual and colorful in appearance...particularly the light teal 1994-dated baseplates that were in use for many years. They seem "exotic," since they're seldom spotted on anything but commercial machinery. And, they offer an amazingly large plethora of variations...types, weight codes, and die styles spread over continuously-progressing number series.

When did it begin, though? Through the end of the 1930s, heavy and commercial trucks received annual plates identical to those for lighter vehicles. Since registration fees were much higher for heavier vehicles, this was a major inconvenience for heavy truck owners who used their vehicles infrequently or for only a few months out of the year. "Insert" truck plates debuted in 1940, and were introduced to provide the option of quarterly (or in some cases, even monthly) registration to owners. The "insert" nickname was in prosaic reference to the large quarterly metal inserts that validated the plates.

Insert plates were replaced annually through 1971 (by which point actual metal inserts had given way to adhesive validation stickers), and then biannually from 1972 to 1993. The teal 1994-dated baseplate wound up being used for fifteen years, and the current gray base debuted in time for the 2009 validation cycle. Only gray plates should be in use today, although occasionally a straggling 94 will sneak by on the roads.


The first key to understanding these plates is their serial system, which consists of a two-letter prefix followed by numerics. The upper letter of the prefix is a weight class code, while the lower letter is simply a serial character. Weight classes vary from the lightest (X, which is slotted out-of-sequence before D) to the heaviest (T). Trailer plates also encompass three light classes (A, B, C) that fall before X. Lighter weight classes are more common, so the serial ranges for these codes extend higher than for plate series farther along in the alphabet.

[Wisconsin 1993 insert truck]

92 base

[Wisconsin 1994 insert truck]

94 base, Type 1

[Wisconsin 1995 insert truck]

94 base, Type 2

[Wisconsin 2006 insert truck]

94 base, Type 3 (four-digit)

[Wisconsin 2008 insert truck]

94 base, Type 3 (five-digit)

[Wisconsin 2009 insert truck]

09 base

Serials for each weight class series started at A 1. (Other related types like trailer and tractor had their own starting serial letters; specifics are provided in the table below.) Interestingly, the numbering series on insert truck plates has progressed continually since 1992; even though two reissues have taken place since. The 94 baseplate picked up beyond where the 92 serials left off, and the gray plates were likewise a direct continuation of the 94s; as the series of "G"-class plates above make clear.

Initially, the numerics for each prefix started at 1 and worked their way up to 9999 before the serial letter was incremented. After Wisconsin switched to a narrower die set in 1994, they started letting numbers run up to 99999, which slowed down the serial letter progression significantly. (In fact, only two series have advanced a single letter in the system since then.) It also seems that new serial letter series now start at 10001 rather than 1.

Up to 19 weight code series exist, each with its own parallel serial series. Including the 1992, 1994, and 2009 bases, these series are spread over five distinct variations of plates...and in addition to ordinary truck plates, there are tractor plates, trailer plates, heavy farm vehicle plates, farm trailer plates, "Special-UX" plates, and "Special-Z." With all of these multiplications and permutations taken into account, the total number of potential variations is staggering: 478! Many of these permutations are quite rare, and the bulk of what may be seen on the road falls under the realm of 20 to 30 common types.

The following table compiles the serial ranges and break points I have confirmed for post-1992 Insert plates. Not all series or variations are listed. The "expected start" for the 2009 base was rounded off from observations with WisDOT's plate inquiry tool.

Truck
(Lower serial letter progression: A B C D E G.)
92 94
Wide dies
94
Narrow dies,
small prefix
94
Narrow dies,
large prefix
09
Expected
start
09
X XA 1 - XA 2707 XB 2050 - XB 7771 XC 1102 - XC 5224 XC 14540 - XC 72012 XC 80001 XC 82273 - XD 29307
D DA 1 - DC 3067 DD 6 - DG 4154 DG 7188 - DG 49395 DG 55001 DG 60927 - DG 71430
E EA 1 - EA 6281 EB 217 - EB 5413 EC 494 EC 10109 - EC 27119 EC 28501 EC 31946 - EC 37849
F FA 1 - FA 4835 FB 1691 - FB 5258 FB 11390 - FB 16152 FB 24001 FB 27434 - FB 32021
G GA 1 - GA 7887 GC 7326 - GD 1142 GD 4528 GD 7424 - GD 38762 GD 41001 GD 45457 - GD 55562
H HA 1 - HA 3950 HC 7887 HD 1928 - HD 12080 HD 20001 HD 20901 - HD 27277
J JA 1 - JA 1708 JB 366 - JB 718 JB 2251 JB 7501 JB 7952
K KA 1 - KB 919 KB 3001
L LA 1 - LB 3465 LB 7623 LB 8001 LB 8392 - LB 9829
M MA 1 - MC 5501 MC 6147 - MC 7889
N NA 1 - NB 3101
P PA 1 - PB 4252 PB 6001
Q QA 1 - QB 3263 - QB 5809 QB 11501 QB 12801 - QB 13940
R RA 1 - RB 2002 RB 3736 - RB 13073 RB 15001 RB 17127 - RB 20431
S SA 1 - SB 4231 SB 8001 SB 8956 - SB 10713
T TA 1 - TB 1076 - TB 2717 TB 4013 TB 4370
Tractor
(Lower serial letter: A on 92; S since 94.)
92 94
Wide dies
94
Narrow dies,
small prefix
94
Narrow dies,
large prefix
09
Expected
start
09
E ES 153 ES 301 ES 347
H HS 559 HS 901
J JS 368 JS 801 JS 932
M MS 3001 MS 3755
P PS 1801 PS 2164
Q QS 516 QS 1301 QS 1601
R RS 287 RS 2001 RS 2429
T TA 1 - TA 271 TS 3322 TS 22623 TS 24501 TS 25204 - TS 32029
Trailer
(Lower serial letter progression: A on 92; R T A since 94.)
92 94
Wide dies
94
Narrow dies,
small prefix
94
Narrow dies,
large prefix
09
Expected
start
09
A AA 1 - AA 4896 AR 1963 AR 21349 - AR 37186 AR 45001 AR 48341 - AR 54851
B BR 5171 BT 14745 - BT 30530 BT 37001 BT 48962 - BT 53206
C CR 3276 CT 2119 - CT 4633 CT 14595 - CT 52217 CA 10001 CA 18008 - CA 43425
X XR 134 XR 2669 XR 4115 - XR 21539 XR 30001 XR 43735
D DR 2315 DR 17476 - DR 27545 DR 36001 DR 38746 - DR 50949
E ER 5652 - ER 7715 ER 14001 ER 16720 - ER 17258
F FR 9001 FR 9967
G GR 5001 GR 6464 - GR 6923
L LR 701 LR 979
Farm
(Lower serial letter: F; series since 94 begin at 30001 to avoid conflicts with farm trailer plates.) Passenger-style stickers; "Feb" is embossed at upper right.
93 95
Wide dies
95
Narrow dies,
small prefix
95
Narrow dies,
large prefix
10
Expected
start
10
E EF 30001 - EF 31106 EF 33301 EF 33519
G GF 30001 - GF 36924 GF 38001
H HF 3149 - HF 3301 HF 30001 - HF 33539 HF 37001
K KF 293 KF 30001 - KF 30008 KF 31201
M MF 30001 - MF 30197 MF 32001
Q QF 30000 - QF 31001 QF 31072
Farm Trailer
(Lower serial letter: F.) Passenger-style stickers; "Dec" is embossed at upper right.
92 94
Wide dies
94
Narrow dies,
small prefix
94
Narrow dies,
large prefix
09
Expected
start
09
E EF 9744 EF 12001
F FF 10001 FF 12020
G GF 6701 GF 7299
Special-UX
(Lower serial letter: X.) Passenger-style stickers; "Dec" is embossed at upper right.
Special-Z
(Lower serial letter: Z.) Passenger-style stickers; "Dec" is embossed at upper right.
Not enough information about these types has been collected to plot break points. Special-UX and Special-Z plates were discontinued in 2004, so none exist on the gray 2009 baseplate.
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Last update December 23, 2012.