4501:1-7-05. Registration of commercial trucks, commercial trailers, and commercial semitrailers

(A) As used in this rule "tax number" means the federal tax identification number assigned to any business or individual owner or lessee of a commercial truck, commercial trailer, or commercial semitrailer, or the social security account number of an individual owner or lessee of a commercial truck, commercial trailer, or commercial semitrailer.

(B) All commercial trucks, commercial trailers, and commercial semitrailers which are first registered on or after the first day of March 2004 or which have a registration expiring on or after the thirty-first day of May 2004 shall be registered in accordance with this rule.

(C) All vehicles registered under this rule shall be assigned to a primary registration month, and may be assigned to secondary registration periods and multiple registration periods, based upon the last two digits of the applicant's federal tax identification number or, if none, the applicant's social security account number. All such registrations shall expire on the last day of the month of expiration.

(D) Any person who owns or leases two or more motor vehicles may request the registrar to permit the owner to separate the owner's or lessee's fleet or fleets into up to four divisions in accordance with this rule and the assigned primary, secondary, multiple registration periods. The registrar may disapprove any selected date whenever the registrar has reason to believe that an uneven distribution of registrations throughout the calendar year is likely to develop.

(E) All vehicles registered under this rule shall be assigned to primary registration periods, secondary registration periods, and multiple registration periods, if applicable, in accordance with the following:

(1) If the last two digits of the owner's or lessee's tax number are 00 through 07, inclusive, the vehicles' primary registration month is January; the secondary registration month is July; and the additional multiple registration months are April and October;

(2) If the last two digits of the owner's or lessee's tax number are 08 through 14, inclusive, the vehicles' primary registration month is February; the secondary registration month is August; and the additional multiple registration months are May and November;

(3) If the last two digits of the owner's or lessee's tax number are 15 through 22, inclusive, the vehicles' primary registration month is March; the secondary registration month is September; and the additional multiple registration months are June and December;

(4) If the last two digits of the owner's or lessee's tax number are 23 through 30, inclusive, the vehicles' primary registration month is April; the secondary registration month is October; and the additional multiple registration months are July and January;

(5) If the last two digits of the owner's or lessee's tax number are 31 through 39, inclusive, the vehicles' primary registration month is May; the secondary registration month is November; and the additional multiple registration months are August and February;

(6) If the last two digits of the owner's or lessee's tax number are 40 through 48, inclusive, the vehicles' primary registration month is June; the secondary registration month is December; and the additional multiple registration months are September and March;

(7) If the last two digits of the owner's or lessee's tax number are 49 through 57, inclusive, the vehicles' primary registration month is July; the secondary registration month is January; and the additional multiple registration months are October and April;

(8) If the last two digits of the owner's or lessee's tax number are 58 through 65, inclusive, the vehicles' primary registration month is August; the secondary registration month is February; and the additional multiple registration months are November and May;

(9) If the last two digits of the owner's or lessee's tax number are 66 through 73, inclusive, the vehicles' primary registration month is September; the secondary registration month is March; and the additional multiple registration months are December and June;

(10) If the last two digits of the owner's or lessee's tax number are 74 through 82, inclusive, the vehicles' primary registration month is October; the secondary registration month is April; and the additional multiple registration months are January and July;

(11) If the last two digits of the owner's or lessee's tax number are 83 through 90, inclusive, the vehicles' primary registration month is November; the secondary registration month is May; and the additional multiple registration months are February and August;

(12) If the last two digits of the owner's or lessee's tax number are 91 through 99, inclusive, the vehicles' primary registration month is December; the secondary registration month is June; and the additional multiple registration months are March and September.

(F) If the vehicle owner or lessee chooses not to separate the fleets into separate divisions, all vehicles registered to that owner or lessee shall be assigned to the primary month based on the applicant's federal tax identification number or, if none, the applicant's social security account number. If the vehicle owner or lessee chooses to separate the fleets into two separate divisions, the owner or lessee shall designate which vehicles shall be assigned to the primary month and which vehicles shall be assigned to the secondary month based on the applicant's federal tax identification number or, if none, the applicant's social security account number. If the vehicle owner or lessee chooses to separate the fleets into three or four separate divisions, the owner or lessee shall designate which vehicles shall be assigned to the primary month, which vehicles shall be assigned to the secondary month, and which vehicles shall be assigned to either or both of the other multiple registration months. Once a vehicle is assigned to any month under this rule, that vehicle shall be registered for that same month so long as that owner or lessee owns or leases the vehicle.

(G) To effect the reassignment of commercial vehicles from the current registration period to the new registration periods set forth in this rule, the registrar may require the motor vehicle to be registered for a specific period of not less than six months and not more than seventeen months at the time the motor vehicle's current registration is subject to renewal. If any such period is thirteen months or more, the registrar may permit the applicant to choose to register for the entire period or to split the registrations into two periods. If the applicant chooses to split the registration period, the first period shall be six months and the second period shall be for the remainder of the original period of thirteen or more months. In all instances, the registration taxes to be charged shall be determined by the registrar on the basis of the annual taxes otherwise due on the motor vehicle, prorated in accordance with the number of months for which the motor vehicle is registered, rounded upward to the next highest dollar.

(H) The registrar of motor vehicles shall permit any person who owns or leases a commercial trailer or semitrailer, that is subject to the tax rates prescribed in section 4503.042 of the Revised Code for such trailers or semitrailers, to apply for a registration period of one, two, three, four, or five consecutive years in accordance with the provisions of this rule.

(1) A person who owns a commercial trailer may apply to the registrar to register a commercial trailer(s) for a period of one, two, three, four, or five consecutive registration years.

(2) A person who leases a commercial trailer may apply to the registrar, a deputy registrar, or an Ohio governed international registration plan office to register the commercial trailers to coincide with the term of the lease of the commercial trailers if the lease term is for a period of twenty-four, thirty-six, forty-eight, or sixty consecutive months.

(I) The registrar shall deny an application for multi-year registration if there is cause to believe that granting the application for multi-year registration would avoid compliance with any existing law, regulation, or rule.

(J) The director may prescribe the specifications for validation stickers to be used on commercial trailers registered for multi-year registration periods in accordance with section 4503.191 of the Revised Code and rule 4501-27-07 of the Administrative Code.

(K) The registrar may prescribe standards to govern the application for multi-year registrations . Any application for multi-year registration which fails to comply with any applicable provisions of the Revised Code, the Administrative Code, or the standards prescribed by the registrar shall be denied .

Five Year Review (FYR) Dates: 11/30/2016 and 11/01/2021
Promulgated Under: 119.03
Statutory Authority: 4501.02, 4503.101, 4503.103
Rule Amplifies: 4503.101, 4503.103
Prior Effective Dates: 01/17/04, 02/08/10, 03/21/11

Prior History: (R.C. 119.032 review dates: 12/29/2011 and 12/29/2016
Promulgated Under: 119.03
Statutory Authority: R.C. 4503.101, R.C. 4501.02, R.C. 4503.103
Rule Amplifies: R.C. 4503.101, R.C. 4503.103
Prior Effective Dates: 1/17/04, 2/8/10, 3/21/11 )