Who Registers Camping Trailers In Maine

Even for a Massachusetts native, there are plenty of reasons to visit New England's northernmost state. Get for the legendary lobstah. Bank check out the vast beaches or celebrated hiking trails. Store the famed outlets, and score your favorite fashions for less.

But if you're looking to score a bargain on your trailer's registration, y'all're wiser to stay close to abode.

In recent years, many Massachusetts residents and business organization owners have succeeded in registering their semi- or utility trailers in Maine. Learning that registration fees and taxes are lower at that place, these drivers have made the trek upwards I95, the appropriate documentation in hand. They've headed dorsum downward with Maine-issued registration for a trailer that their Massachusetts-registered vehicle will pull.

The continued prevalence of this practice is understandable. It's an up-front toll saver, and there's a widespread notion that the Bay State allows it. Unfortunately, this notion is inaccurate in most cases, and a registrant's lack of sensation may be irrelevant to a state trooper who catches the infraction.

Maine-ly illegal

Country constabulary requires that if a commercial or consumer vehicle registered in Massachusetts pulls a trailer, that trailer also must be registered in Massachusetts.

Exceptions apply for "apportioned" vehicles (more than on that below).

The state potentially loses hundreds of dollars in taxes for every trailer that "lives"hither just is unlawfully registered elsewhere. Given the increasing number of Maine-plated trailers traveling Massachusetts highways and byways, that puts missing revenue in the millions for a single year. The country's active and escalating crackdown on this problem is not but unsurprising; it's been a long time coming.

To be fair, "offender" probably would exist a harsh label for many of these trailers' registrants, who are honestly unaware they've even broken a police force until they learn the hard way: a fine of up to $500 for every year of illegal registration. Fifty-fifty professionals in the transport and related industries may lack the facts.

Then why such pervasive defoliation effectually this statute? A couple of main reasons are likely:

The "apportioned" exception. Simply expect, a trailer possessor might think, I see legit Mass.-based businesses hauling Maine-plated semi-trailers all the time. Are they all breaking laws? Non necessarily. Side by side time, notice the plate on the vehicle itself. If a Massachusetts license plate displays APP, PRP and/or the word APPORTIONED, that vehicle may legally pull a trailer registered in Maine (or another state). Apportioned registration is based on regular interstate travel and other specific criteria, and by and large only applies to big commercial trucks.

Information technology doesn't matter to Maine. The law in question is a state law, and the land is Massachusetts. Therefore, if a trailer owner comes to the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) with the required documentation (such equally bill of sale) and payment, the BMV is by and large within its legal rights to result the registration. Indeed, there are even contained companies that provide online services for obtaining Maine trailer registrations. But every bit one of these businesses, Maine Trailer Registrations, explicitly states on its web site: "Information technology is your sole responsibility… to become educated of any applicative laws specific to your country regarding trailer registration."

Insurance companies have a responsibility, besides: their client's fiscal protection. To this end, some may refuse to insure a Maine-registered trailer that a non-apportioned Massachusetts vehicle plans to pull. Inconvenient, maybe, but a registration transfer today beats a hefty citation tomorrow.

Your best bet? Piece of work with your Dowd agent from the start to make sure your choices are legally sound. Stops around boondocks or destinations abroad, you can get there from here—and we can help.