Trailer Registration in TN?

[JAB]

This is interesting.  There is a rolling frame for a trailer sitting at my late grandfather's house that I am planning to get.  It looks like it was once a full trailer but the wooden 'floor', etc must have gotten in bad shape and I am thinking he or someone else was planning to rebuild it and removed those parts, leaving only the metal frame and axles, etc. which are still very solid.  I will put a 'floor' in it and use it for a utility trailer, etc.  I had noticed that most utility trailers around here don't seem to have tags but when I looked it up online at the .gov site it seemed to be saying that they are supposed to have tags.  For clarification, I called the Loudon County Clerk's office I was told that yes, absolutely the law requires a tag for such a trailer.  Further, (again, according to the .gov site) supposedly when you have a trailer that was 'built' rather than one that is factory made you have to have it inspected and approved before you can even get a tag.

 

I am now hoping that maybe the web site just isn't very clear (it isn't) and that the person at the Loudon County Clerk's office was full of crap.  As many trailers as I see that don't have tags and that aren't apparently getting pulled over for it, I am starting to believe that such is the case.

Edited September 29, 2014 by JAB

[Patton]

I have not researched it but I have been told that TN no longer requires lights as long as they can be seen on the tow vehicle.

[tnguy]

That seems like an exceedingly bad idea.

[jtmaze]

I have not researched it but I have been told that TN no longer requires lights as long as they can be seen on the tow vehicle.

In daylight but at night you must still have lights

[Paul Dz]

I know this is an old post, but here is my 2¢ worth.

I see a lot of people starting, "if you are going to bring your utility trailer out of state, to get a tag for it here in Tennessee as the neighboring states require tags on utility trailers". 

So what would be the difference with states that require front tags and those, like Tennessee, that dont?  Should we get a plate for the front of our vehicles, just in case? 

Edited March 21, 2022 by Paul Dz
Read wrong

[Links2k]

5 hours ago, Paul Dz said:

I know this is an old post, but here is my 2¢ worth.

I see a lot of people starting, "if you are going to bring your utility trailer out of state, to get a tag for it here in Tennessee as the neighboring states require tags on utility trailers". 

So what would be the difference with states that require front tags and those, like Tennessee, that dont?  Should we get a plate for the front of our vehicles, just in case? 

Tennessee doesn’t require a tag so I don’t use one. 
 

I also don’t see an issue with the front tag on a vehicle. Cops know the tags aren’t required in every state. 

[Jeb48]

Sounds like every county has a different story. I never heard of the one time semi-trailer plate. I have a 12' enclosed that I take out of state once in awhile. Since I owned the trailer when I moved to TN I did not pay any sales tax. I have been told on cars that if you pay in another state you pay the difference in TN but you should get the exemption from the other state and only pay in TN. As far as plates they said I didn't need to buy plates (yearly) but if I went out of state I should carry the TN law and other than a possible delay I would not be ticketed. I have 3 trailers and only license the one. I have been thinking that if I don't need a plate in TN would they care if it was expired. If TN doesn't care I would peal off the yearly stickers and leave the expired plate on the trailer. I figure no other state would know the difference.

[jpx2rk]

You can get the semi-trailer tag for a trailer, it costs a bit more, but no expiration.  If you take that trailer out of state you are good as some states require trailers to be "tagged" while others don't.  You may/may not get a ticket depending on the mood of the LEO and situation at the time in that state.  

I had a "semi" tag for a motorcycle trailer a few yrs back as I towed the bike/trailer out of state, and did not want the potential hassle while out of state.  I now have a utility trailer and have not tagged it, I don't see myself towing it out of state.  I've used it a total of 2x's in the 3 yrs I've owned it.  LOL

[Handsome Rob]

How in heck are all these new members finding these Zombie threads, totally unrelated to the main gist of the forum, is what is like to know....... My paranoia radar is pinging REAL hard lately.

[Chucktshoes]

1 hour ago, Handsome Rob said:

How in heck are all these new members finding these Zombie threads, totally unrelated to the main gist of the forum, is what is like to know....... My paranoia radar is pinging REAL hard lately.

The new rules about private messaging have really caused an increase in new member postings. So folks comment on whatever if they don’t have something pertinent to current conversations going on. 

[Erik88]

2 hours ago, Handsome Rob said:

How in heck are all these new members finding these Zombie threads, totally unrelated to the main gist of the forum, is what is like to know....... My paranoia radar is pinging REAL hard lately.

I had a thread from a few years ago where I was asking about converting light fixtures from a ballast to LED. Someone found it and commented on it recently. That wasn't the strangest part though. I now live in a different house with the same issue and I had just thought about it the day before. It really creeped me out.

[Erich]

I'll propose another possibility, new person could be an out of state person moving or passing thru. The Google pointed me to this very thread when I was researching trailer tags after receive a notice from CA that my trailer was due. If you google TN trailer plates this thread is indexed there.

I had zero intent of every giving CA another time of my money. They charge $10 for a 5 year tag.

I saw that TN didn't require it so I never thought. But DMV recommended getting one as adjacent states are trailer ticket happy. So, thought fair enough, I'll get a TN plate. I was blown away by the fees!!  3x what a vehicle tag is??  That's simply out of line for a light weight utility trailer that mainly sits and causes far less road wear.  

At that point I was very happy to pay CA my $10 for the next 5 years. As much as I dislike things CA, what TN is doing with trailer plates is far worse than anything CA DMV was doing in general. And my $40 TN truck reg was $600 in CA!

[Darrell]

I brought two large trailers with me when I moved to TN, a flatbed and a dump trailer. The tags were a bargain compared to what I'd been paying in WA, and since the trailers were already mine I didn't have to pay sales tax.  It seems a no-brainer to me to have plates, title, and registration for a trailer.