Is It Legal To Register A Boat Trailer In Maine If You Live In Maryland

Even for a Massachusetts native, at that place are plenty of reasons to visit New England's northernmost state. Get for the legendary lobstah. Cheque out the vast beaches or historic hiking trails. Shop the famed outlets, and score your favorite fashions for less.

Only if you're looking to score a deal on your trailer's registration, you're wiser to stay close to home.

In contempo years, many Massachusetts residents and business organization owners accept succeeded in registering their semi- or utility trailers in Maine. Learning that registration fees and taxes are lower there, these drivers have made the trek up I95, the advisable documentation in hand. They've headed back down with Maine-issued registration for a trailer that their Massachusetts-registered vehicle will pull.

The continued prevalence of this do is understandable. Information technology's an upward-front cost 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 exist irrelevant to a state trooper who catches the infraction.

Maine-ly illegal

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

Exceptions use for "apportioned" vehicles (more on that beneath).

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

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

Then why such pervasive confusion around this statute? A couple of principal reasons are likely:

The "apportioned" exception. Only look, a trailer owner might remember, I see legit Mass.-based businesses hauling Maine-plated semi-trailers all the fourth dimension. Are they all breaking laws? Not necessarily. Next time, observe 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 more often than not merely applies to big commercial trucks.

It doesn't matter to Maine. The law in question is a state police, and the state 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 generally inside its legal rights to issue the registration. Indeed, there are even independent 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: "It is your sole responsibility… to get educated of whatever applicable laws specific to your state regarding trailer registration."

Insurance companies take a responsibility, too: their client's financial protection. To this end, some may refuse to insure a Maine-registered trailer that a non-apportioned Massachusetts vehicle plans to pull. Inconvenient, maybe, just a registration transfer today beats a hefty commendation tomorrow.

Your best bet? Work with your Dowd agent from the start to make certain your choices are legally sound. Stops around town or destinations abroad, you can go there from here—and nosotros tin help.