trailers with Maine tags??

I have noticed all kinds of trailers in my area that have Maine tags on them. These are local people, Farmers, landscapers, etc.. who have registered their trailers in the state of Maine.. has anyone here that lives outside the state of Maine done this? If so, what is the big advantage to doing so?
I am getting ready to register my 12k dump trailer in the good ol' communist state of Maryland but if i can save some bucks i am willing to register it anywhere ( legally of course)

I live in Maine. I can't imagine any benifit for you to register it here. Maybe there is one, but I don't know what it might be! I think the reason you're seeing all the trailers is people gettin' outta Dodge! We have about the highest electric rates inthe nation. We are number two on the highest taxed state list. And, now, the coup de gras, starting this year, most trailers over 7,000 pounds need a $75 yearly inspection!
Not that I'm complaining! I've lived other places and this is my place of choice..... but I'll tell ya, RI, upstate NY, PA, they all look pretty good.

Freddy wrote: I think the reason you're seeing all the trailers is people gettin' outta Dodge! We .

Nope, these are local yokels mostly farm owners who have Maryland plates on everything but their trailers.
Maine sounds like our nice little communist state. OUr electric rates are supposed to jump 75% in the next 3 years. They just raised our sales tax because A-holes in Annapolis ran the budget over by Billions and they can't seem to figure out how that happened ( no joke)

Wv. is a nice state and the taxes are low. I live about 5 miles from there and was thinking maybe I can just move my farm 5 miles south...

Hmmmmm I'm going to have to look into this, I just bought another trailer for my motorized toys. Here in NY, I have to get anything with a plate on it inspected every year. No yearly inspection is worth it for me for just that reason alone. Perhaps Maine also has more lax rules for 'homebuilt' motor vehicles which maybe PA folk 'have' ?

I think, previously, What I heard from others, out of staters, you can mail your registration to someone and get a PO Box in Maine and forward to you. There is no inspection on trailers in Maine? and you can get a 5 year license for a small fee, much less then other states. Sounds pretty illegal to me. Maybe they have changed to rules or people just ignore them.?

NY you pay every year for trailer plates based on weight capacity and you must get it inspected every year for another fee.

Money talkes and bull @#$% walks. If your company owns 100 to 5000 trailers, being able to perminately register your fleet for a one time fee saves money in the long run. Maine is not the only state to do this. Tennessee and Oklahoma also have easy registration requirements. Other states can't fugure it out that they must compete for revenue. J.B. Hunt is from Arkansas but the regestration there is too expensive. So Oklahoma gets the revenue.

It may have something to do with insurance requirements also. I recall when CT went to insurance required, everyone was trying to register their cars in Maine and Rhode Island around here.

Trucks may be regestered anywhere. where cars or at least in pennsylvania must be registered in your home state

I can't imagine why people would register in Maine. Excise taxes are high. Most commercial truckers have moved there businesses out of Maine (even if in name only) and are registering their trucks in places like Florida. We have some of the highest business taxes around. Maybe there is a benefit over some other states as far as private trailers go, I have never looked into it.

I have a trailer registered in Georgia (where I grew up). When my father died I brought the trailer up here to PA. I have a Georgia registration with no spot to transfer ownership and no title. In order for me to register it in PA I have to fill out a homemade trailer form and have it inspected. The folks at northeast tag and title told me it would be easier for me to register it in Maine to get a title then transfer it to PA.

Quoting from the state's web site, here's why trailers are registered in Maine:

Permanent registration program. A person registering 30,000 or more semitrailers may be issued 25-year permanent registrations. For the purposes of this subsection, "permanent registration" means a long-term trailer registration certificate and plate with an expiration date of December 31st, 25 years from the year of issue.
A. The fee for each registration is $80. The fee is nonrefundable. [1997, c. 776, §16 (NEW).]
B. All registrations expire on December 31st, 25 years from the year of issue. [1997, c. 776, §16 (NEW).]

A quick look at the rules and it's looks like it would be cheaper to re-register my trailer in Maine. Need to talk to my insurance agent first.

You have 30,000 to register?

Wellll.... stop by for coffee while you're here!

Freddy wrote:You have 30,000 to register?

Wellll.... stop by for coffee while you're here!

No. But it explains why you see so many truck trailers with Maine tags on them. I just have a single 10,000 lbs. GVW trailer. Actually the spec plate says 9,999 lbs. Looks like it will be cheaper to tag in in Maine rather than my home resident state of Maryland. Any other states where an out of state resident gets a good deal on trailer license tags?

I will tell you another advantage, at least if you live in NY. I have a buddy that bought an enormus Wells Cargo trailer to haul his antique Jeeps. Retail was something like 17K dollars, NY wanted sales tax before they would reqister it Over 1300 dollars. He registered it in Maine, on the internet, no sales tax and permenent registration. I would definatly follow if I bought one.


Steve

Steve.N wrote:I will tell you another advantage, at least if you live in NY. I have a buddy that bought an enormus Wells Cargo trailer to haul his antique Jeeps. Retail was something like 17K dollars, NY wanted sales tax before they would reqister it Over 1300 dollars. He registered it in Maine, on the internet, no sales tax and permenent registration. I would definatly follow if I bought one.


Steve

BINGO !!! I talked a local farmer that has his trailers registered in Maine and this is exactly why it is done. Not to mention the other advantages mentioned in this post earlier. He also gave me the website that he uses...

http://www.staabagency.com/