British Columbia Commercial Truck License Plates

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With the introduction of the new "Flag" graphic design in 1985, the Commercial Truck series commenced where the 1979 series had left off, in the "M" block. Generally, the series would continue to use the same letters as had been used on the 1979 base, with the exlcusions being "I", "O", "Q", "U" & "Z".
The "M" block included a few extra exclusions, including "MA" (as this had been assigned to Manufacturer plates), "MD" (we assume to avoid confusion as Medical Doctors) and "MP" (we assume to avoid confusion with Member of Parliament).
As can also be seen in some of the early plates in the series, the difficulties encountered by Astrographic in nailing down an effective manufacturing process can be seen in the different dies that appear on the plates. A more full accounting of these travails can be found on the Passenger page for this period.
1985 - 2009
Dave Hollins Collection
'R' Block
Issuing Statistics
1985:
0000-MB to 9999-MY
1985:
0000-NA to 9999-NY
1985:
0000-PA to 9999-PY
1985:
0000-RA to 9999-RE
1986:
0000-RF to 9999-RY
1986:
0000-SA to 9999-SY
1989:
0000-TA to 9999-TH
1990:
0000-TJ to 9999-TY
1990:
0000-VA to 9999-VH
1991:
0000-VJ to 9999-VY
1991:
0000-WA to 9999-WC
1992:
0000-WD to 9999-WY
1992:
0000-XA to 9999-XM
1993:
0000-XN to 9999-XY
1993:
0000-YA to 3999-YG
1994:
4000-YG to 9999-YG
1994:
0000-AA to 3999-AC
1996:
0000-BA*
1997:
0000-CA*
1998:
0000-DA*
2000:
0000-EA*
2001:
0000-FA*
2002:
0000-GA*
2003:
0000-HA*
2005:
0000-JA*
2006:
0000-KA*
2007:
0000-LA*
* based on sightings
'L' Block

Astrographic / Waldale Transition
As can be seen on the plates below, the transition from Commercial Truck plates manufactured by Astrographic of Surrey, BC, versus those plates manufactured by Waldale of Nova Scotia, occurred somewhere between the "GD" and "GF" suffixes:

Veteran Base:
In 2004, the Commercial Truck plate type was included as one of the plate types that would be made available as part of an initiative by the British Columbia to recognise the service of "Veterans" to their country.
It is thought that ICBC has set aside the "LV", "LW", "LX" and "LY" suffixes for use on the Veteran base - which represents approximately 40,000 plates (as of May 2010 - or six years into the program - only 6,700 Veteran Truck plates have been issued). Interestingly, this bloc represented the last of four suffixes available in the Truck series under the 0000-XX format.

LW
LX
LY

DIY Decals
In an attempt to potentially get around their yearly fees, this motorist tried their hand at creating their own 2009 registration decal.

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