Tips for Jurisdictional Vehicle Registration & Plate Renewals

Across the U.S. and Canada, the Department of Motor Vehicles and Ministries of Transportation have reopened. But what does that mean for the fleet world? Not what you might think.

Jurisdictions are going through their backlog caused during springtime closures. However, it’s not yet business as usual for fleets.

While we in the fleet industry often focus on registration-related activities, jurisdictions are responsible for much more than plates and registrations. They’re also tasked with processing driver licenses, driving tests, recreational licenses and more. Since they’ve received the green light to restart operations from their respective authorities, they continue to work through their backlog, often from oldest to newest.

Vehicle Registration: Plan Ahead And Prepare To Wait

Various jurisdictions are open to the public; however, they’re completing fleet-related transactions through other resources. Wheels continues to work with our partners to process fleet renewals, while following the guidance of each jurisdiction through their reopening phases.

With many states and provinces requiring inspections or emissions testing prior to registration, consider the time it will take to complete the testing. Jurisdictions remain focused on safety and social distancing guidelines, which may mean they need more time to complete this step. Details around testing are available on each state’s website with instructions for completion.

Check Wheels’ Delay-Reporting Resources Frequently

Wheels remains close to the situation through the support of the American Automotive Leasing Association (AALA) and the American Automotive Motor Vehicle Administration (AAMVA) organizations. Many operations have opted to extend working hours and have brought in additional resources to manage requests since shelter-in-place began. In most cases this is an initial reopening plan, as things are subject to change based on future pandemic-related events.

In various jurisdictions, Wheels has the ability to process new plate and registration renewal requests once requirements have been secured. During this pandemic, processing transactions has remained online and available through jurisdictional closures in the following U.S. states: Illinois, North Carolina, Maryland, Wisconsin, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and California.

State and province updates are available via the Wheels COVID-19 Resource Center. Check back each week for the latest updates on registration deadlines for plates, renewals and temp tags. In addition to our resource center, state- and province-level processing and requirement information is available in the Wheels jurisdictional profile, under the registration section in FleetView™.

US Jurisdictions

Canadian Jurisdictions

Here’s an example of the state- and province level registration update information provided by Wheels.

• For each jurisdiction, Wheels provides the current Status. This includes information on whether jurisdictions are open, how they are accepting requests and whether appointments are required.
• Under the Driver Guidance section, you can find information on registration extensions and when operations are expected to resume for states that require vehicle inspections.
• The State Issued Documents and Orders section provides links that reveal what documents drivers may need along with the proclamation documents supporting the changes during the pandemic. The last section has specific extension date information.

Stay Connected Via Wheels Registration Dashboard

To keep vehicles legal for use, Compliance Services will continue to process requests in the most expeditious manner. In some cases, this could mean working directly with the jurisdiction or by using the support of a third-party vendor to complete the request. Transaction statuses are available in the Wheels Registration dashboard for state and province transfers and renewal requests.

Where to send requirements once completed and ready for processing:

• Initial Plates and State Transfers: regexpressrequests@wheels.com
• Registration Renewals:  registrationrequirements@wheels.com

Send original documents to:

Wheels Inc.
Attn: Compliance Services
666 Garland Place
Des Plaines, IL  60016

As always, we’ll keep you updated on any changes. If you have any questions, please reach out to a member of your Wheels Account Team.