Your vehicle registration type can have a big impact on what sort of tickets you can get where and when. You can even get a ticket just for registering your vehicle incorrectly, so make sure to pay attention to the following rules:

Passenger to Commercial

To have a car, truck, or van registered as a commercial vehicle, they must be permanently altered. All seats behind the driver’s seat must be removed. In their place, permanent cargo-carrying hardware, such as a box or racks must be installed. This rule also applies if you would like to convert an existing passenger car, pick-up truck or van to a commercial vehicle.

Commercial to Passenger

If you want to do the opposite, convert a commercial vehicle to a passenger vehicle, take a look at the following rules from the New York Department of Motor Vehicles:

Pick-up Trucks (Part 106.6 (b) and (c))
You can register a pick-up in the ‘Passenger’ class if it meets certain conditions, depending on its unladen weight.
If your modified or unmodified pick-up truck has an unladen weight less than 6,001 lbs., you can register it in the ‘Passenger’ class if it meets the following conditions:

• the pick-up truck does not have any business advertisements
• the pick-up truck is used exclusively for non-commercial purposes

If your modified pick-up truck with an unladen weight greater than 6,000 lbs., you can register it in the ‘Passenger’ class if it meets the following conditions:

• the pick-up truck does not have any business advertisements and is used exclusively for non-commercial purposes
• a camper top having one or more side windows completely encloses the truck bed
• the pick-up truck has seats, seat fittings, or camping equipment installed in the truck bed
  • ‘camping equipment” indicates that you have a permanent bed, a permanent stove, or a permanent refrigerator in the vehicle.
  • if this equipment is removed and you use the van, you must register the van as a commercial vehicle

Vans (Part 106.3 (d))
You can register it in the ‘Passenger’ class if the van has

• at least one side window behind the driver, and
• at least one seat or set of seat fittings that is installed behind the driver, or
• camping equipment that is installed behind the driver.
  • ‘camping equipment’ indicates that you have a permanent bed, a permanent stove, or a permanent refrigerator in the vehicle
  • if you install seats behind the driver, you must also install seatbelts that meet NY State Occupant Restraint Law requirements

Make sure to follow the rules to avoid unnecessary tickets!