VEHICLE REGISTRATIONS
The annual vehicle registration date varies among the States.
Although many States continue to register specific vehicle types
on a calendar year basis, all States use some form of the
"staggered"
system to register motor vehicles. The "staggered" system
permits a distribution of the renewal workload throughout all
months. Most States allow preregistration or permit "grace
periods" to better distribute the annual registration
workload.
In order to present vehicle registration data uniformly for all
States, the information is shown as nearly as possible on a
calendar-year
basis. Insofar as possible, the registrations reported exclude
transfers and reregistrations and any other factors that could
otherwise result in duplication in the vehicle counts.
Registration practices for commercial vehicles differ greatly
among the States. Some States register a tractor-semitrailer
combination
as a single unit; others register the tractor and the semitrailer
separately. Regardless of how they were registered, only the power
units have been included in the truck count in table MV-1. Some
States register buses with trucks or automobiles; many States
do not report house and light utility trailers separately from
commercial trailers or semitrailers; and some States do not require
registration of car or light utility trailers. Prior to this year's
publication, table MV-1 included personal passenger vans, passenger
minivans, and utility-type vehicles in the category called
Automobiles.
Beginning with the 1994 data, these vehicles are included with
trucks. In some instances, the Federal Highway Administration
(FHWA) has supplemented the data supplied by the States with
information
obtained from other sources.
Motor-vehicle registrations are reported by major vehicle classes:
automobiles, buses, trucks, and motorcycles. The truck category
includes light trucks to the extent they can be identified and
separated from automobiles. Data on trucks, buses, trailers, and
semitrailers are given in tables MV-9, MV-10, and MV-11,
respectively.
Although the detail of motor-vehicle data has improved in recent
years, it is not yet possible to obtain from all States separate
data on single-unit trucks and combinations. Some States provide
data for light trucks and truck tractors, but for many States,
the FHWA estimates this information using other data sources,
such as the Truck Inventory and Use Survey conducted by the Bureau
of the Census. The table MV-9 light truck category includes
pickups,
vans (full-size and mini), utility-type vehicles as well as other
vehicles (panel trucks and delivery vans generally of 10,000 pounds
or less gross vehicle weight). In previous publications, personal
passenger vans, passenger minivans and utility-type vehicles were
included in automobiles on table MV-1. Registrations of publicly
owned motor vehicles are reported in table MV-7.
REGISTRATION TAXES AND FEES
Taxes and fees connected with State motor-vehicle registrations
and special taxes on motor carriers are given in table MV2,
and the disposition of these taxes is given in table MV3.
These tables can be found in the highway finance section. The
diversity of taxes and fees collected has made it necessary to
group them into broad general classes, the most important being
registration fees. The amounts shown are those collected solely
as highway-user revenues and do not include any amounts, such
as personal property levies, that are derived from taxes other
than those related to motor-vehicle ownership and operation.
(Although
portions of these revenues are later used in some States for
nonhighway
purposes, it is the source rather than the expenditure of the
revenues that has determined their inclusion here.) Motor-vehicle
registration fee schedules (table MV-103) and administrative
provisions
governing the disposition of State motor-vehicle and motor-carrier
receipts (table MV-106) appear in a separate FHWA publication
entitled Highway Taxes and Fees, How They Are Collected and
Distributed. A comprehensive comparison of taxes and fees
among the States for 14 selected vehicles can be found in the
separate FHWA publication entitled Road-User and Property Taxes
on Selected Vehicles.
USE OF DATA
All State reported data are analyzed by FHWA for completeness,
reasonableness, consistency, and compliance with data reporting
instructions contained in A Guide to Reporting Highway
Statistics.
State reported data is adjusted if necessary to eliminate mistakes
and to improve data uniformity among the States. The analysis
and adjustment process is accomplished in cooperation with the
States supplying the data.
Differing State laws and practices can influence data definitions
as to the classification of automobiles and trucks. In past issues
of Highway Statistics, personal passenger vans, passenger
minivans, and utility-type vehicles were aggregated with
automobiles.
Because there is a growing interest in these vehicle types they
are shown separately on table MV-9, under the light truck category.
In addition, FHWA and the National Highway Traffic and Safety
Administration (NHTSA) use different registration data sources
and different vehicle definitions. FHWA requests that
it be provided data specifically identifying the various types
of passenger carrying highway vehicles. For example, the State
reported data is to specify if passenger vans have been reported
as passenger vehicles or light trucks. While a State may report
minivans, station wagons on truck chassis, and utility-type
vehicles
as passenger cars to FHWA they are considered trucks in the NHTSA
data.
The FHWA data include all vehicles which have been registered
at any time throughout the calendar year. Data include vehicles
which were retired during the year and vehicles that were
registered
in more than one State. In some States, it is also possible that
contrary to the FHWA reporting instructions, vehicles which have
been registered twice in the same State may be reported as two
vehicles. The NHTSA data include only those vehicles which are
registered as of July 1, of the given year and thus do not include
vehicles registered in the last half of the calendar year or
vehicles
that may only be registered for a part of a year such as those
for farm use.