How to register a new trailer in Texas

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by float5

One way that any owners can know if they must have such inspections is to go to a scale and get their loaded weight. (At least at any one time with what they expect to normally carry.) In addition, there is the question of filling the fresh tank for hundreds more pounds, and any weight in the other tanks.

Since the registration weight is the maximum the loaded trailer can weigh and not violate its license, weighing the loaded trailer (which I think is a great idea ) provides a minimum value to be used for registration - if you don't register a higher weight, you can never (legally) carry any more stuff... whether it is water or anything else.

Originally Posted by float5

So it needs to be looked at by quite a few Texas owners unless perhaps they decide to just do annual inspections, saying that they are at the GVWR.

Using the real GVWR (as defined by Escape) is the obvious solution, to handle any possible use of the trailer.

[Mary F]

My experience in the same county tax office that the OP was asking about, is that the weight on my title application was taken from the GVWR on ETI's Manufacturer's Certificate of Origin (MCO). We had also weighed our trailer (as empty as we could make it, not ready for camping), and there was also the "dry weight" figure available on the MCO. Even so, the figure the clerk used as the registered weight is the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating, based, presumably on what the axles and chassis will (not necessarily do) carry. That's my story. YMMV.

[float5]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

Since the registration weight is the maximum the loaded trailer can weigh and not violate its license, weighing the loaded trailer (which I think is a great idea ) provides a minimum value to be used for registration - if you don't register a higher weight, you can never (legally) carry any more stuff... whether it is water or anything else.


Using the real GVWR (as defined by Escape) is the obvious solution, to handle any possible use of the trailer.

If owners weigh in at 4200 with propane and maybe water and everything that they expect to travel with, then they might decide that the obvious solution is to say that they have 4490 lbs.

[float5]

Originally Posted by Mary F

My experience in the same county tax office that the OP was asking about, is that the weight on my title application was taken from the GVWR on ETI's Manufacturer's Certificate of Origin (MCO). We had also weighed our trailer (as empty as we could make it, not ready for camping), and there was also the "dry weight" figure available on the MCO. Even so, the figure the clerk used as the registered weight is the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating, based, presumably on what the axles and chassis will (not necessarily do) carry. That's my story. YMMV.

The fact that the GVWR was used, well, it looks incorrect according to the reading. That is what you gave. If you had said that the gross weight of the trailer is 4400 lbs., would she have used that?

When talking to them, they ask how much is the weight with what you are carrying. They do not ask for GVWR and it is not what is in writing. Their own definition for the weight contradicts using the GVWR. She used what you gave her. If you weigh the trailer and point to the definitions and you are obviously under, I expect that would be different. You had no actual loaded weight, as the requirement says, to give (or something above it but under the 4500, assuming that you are.)

[Mary F]

Cathy. The clerk did not ask me to state my trailer's weight. I surrendered our Manufacturer's Certificate of Origin to him, as well as about half of the other documents I had brought with me. He completed our title application, working from a checklist of instructions. He used the GVWR on the MCO, as I indicated in a previous post.

Obviously these regulations are complex and interpreted differently by different people. I remember one someone in eastern Texas was able to apply for their title and get their plates prior to leaving for Chilliwack. Not so in my county.

[float5]

As a side note, we are looking at storing our trailer in Texas. In many states if not most, that would require registering it there. I have found, however, that Texas has a reciprocal agreement with Iowa that apparently allows us to use our Iowa tag. (Texas has reciprocity with many states and each situation is different.) If I find out otherwise, then we will see what they tell us for registering. Anyway, I will check on what inspection they are talking about for bringing in a trailer that is to be registered.

Yes, the clerks in different towns in every state give a different story. They do not know their own regulations but of course they are dealing with many things, not only this.

The clerk who gave the plates early might have actually just used common sense for a buyer going to Canada. The plates are not supposed to be given that way but maybe they decided that this kind of case is different and no provision had been made, so they just made it. Also, when you mention east Texas, that is Escapees country and they are well known and can get things done.

[Mary F]

Registering your trailer in Texas would be somewhat different from what my situation was, since yours is already titled (the importation from Canada already accomplished, in Iowa). Good luck with it, if you end up going that route.

[float5]

Originally Posted by Mary F

Registering your trailer in Texas would be somewhat different from what my situation was, since yours is already titled (the importation from Canada already accomplished, in Iowa). Good luck with it, if you end up going that route.

Yes! You had much more to do than we would.

[Red Dog]

So, just to be clear, here are my thoughts and questions.

We will be picking our 21' Escape in the first couple of weeks of January 2017 and travel down to California, attend the Quartsite rally and other sites before coming back into Texas. So, it should be OK if we use 3 temporary permits while traveling, as we were not planning to rush back to Texas.

My questions are as follows:

When we enter Texas via El Paso, where does one get travel trailers inspected?

Where do we go to get the VTR-68-A filled out?

As Escapees, will we have to get our plates through Polk County, where we officially reside, even though we have never lived there? Hopefully, this can be done via mail.

[rbryan4]

Originally Posted by Red Dog

So, it should be OK if we use 3 temporary permits while traveling, as we were not planning to rush back to Texas.

Yes, you can purchase the 30 day permit 3 times.

Originally Posted by Red Dog

When we enter Texas via El Paso, where does one get travel trailers inspected?

A safety inspection can be done at lots of places.

Originally Posted by Red Dog

Where do we go to get the VTR-68-A filled out?

A VIN Inspection must be completed by a member of the Texas Auto Theft Task Force. Most cities have a place to do so, including El Paso. You can use this online form to request an appointment. I'd do it beforehand, since most appointments are a couple months out.

https://www.elpasotexas.gov/police-d...ntment-request

Originally Posted by Red Dog

As Escapees, will we have to get our plates through Polk County, where we officially reside, even though we have never lived there? Hopefully, this can be done via mail.

Most Texas counties allow registration by mail, but I would check with Polk County to see what their process is. Phone number is 936-327-6801.

[ThomasG]

Hi again,

I'm following up on my original post (#1) on this subject with what appears to be a solution. First, a summary of my original post:

• We are picking up our trailer from ETI in April 2017.
• After pickup, we want to travel for about 4.5 months before returning home (Austin, TX).
• The question is, how do I legally use a trailer around the US and Canada before I bring it to Texas for the first time?

As rbryan4 pointed out, the process for registering an imported trailer in Texas is clearly described here: TxDMV.GOV - Out of State and Imported Vehicles
The problem is that you have to have the vehicle in Texas to complete that process. There are 30 day temporary permits, but you can only get three of those (and I need enough for 4.5 months).

So, there appeared to be no legal way for me to travel for 4.5 months without returning to Texas to finish the registration process.

I talked to Tina (512-854-3965) in the Travis County Tax office. She understood my dellima and called the DMV office. The DMV office said if the vehicle is imported from North America, and the MOC form states "Complies to all US standards", then they can wave the VTR-68-A form (the VIN number inspection by a member of the Texas Auto Theft Task Force). I also need to provide a VTR-270 form (vehicle identification number certification). Sarah at ETI told me their MOC includes the following statement: "This vehicle conforms to all applicable Canadian Motor Vehicle and US Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards in effect on the date of manufacture shown above.” Tina said if I take the above forms (and the other forms required for registration) to the county tax office, I should be able to register the trailer and get the license plates before I bring the trailer to Texas. I will need to get a safety inspection within three days after entering Texas for the first time.

I know other Texas Escape owners have registered their Escape trailers in Texas before they picked them up. But, it was never clear to me the process that was used. Hopefully this works for me around the end of March. Perhaps another Texan will try this sooner.

By the way, thanks everyone for the interesting discussion on GVWR and inspections in Texas.

[James Gang]

Thomas: Let us know if this works. I will be picking up my trailer in late July and returning to Austin late August I will do the registering in September.

[rbryan4]

Originally Posted by ThomasG

The DMV office said if the vehicle is imported from North America, and the MOC form states "Complies to all US standards", then they can wave the VTR-68-A form (the VIN number inspection by a member of the Texas Auto Theft Task Force). I also need to provide a VTR-270 form (vehicle identification number certification). Sarah at ETI told me their MOC includes the following statement: "This vehicle conforms to all applicable Canadian Motor Vehicle and US Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards in effect on the date of manufacture shown above.” Tina said if I take the above forms (and the other forms required for registration) to the county tax office, I should be able to register the trailer and get the license plates before I bring the trailer to Texas. I will need to get a safety inspection within three days after entering Texas for the first time.

Such a waiver makes sense, since the trailer is clearly marked to meet both US and Canadian standards. Let us know if this shortcut works out. It'd be nice to have tags before you leave, and it would also make crossing back into Canada much easier if you're so inclined.

[Red Dog]

ThomasG,

Thanks so much for the this thread. Our rig has been completed and is entering the quality control phase of the process. We will be picking it up within the next six weeks. Next week, I will contact my county tac office in Polk County and see if I can get this process to work.

My back up plan will be to apply for three 30 day temporary permits and then do the registration after I arrive back in Texas, but I would rather have the permanent plates.

[ThomasG]

Originally Posted by Red Dog

ThomasG,

Thanks so much for the this thread. Our rig has been completed and is entering the quality control phase of the process. We will be picking it up within the next six weeks. Next week, I will contact my county tac office in Polk County and see if I can get this process to work.

My back up plan will be to apply for three 30 day temporary permits and then do the registration after I arrive back in Texas, but I would rather have the permanent plates.

Fred,

I hope it works for you. Myself, and a few other soon to be Texas Escape owners, are looking forward to hearing back from you.

Picking up a new Escape trailer is a great way to start a new year!

[Mike & Donna]

Thanks to all for posting and sharing your insights into the registration process in Texas and the various options available to those of us who live in the Lone Star state. We are scheduled to pick up our Escape in June so all this info will come in super handy.

[H46Driver]

As of 10 January in Bexar County, Texas if you get the clerk at Desk #9 in the Tax Collector's Office of Bandera Road these are the requirements for registering your Escape. It appears that each individual clerk and office has a differing opinion on the process they will use. We were unsuccessful in getting our registration in advance of picking up the trailer. We were able to purchase 60 days of temporary tags at $25 each plus some fees (CASH only) with no restrictions on their use other than after 30 days we throw away the first one and switch to the second. We have arranged to work with the same clerk when we come back in a little over a month so that we don't have to re-invent the wheel. We even got the business card of her supervisor who made all the calls to the State Comptroller in Austin while we waited well over an hour for them to figure out the process.

She told us we will need:
1. Certificate of Origin (Issued by ETI)
2. Bill of Sale (Issued by ETI) If possible it will be good to have US $ conversion on there but if you don't have it be sure to bring bank transfer receipts for both deposit and payoff in order for them to compute taxable amount.
3. Stamped Customs Paperwork - Federal Motor Vehicle Safety and Theft Prevention Standards Form HS-7 (Provided by ETI at delivery)
4. Application for Assigned or Released Number VTR-68-A which needs to be done by Law Enforcement after getting the trailer to Texas. As pointed out in earlier posts you will need an appointment for this.
5. Application for Texas Title and/or Registration form 130-U
6. Trailer Verification of Fact form VTR-141 (not sure why they threw this form in as it doesn't seem to do much or have any information that isn't on other forms - guessing they just had a bunch of them handy and wanted to get rid of them)

Based on experiences of others, I'm guessing that it really depends who you get behind the counter on what day and what mood they may be in at that particular point in time. Again, we were able to get 60 days (could have got 90) of temporary tags with no restrictions on returning to Texas within less time than that and in fact we could operate the entire 60 days within Texas with no penalties or restrictions. They said we could ONLY get those temporary tags in person and not over the internet - also interesting that it was CASH only. Fortunately they caught me on a day where I actually had cash in my wallet - a rare occurrence.

[rbryan4]

Our requirements were similar back in 2015, (at the same location on Bandera Road!) except for the VTR-141, which is irrelevant to this type of transaction. It's not homemade, and the manufacturers certification makes the form non applicable. The only other difference was the temporary permits, which we were able to print from home. I suppose your difficulties with that stem from some anomaly in the VIN.

[Mike & Donna]

Just to add to the discussion here is what I found regarding "Trailers" on the txdmv.gov website. There is a separate listing for trailers with different requirements for getting it titled and registered in Texas. Here is the link.

TXDMV.GOV - Trailers

Below are excepts from the site in italics

Determine the type of trailer you have
Start by looking on the trailer tongue. This is where you are most likely to find the manufacturer’s name, which confirms you have a manufactured trailer. If you do not know whether the trailer is manufactured or homemade, it must be inspected by an auto theft law enforcement officer.

If your manufactured trailer's gross weight exceeds 4,000 lbs., it must be titled. Submit the following documents to your county tax assessor-collector office:


Evidence of ownership:
New trailer: Manufacturer Certificate of Origin*
A completed Form 130-U,
Applicable fees

* The Manufacturer's Certificate of Origin (MCO) is the document that allows you to register and/or title a new trailer. This is your trailer's "birth certificate," showing its unique identification information. A trailer manufacturer is required to provide a MCO to dealers or purchasers for every vehicle it manufactures.

Trailers with a gross weight exceeding 4,500 lbs. must pass an annual safety inspection.

In some cases, you may be asked to provide additional information such as:

Weight Certificate, and/or
Photograph of trailer.
For information about all required documentation and fees, contact your county tax assessor-collector office.

From reading this is seems all you should need is
1) Evidence of ownership (Bill of Sale)
2) MCO from ETI
3) Completed Form 130-U
4) Pay fees
5) Safety Inspection required if actual trailer gross weight exceeds 4500 lbs.

I have not contacted the County Tax Office or had personal experience with the process or what is required by the local county tax collector as some of you have, just throwing this out there for discussion so we all may learn something from it.

[rbryan4]

Those requirements are well known, Mike. What's not so clear is the wrinkle caused by having an imported trailer. Thus, the multiple threads and long discussions about the VTR-68A, and the VIN inspection. My opinion still is that it largely depends on who you talk to. While the requirements are relatively clear, the DMV personnel understanding of the requirements are not.