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Commercial Car

New Mexico had no separate licensing category for commercial vehicles until mid-1923, when both Commercial Car and Commercial Truck plates were introduced. The Commercial Car category was primarily for taxis, and this type of plate was used through 1929, after which it was superseded by the C-prefix commercial plate with either a “Taxi,” “Bus,” or “Driverless” seal affixed. (See the section on Bus plates for information on this type, which appears to have been used on both buses and taxis in the year 1930, and the section on Driverless for an explanation of this unusual type.) In New Mexico buses and taxis were in the early years closely allied classes of vehicles which were differentiated by law as follows: Taxicabs: Motor vehicles for the transportation of persons for hire, having a normal seating capacity of not more than seven persons. Buses: Motor vehicles for the transportation of persons for hire, having a normal seating capacity in excess of seven persons. There might be little difference in the appearance, therefore, between a 7-passenger taxi and an 8-passenger bus. And an examination of the seals on these plates shows that they don’t always follow the above definitions. Note: The weight/capacity seals used on these plates are commonly called “tabs” today, but during the years they were in use the only name applied to them was “seal.”

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