***ALL PSV PLATE TYPES ELIMINATED IN 2019***
- PSV plates were originally assigned to for-hire vehicles hauling goods belonging to a 3rd party. PSV plates with CAVR or Apportioned stickers were found on trucks and buses which travelled frequently outside the province.
- Originally dating back to 1982 on prior plate designs, CAVR stickers were used on this base from 1997 until March 1, 2001, when Manitoba joined the International Registration Plan (IRP). Existing CAVR plates affected by the change received new Apportioned stickers (featuring blue vertical bars) to be added by the company, example PAF 712 above. New registrations after March 2001 received a single Apportioned sticker, applied only to the plate with the date stickers, with the other plate completely devoid of any stickers.
- PSV Driveaway was the Manitoba version of the Transporter or In-Transit permit used for one-time movements of large trucks, trailers and buses. Transporter/Driveaway companies can keep their floater plate and keep renewing in the normal manner, or apply for plates on an as-needed basis. To differentiate the class, a special DA sticker was applied to the upper left corner of a regular PSV plate. DA-stickered PSV plates were very scarce with only 58 registered in 2009. Update: These were merged with CT DA after 3-1-19.
- The entirety of both the PCL and PDL series were supposed to be reserved for PSV trailers but were produced as pairs in error and issued to regular PSV trucks in 2011 and 2017.
- The revised black bison first appeared on PSV plates in 2013 beginning with plate PCR 001.
- Limited Use (blue on white "LU" sticker) option for PSV added September 2015.
- Date stickers ceased issuance on 3-1-16.
- Sticker boxes disappeared and HD sheeting appeared on PSV plates starting with PDW 001 to the end of the PEF series in 2019-20.
- A change in law required Manitoba's PSV plate categories be eliminated and merged with the Regulated or CT categories effective March 1, 2019. I've studied this transition using data from the High Road website, Andrew Osborne, my own field notes, photos and observations plus some data shared with me by private carriers. MPI originally planned to recall all PSV plates and destroy leftover stocks but some carriers complained and this was deemed wasteful. Instead, it was decided to allow existing plates to remain valid/renewable and to issue remaining inventory of PSV plates. One former PSV Apportioned carrier with over 100 trucks I spoke to reported their batches of plates transitioned to CT as follows: PDK, PDN, PDV, CHX, CHY, CJA. High Road website indicates PDV was issued in 2018, CHX reached May 2019 and PEF (end of PSV production) reached as early as mid-2020. As always, which plates a particular registrant receives always depends on what their local issuing office has in stock. I have not observed or photographed any newly-issued PSV plates since 2021. Another former PSV Apportioned fleet had plates in the CKC series; these were issued in mid-2021 according to High Road. CONCLUSION: The transition period was 2019 to 2021, range for PSV plates was between PDW and PEF and CT plates transitioned between CHX and CKC.
- Postscript: By mid-2022, the HD sheeting on the last PSV plates is not faring well, especially those poor plates on the fronts of Apportioned trucks. The Apportioned sticker is also very cheaply made and falls off fairly quickly after only a few rock pits. EXAMPLE
- PRP buses are among Manitoba's least common vehicles and have been the focus of my attention for many years. The PB CAVR plate shown above is the only known example of a PRP bus plate from the 1997-2001 era and came off the road around 2013. PRP buses in 2001 switched to a PB + Apportioned sticker combination on a PSV plate. At this time there were very few Manitoba-based highway coach companies that did business outside the province on a regular basis making these plates very scarce. This started to change in the 2000s with Brandon Bus Lines and Prairie Coach subcontracting to Grey Goose/Greyhound and taking on many charters. Further, a 2016 International Registration Plan (IRP) regulatory change stated that charter buses were no longer exempt from IRP rules, so they started using Apportioned plates as well. By this time, additional companies such as Free Enterprise and Exclusive were using PSV plates with PB + APP stickers. But ridership continued declining and all of these companies collectively operated only a few dozen Apportioned vehicles. Greyhound Canada ceased all Manitoba operations in October 2018. Regulatory change occurred in 2019 when the Motor Transport Board that regulated PSV buses was dissolved by the province. This resulted in the elimination of PSV BUS plates which had been around since 1959. For those vehicles, new registrations receive regular passenger plates with an R (Regulated) sticker. If the bus is in IRP then an Apportioned sticker should also appear on those passenger plates, creating yet another really tough collectible. PHOTO OF THIS NEW VARIETY. I'll continue watching, photographing and documenting how these rare vehicles are plated as best I can.
© updated 9-5-22
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