The Strange Reason You’ll Never See a License Plate On These Vehicles in Minnesota

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If you've ever noticed any U.S. postal service vehicles here in Minnesota, perhaps you've noticed they never have license plates. This is why.

License plates here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes have been in the news recently, with the introduction of the new Minnesota Vikings plate and the new Minnesota black-out license plates that are now available.

Every car, truck, van, or sports utility vehicle that's kept here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes is required to display a front and rear license plate issued by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Driver and Vehicle Services Division. Even motorcycles, recreational vehicles, and even trailers are all required to display a Minnesota license plate. But THESE vehicles don't have to.

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You might have noticed some new delivery vans that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has recently put into service here in the Gopher State. I noted our mail was being delivered from one of these Dodge Ram vans earlier this summer. But I also noticed that the USPS van conspicuously did NOT have a Minnesota license plate on it.

Curiously, the older-style vehicles the USPS also drives also don't sport any type of Minnesota license plate either, though I guess I never really noticed before. I'm guessing that's because on the new Ram vans (above) there's a distinct license plate holder located on the left rear door, with the familiar blue and white Minnesota license plate conspicuously missing.

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That 'missing' license plate appears to be way more inconspicuous on the older-style USPS vehicles (below), which don't sport any type of license plate holder on the front or back.

So just WHY don't any USPS vehicles have Minnesota license plates on them? Well, according to this WKTY-TV story, it's because of a federal law passed 50 years ago, back in 1973, that exempted any USPS vehicle from having to display any state license plate.

You'll note, however, that each USPS vehicle does contain a unique number affixed to it, which serves as a way for each vehicle to be identified. And, this 6-News/Orlando story noted that while they're not required to have license plates, those USPS vehicles are still required to have insurance-- and anyone driving them is still required to obey all traffic laws.

Meanwhile, speaking of Minnesota license plates, keep scrolling to see what they looked like the year you were born and when you first started driving!

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