Your eyes don’t deceive you: New license plate numbers are different

PHOENIX - If you’re used to seeing Arizona license plates issued with sequential letters and numbers, those days are slipping away. The ADOT Motor Vehicle Division now issues plates with random sequencing. The change vastly increases the number and type of plates that can be distributed.

“We’ve had some questions about these new plates because it is a big change and it looks so different from what people are used to,” MVD Stakeholder Relations Manager Jennifer Bowser Richards said.

“One of the benefits of the new computer system now used by the MVD is that we have a lot more capacity to manage how plates are issued,” she said. “That’s a big deal when we have so many different types of plates for trailers, commercial vehicles, motorcycles, the standard plate and all the specialty plates we offer. Random sequencing means we have a virtually unlimited supply of letters and numbers to put on plates and one result will be the ability to add more specialty plates when authorized by the Legislature.”

Most specialty plates help fund charitable causes in Arizona. In addition to making it possible for more causes to be represented, random sequencing will also allow for more plates to be sized for motorcycle usage, which was a limitation of the old MVD computer system. 

This change also affects the temporary plate issued when someone buys a vehicle. The temporary document will display the sequence contained on the permanent plate being sent to the customer. Plates are no longer available at MVD or Authorized Third Party offices; they are sent to the customer by mail.