License plates & vehicle transfer: Important rules

The world of vehicle license plates is diverse - and especially when it comes to vehicle transfers , there are some special features that you as a transport service provider should be aware of. This article brings order to the license plate jungle and explains which license plates are used when.

You will also find out how you can find suitable orders at ONLOGIST by setting the right profile - whether with standard license plates, red license plates or trailers.

If you want to transfer a vehicle, you need the right license plate. There are a large number of license plates in Germany - in addition to the regular license plates, the Federal Ministry of Transport lists ten other special license plates. However, only a few variants are really important for vehicle transfers.

In the everyday lives of transport service providers and drivers who regularly move cars from A to B, three license plates in particular play a role for vehicle transfers:

In the following, we present these three types of transfer license plates in more detail and show what they are used for.

Most of the vehicle transfers that are arranged via our app involve vehicles that are already registered and roadworthy. These are either brought to customers, picked up there or moved between locations and stations. Typical examples are

For you as a driving service, this means that you generally drive vehicles with regular, valid license plates. Special transfer license plates are not necessary here - so you can concentrate fully on your journey.

In addition to the standard license plates, only three special license plates actually play a role for vehicle transfers in Germany. However, those who drive via ONLOGIST rarely come into contact with the majority of them - but it is still worth knowing the differences.

Red license plates (also known as "transfer plates") are mainly used for vehicles without regular registration, for example at car dealerships or garages. They have red lettering on a white background and contain an expiration date.

Characteristics:

ONLOGIST relevance:
Driving services that accept orders via ONLOGIST and have red license plates receive access to special, often higher-paid transfer orders. If you enter the license plate number in your profile, you can secure attractive additional trips.

Driving services that have red license plates can specify this directly in the ONLOGIST app to automatically gain access to corresponding orders. This is how it works:

This ensures that you are automatically taken into account for orders with license plate removal.

Short-term license plates are mainly used by private individuals, for example for test drives or short transfers. They have black lettering on a yellow background and are valid for a maximum of five days.

Features:

ONLOGIST relevance:
Hardly relevant for most vehicle transfers via ONLOGIST, as the platform mainly mediates commercial orders from fleet operators, car sharing providers or car rental companies such as Sixt, Hertz or Enterprise.

Export license plates are required if a vehicle is being transferred abroad and does not yet have a registration. They have black lettering on a white background with a red border and are usually linked to third-party liability insurance.

Characteristics:

ONLOGIST relevance:
Interesting for international special orders. For most drivers, however, export license plates are rather the exception, but open up additional possibilities for vehicle transfers abroad.

In certain cases, it may be necessary to remove the license plate during vehicle transfers - for example, when vehicles are brought to collection points or removed from a client's fleet. In this case, the driving service takes on the task of safely removing the license plate and returning it to the client.

Driving services that offer this service can enter this in their ONLOGIST profile. This automatically gives them access to orders for which this service is required. The shipping costs are either already included in the price or will be reimbursed.

In addition to the issuing of red license plates and the removal of license plates, there are other special jobs that go beyond the mere transfer of vehicles. Here are a few examples:

These special assignments give you the opportunity to showcase your experience, raise your profile and earn additional remuneration.

It is important for driving services to know the differences between standard and special license plates and to set the ONLOGIST profile accordingly. This gives you access to attractive jobs with regular license plates, red license plates, short-term or export license plates and allows you to use additional services such as license plate removal, transport on trailers or full refueling.

With ONLOGIST, you always have an overview of which tasks belong to an order, which additional services are required and how to plan your journeys optimally.