DENVER (AP) - Drivers who love displaying one of Colorado’s nearly 100 specialty license plates - representing interests as diverse as the Navy SEALs, the Colorado Rockies and Craig Hospital - will love how easy it’s going to be to get their beloved placards from now on.
The state is about halfway finished rolling out its new print-on-demand license plate system, in which specialty plates are printed and mailed to customers only in response to specific orders.
Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles spokesman Kyle Boyd said the more efficient approach will save the state about $640,000 annually - and customers a trip to their local Department of Motor Vehicles office.
“It’s less impact to the customer,” he said. “They don’t have to make a separate trip to the office to get their plate, and we’ll be able to get a plate out to them in swift fashion.”
Print-on-demand spares DMV offices across Colorado from having to keep some of the lower-demand plates in their inventory, saving the state unnecessary printing costs, Boyd said.
About 13 percent - or 150,000 - of all license plates issued annually in Colorado are specialty plates. Motorists pay about $50 for a plate bearing the insignia of their alma mater, favorite Colorado sports team or veteran organization.
The DMV expects to wrap up the rollout across all 64 counties on May 30.
Boulder County was one of three counties chosen by the state in early April to pilot the print-on-demand system, and so far things are going smoothly, said Mircalla Wozniak, spokeswoman for the Boulder County Clerk’s Office.
“The public has been pleased to have their specialty plates mailed to their home,” she said. “We’ve issued approximately 300 plates through the print-on-demand system since it launched.”
Boulder County typically issues 3,700 specialty plates per year - out of 44,000 to 45,000 plates issued in total, Wozniak said.
Bills for at least two new specialty plates are working their way through the legislature this week as the session nears a close. One is designed to celebrate the USS Colorado submarine while the other would honor emergency medical services in the state.
They would join the 91 specialty plates already available to Colorado motorists, Boyd said. If certain plates don’t get enough use over time, they can be retired by the state.
Boyd said license plates are made by inmates at the Colorado Territorial Correction Facility in Canon City.
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Read the complete list of Colorado’s print-on-demand license plates:
https://bit.ly/1j0zqg3
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Information from: The Denver Post, https://www.denverpost.com
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