How to Read Your Door Sticker and Trailer Plate

Two labels, not one

Open the driver's door and you will usually find two separate labels. They are required by two different regulations and they answer different questions.

• The certification label (in Canada, the compliance label). Manufacturer, date, GVWR, GAWR, VIN. This is the "GVWR sticker". It sits on the door edge or door pillar next to the driver, under 49 CFR 567.4(c).
• The Tire and Loading Information placard. Seating capacity, the payload sentence and tire pressures. It goes on the driver's side B-pillar, under 49 CFR 571.110, S4.3. This is the one people call the payload sticker or the tire and loading information label.

A trailer has the same pair: a certification plate on the front half of the left side, and on lighter trailers a tire placard next to it.

People call these by a dozen names: door sticker, door jamb sticker, GVWR label, GAWR sticker, truck weight plate, truck weight sticker, payload sticker, load capacity sticker. They all mean one of these two labels.

The certification label, line by line

US federal law fixes what goes on it and in what order, at 49 CFR 567.4(g). An illustrative label for a half-ton pickup:

1. Manufacturer. The company that did final assembly, after "Manufactured By" or "Mfd By". On a trailer sold by a firm that takes legal responsibility for it, you may see "Responsible Manufacturer" instead.
2. Date of manufacture. Month and year, not the model year. 49 CFR 567.4(g)(2): "Month and year of manufacture: This shall be the time during which work was completed at the place of main assembly of the vehicle. It may be spelled out, as 'June 2000', or expressed in numerals, as '6/00'."
3. GVWR. The most the vehicle may weigh with everything and everyone aboard. 49 CFR 571.3, Definitions: "Gross vehicle weight rating or GVWR means the value specified by the manufacturer as the loaded weight of a single vehicle." It is a limit, not what the vehicle weighs.
4. GAWR, one per axle. 49 CFR 567.4(g)(4) requires "'Gross Axle Weight Rating' or 'GAWR,' followed by the appropriate value in pounds, for each axle, identified in order from front to rear". On trucks, SUVs, vans and trailers each GAWR is followed by the tire size, rim size and cold pressure it assumes, under 49 CFR 571.110, S4.3.3. Notice the two GAWRs add up to more than the GVWR. That is normal, and it is why you can be under GVWR and still overload the rear axle with a heavy tongue.
5. Compliance statement. The manufacturer certifying the vehicle met the federal safety standards in force on the date shown. 49 CFR 567.4(g)(5) gives the wording for trucks over 6,000 lb (2,722 kg): "This vehicle conforms to all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards in effect on the date of manufacture shown above." Passenger cars add bumper and theft prevention standards, and trucks and MPVs at 6,000 lb (2,722 kg) or less add theft prevention.
6. VIN. Check it matches the registration and the VIN plate on the dash or frame.
7. Type. Truck, MPV, passenger car, trailer and so on. 49 CFR 567.4(g)(6) and (7).

There is no GCWR, no tow rating and no curb weight on this label. None of them is required here, so do not expect them. They are in the owner's manual or the manufacturer's towing guide.

The Tire and Loading Information label, line by line

Required on vehicles at 10,000 lb (4,536 kg) GVWR or less (49 CFR 571.110, S2). Its heading must read "Tire and Loading Information".

1. Heading. "Tire and Loading Information". A separate "Tire Information" label may carry the tire lines instead.
2. Seating capacity. The total, and how many in front and rear.
3. The payload sentence. 49 CFR 571.110, S4.3(a) requires "The combined weight of occupants and cargo should never exceed XXX kilograms or XXX pounds". That number is 49 CFR 571.110, S3 "vehicle capacity weight": "Vehicle capacity weight means the rated cargo and luggage load plus 68 kilograms times the vehicle's designated seating capacity." In plain terms, the whole budget for people and things together.
4. Original tire size. Front, rear and spare, as fitted when the vehicle was first sold.
5. Recommended cold pressure. Measured cold, before driving. This is the vehicle maker's figure for these tires on this vehicle, which is not necessarily the maximum pressure marked on the tire.
6. Owner's manual pointer. Required wording. The manual is where the manufacturer explains loading in detail.

49 CFR 571.110, S4.3(b) to (f) is the full list. Tire labels explained in one line: the placard tells you which tire and what pressure the payload figure assumes. Run bigger, smaller or underinflated tires and the figure no longer describes your vehicle.

Tire and loading sticker vs payload

They are the same thing, stated two ways. Payload is usually explained as GVWR minus curb weight. The placard gives you the answer already worked out for your exact build, so use the placard number. Brochure payload describes the lightest version of the model, and every option (four-wheel drive, a bigger cab, a sunroof, heavier wheels) comes out of it.

The tongue counts. The regulation says so in as many words on the motor home version of this label: "the tongue weight of a towed trailer counts as cargo" (49 CFR 571.110, S9.3.4(e)). The physics is the same on any pickup or SUV.

GVWR and PNBV label explained

Canadian labels say everything twice, in English and French, and in kilograms. Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations (C.R.C., c. 1038), s. 6(1)(e)(i) requires "the gross vehicle weight rating, expressed in kilograms, clearly identified by the words 'Gross Vehicle Weight Rating' and 'Poids nominal brut du véhicule' or the abbreviations 'GVWR' and 'PNBV'". The rule names trailers in the same list as cars and trucks, which is why a Canadian trailer plate reads GVWR / PNBV: one number, labelled in both languages.

People often search "GAWR PNBV". On the label the pairs are GVWR with PNBV, and GAWR with PNBE.

What a Canadian compliance label must show

A Canadian compliance label must show at least the manufacturer's name, the month and year of manufacture, the national safety mark with the company's authorization number, the VIN, GVWR and GAWR in kilograms under bilingual terms, and the vehicle type in both official languages or as a code such as TRA/REM for a trailer, TRU/CAM for a truck, MPV/VTUM for a multi-purpose passenger vehicle or PC/VT for a passenger car. Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations (C.R.C., c. 1038), s. 6(1).

• Axle ratings can move. GAWR may be on the tire placard instead of the compliance label, which Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations (C.R.C., c. 1038), s. 6(1)(e)(ii) expressly allows.
• Imported vehicles. The national safety mark may be replaced by the bilingual statement "THIS VEHICLE CONFORMS TO ALL APPLICABLE STANDARDS PRESCRIBED UNDER THE CANADIAN MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY REGULATIONS IN EFFECT ON THE DATE OF MANUFACTURE / CE VÉHICULE EST CONFORME À TOUTES LES NORMES QUI LUI SONT APPLICABLES EN VERTU DU RÈGLEMENT SUR LA SÉCURITÉ DES VÉHICULES AUTOMOBILES DU CANADA EN VIGUEUR À LA DATE DE SA FABRICATION". Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations (C.R.C., c. 1038), s. 6(2)(b).
• Where. Canada puts the compliance label in the same places as the US: the driver's door opening on cars, trucks and SUVs, and the front half of the left side on a trailer. Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations (C.R.C., c. 1038), s. 6(3).

The Canadian tire placard

Same content as the US placard, in both official languages. A manufacturer may use one bilingual placard, or an English placard and a French placard fixed at the same spot, and the tire and rim lines after each GAWR must be bilingual too (Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations (C.R.C., c. 1038), Schedule IV, s. 110(2) and (6)). The French payload sentence reads "Le poids total des occupants et du chargement ne doit jamais dépasser XXX kg ou XXX lb." (Transport Canada, Technical Standards Document No. 110, Revision 2, S4.3(a) and S4.3.5).

The occupant allowance behind a Canadian GVWR is 68 kg per seat, the same as the American 150 lb, at Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations (C.R.C., c. 1038), s. 5.2. Canada also counts water and propane tank mass on vehicles with living quarters.

How to read a trailer weight plate

Walk to the front half of the trailer's left side. 49 CFR 567.4(d): "The label for trailers shall be affixed to a location on the forward half of the left side, such that it is easily readable from outside the vehicle without moving any part of the vehicle." Canada says the same at Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations (C.R.C., c. 1038), s. 6(3). The plate carries the same items as a truck label, plus the tire details.

1. Manufacturer of the trailer.
2. Date of manufacture, month and year.
3. GVWR. The most the trailer may weigh loaded, everything in it included. This is the number to check against your tow rating if you plan to load the trailer to its limit.
4. GAWR. Per axle, or one value for identical axles, with the tire and pressure it depends on. Two axles at 3,500 lb (1,588 kg) each can carry 7,000 lb (3,175 kg) between them, and the tongue weight rides on your hitch rather than on those axles. 49 CFR 571.110, S9.2 adds a rule for RV trailers: "On RV trailers, the sum of the GAWRs of all axles on the vehicle plus the vehicle manufacturer's recommended tongue weight must not be less than the GVWR."
5. Compliance statement. Same wording as a truck over 6,000 lb (2,722 kg).
6. VIN. Match it to the trailer's registration.
7. Type. Trailer, or TRA/REM on a Canadian plate.
8. Cargo sentence. On trailers of 10,000 lb (4,536 kg) GVWR or less, a tire placard beside the plate must say "The weight of cargo should never exceed XXX kilograms or XXX pounds" (49 CFR 571.110, S4.3.5). This is the trailer's payload.

What a trailer's numbers mean

Unloaded vehicle weight is defined, at 49 CFR 571.3, Definitions, as "Unloaded vehicle weight means the weight of a vehicle with maximum capacity of all fluids necessary for operation of the vehicle, but without cargo, occupants, or accessories that are ordinarily removed from the vehicle when they are not in use." Brochure dry weight is lighter still. Neither is a required item on the plate. GVWR minus the cargo figure gives an estimate of the empty weight the manufacturer worked from, because the cargo figure only has to keep the trailer within its GVWR. A scale ticket beats both.

The travel trailer weight sticker (CCC)

RV trailers carry one more label, and it is federal law, not an industry courtesy. Under 49 CFR 571.110, S9.3 it is headed "Recreation Vehicle Trailer Cargo Carrying Capacity", printed black on yellow, and carries the VIN, the line "THE WEIGHT OF CARGO SHOULD NEVER EXCEED: XXX kg or XXX lbs" and a caution giving the weight of a full load of water at 1 kg/L (8.3 lb/gal).

It goes inside the forward-most exterior passenger door on the right side, or a temporary version does, with a permanent supplemental label within 25 mm of the tire placard. The unloaded weight behind the figure is the trailer as delivered to the dealer, but the unloaded weight itself is not one of the required lines. If a dealer adds more than the lesser of 1.5 percent of GVWR or 100 lb (45 kg) before the first retail sale, the figures must be corrected (49 CFR 571.110, S10.1). Anything added after you buy it is yours to subtract.

In Canada the equivalent is on the compliance label, or on a label beside it or elsewhere in plain view, in both official languages. Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations (C.R.C., c. 1038), s. 6(8) requires the cargo-carrying capacity, the mass of the full fresh, hot and waste water tanks, and "a statement that the displayed cargo-carrying capacity is determined with the fresh water and hot water tanks full and the waste water tanks empty".

Turn the sticker into numbers

The calculator at the top of this page starts from the placard sentence. The arithmetic is simple subtraction, and the example below runs through the same code:

• Left after people = placard figure − (people × weight each)
• Still free = left after people − cargo − trailer tongue

With the illustrative placard above, 1,450 lb (658 kg), and four people at the regulatory 150 lb, 600 lb (272 kg) goes on people, leaving 850 lb (386 kg). Add 150 lb (68 kg) of gear and a 650 lb (295 kg) tongue and 50 lb (23 kg) is still free. 49 CFR 567.4(g)(3) is where the 150 lb comes from, but the placard limit is about real weight: at 190 lb each, the same family is 110 lb (50 kg) over.

The placard only covers payload. A trailer still has to fit the tow rating and GCWR, which are not on any label on the vehicle. For that:

• Payload calculator: works from GVWR and curb weight when there is no placard, or to cross-check it.
• Can I tow this?: payload, tow rating and GCWR checked together, and which one you hit first.

Missing, damaged or wrong labels

• Replacement sticker. 49 CFR 567.4(b) requires the label to be fixed so that it "cannot be removed without destroying or defacing it". Ask the manufacturer, through a dealer, quoting the VIN.
• Recalled labels. Labels can be wrong and can be recalled. This campaign covers certain 2020 to 2026 Nissan Armada, 2011 to 2013 Infiniti QX56 and 2014 to 2027 Infiniti QX80 with 22 inch wheels; the remedy is a corrected GAWR label applied over the old one, free. (NHTSA Part 573 Safety Recall Report 26V455 (Nissan, 2026)). Check a VIN at NHTSA or Transport Canada.
• Modified vehicles. A business that alters a certified vehicle adds its own label beside the original, and must state new GVWR or GAWR figures if the alteration changed them. The original label stays. 49 CFR 567.7(b). Lift kits and larger tires do not raise the ratings on the original label.
• Licence plates. If you were looking for the trailer licence plate rather than the weight plate, its location and lighting are set by your state or province, not by these federal labelling rules.

Regulations are amended. The wording on this page was checked against the linked sources on 2026-10-24. Transport Canada's TSD 110 Revision 2, which adds the French placard wording, becomes mandatory on 2026-11-01. For anything consequential, read the section as currently in force.

Sources

• 49 CFR 571.3, Definitions: GVWR, GAWR and unloaded vehicle weight. https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/49/571.3
• 49 CFR 567.4(b) to (g): the certification label, its location and its contents. https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/49/567.4
• 49 CFR 567.7(b): labels on altered vehicles. https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/49/567.7
• 49 CFR 571.110, S2 to S9.3: the Tire and Loading Information placard, trailer placard and RV cargo capacity label. https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/49/571.110
• Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations (C.R.C., c. 1038), s. 6: the Canadian compliance label, bilingual GVWR/PNBV and GAWR/PNBE, location and RV cargo capacity. https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/C.R.C.,_c._1038/section-6.html
• Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations (C.R.C., c. 1038), s. 5.2: the Canadian GVWR floor. https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/C.R.C.,_c._1038/section-5.2.html
• Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations (C.R.C., c. 1038), Schedule IV, s. 110(2) and (6): the bilingual tire placard. https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/C.R.C.,_c._1038/section-sched479060.html
• Transport Canada, Technical Standards Document No. 110, Revision 2, S4.3(a) and S4.3.5: French placard wording. https://tc.canada.ca/sites/default/files/2026-04/110_TSD_rev2_FINAL.pdf
• NHTSA Part 573 Safety Recall Report 26V455 (Nissan, 2026): an example of a label recall. https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2026/RCLRPT-26V455-6127.pdf
• NHTSA, Check for Recalls: https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls. Transport Canada, Defects and recalls of vehicles, tires and child car seats: https://tc.canada.ca/en/road-transportation/defects-recalls-vehicles-tires-child-car-seats