Making Sense of US DOT lettering size requirements for DOT compliance

A question we get most often from our customers is "What size should my truck numbers be to meet US DOT regulations?". The way the current US DOT regulation is written leaves can be a little confusing since it simply states that the lettering must be contrasting, and visible from 50 feet away. What does that mean? 

Now that we have that clarified, lets tackle the lettering height for your US DOT decals. The visibility requirement that the US Department of Transportation wants your truck lettering to be seen from is a minimum of 50 feet away. That being said, someone with 20/20 vision or corrected can see  2" tall lettering from exactly 50 feet away. With that in consideration, the 2" tall lettering is the minimum size required by US DOT to keep you in compliance. 

In addition, many cities, have their own requirements as well that you may want to take into consideration when purchasing your vehicle lettering and markings. For this reason, we do offer other sizes of DOT stickers at dotnumberstore.com.  Watch for next week's topic discussion, where we go over US DOT lettering color.