Switching your trailer VINs from a spreadsheet to VINready

Most trailer shops start with a spreadsheet for VINs and Word templates for the label and NVIS. It works until someone types a check digit wrong, skips a serial, or prints a label that doesn’t match the NVIS. Here’s how to move to VINready without missing a beat, in about an hour, or less if we set it up for you.

1. Gather what you already have

• Your WMI, plant code and (for low-volume builders) manufacturer ID: they’re in every VIN you’ve issued.
• Your National Safety Mark authorization number, and the NSM image if you have it.
• Your VIN chart: the list of codes for size, body, axles, colour and so on. A PDF, a photo or the spreadsheet itself is fine.
• The last serial you used this model year.
• For each axle option: GVWR, GAWR per axle, tire, rim and cold inflation, as on your current labels.

2. Set up your account

Start the free trial (3 days, no card). The setup asks for your company details, WMI and plant code, then your VIN layout. You can upload your VIN chart and it’s read for you, or send it to us and we’ll set it up: free, usually within one business day.

Enter the last serial you used for this model year. That’s the step that keeps you from issuing the same serial twice when you switch over.

3. Check one VIN against your spreadsheet

Before your first real trailer, pick the options of a trailer you’ve already built and compare: positions 1–8 and 10–14 should match your old VIN exactly; only the serial moves on. Check the label preview shows your ratings, NSM and logo the way you expect. If anything is off, fix it in Settings before you issue.

4. Switch over on a clean line

• Pick a day and issue every new VIN from VINready from then on. Two systems issuing at once is how serials get doubled.
• Mark the last row of your spreadsheet “continued in VINready” so nobody adds to it by habit.
• Keep the spreadsheet and old paperwork: it’s your record of the trailers built before the switch.

5. Print and file

Each VIN gives you the compliance label and the NVIS from the same details, so they always match. Every VIN stays in the log with search and exact reprints, and mistakes are voided with a reason, never deleted.

Worried about who sees your records? VINready is run separately from our trailer business, and your information is only used to run VINready for you. Here’s exactly what that means.