DSO, FSO, LPO, and Regional vs District Offices

[Gary Lewis]

Folks - I need your help thinking through something. So please read the explanation below and let me know if you agree with my understanding.

I think I've just understood something that has confused me for some time. And that has to do with the term "DSO". A few years ago Bill/NumberDummy told me that it stands for District Sales Office or Domestic Special Order. And while that appears to be true, I didn't understand how one spot on the certification label could serve both functions. But, I think I now understand.

The master parts catalog says this on Page 12:

D.S.O.. F.S.O. or L.P.O. (SPECIAL ORDERS)

The District Code number will appear in the D.S.O. space on the Certification Label for all units including regular production. Always furnish appropriate Certification Label information and D.S.O. Number, if applicable, when ordering parts not listed in the catalog. If the unit is D.S.O., F.S.O. or L.P.O. (Special Order), the complete Order Number will appear in the D.S.O. space in addition to the District Code Number.

And on the next two pages it explains that:

• D.S.O. = Domestic Special Order

• F.S.O. = Foreign Sales Office

• L.P.O. = Limited Production Option

So, here's my understanding of the above. For regular production vehicles the District Code will show in the DSO spot on the certification label. But for domestic or foreign special orders or orders with limited production options the DSO, FSO, or LPO code will appear there in addition to the District Code.

But, the verbiage in the catalog that is supposed to explain how the DSO # on the certification label works is confusing to me. It says:

DISTRICT CODES

THE CODE SHOWN ABOVE OR BELOW "D.S.O." IDENTIFIES

THE DISTRICT WHICH ORDERED THE UNIT.

But that's not quite true since a special order (DSO, FSO, or LPO) number could be there as well, and that would confuse things significantly.

Do you agree with my new-found understanding? If so, I will upgrade the explanation on the certification label page.

[Rembrant]

A few years ago Bill/NumberDummy told me that it stands for District Sales Office or Domestic Special Order.

My take is that the DSO indicates District Sales Office, and that only. If the vehicle is also a Domestic Special Order, then the full vehicle order number will also be included with the DSO number. It is weird that they used the same acronym for both...but the DSO on the tag is for the District Sales Office only imho.

The vehicle could also be a special order, but that only shows up as extra digits?

 

[Rembrant]

According to the text in my 84 FSM, the D.S.O. technically refers only to the District Sales Office. If the vehicle is also a special order, then there will be extra numbers there, but the D.S.O. is still referencing the district.

Same verbiage here, more or less...

[Gary Lewis]

According to the text in my 84 FSM, the D.S.O. technically refers only to the District Sales Office. If the vehicle is also a special order, then there will be extra numbers there, but the D.S.O. is still referencing the district.

Same verbiage here, more or less...

Your FSM's verbiage is essentially the same as the MPC's, which I copy/pasted above. And yet it never truly says that DSO = District Sales Office. It says that the "district code" will appear in the DSO space. But the MPC specifically says that DSO = Domestic Special Order.

So I think that Bill was wrong when he said that DSO stands for District Sales Office or Domestic Special Order. The term "district sales" does not appear in the master parts catalog, much less "district sales office". Not even "district office". Just "district code". So, I think DSO always means "Domestic Special Order" in official Fordspeak. The employees may well have used the term DSO to mean district sales office, but the publications don't support that, and it is the publications we are trying to interpret.

Let me say this another way. According to what I read the appropriate terminology is:

• District Code, which is a two-digit code indicating the district office from which the order originated

• DSO = Domestic Special Order

• FSO = Foreign Special Order

• LPO = Limited Production Option

But, the confusion arises because Ford used the "DSO" space on the certification label in 4 ways:

1. To indicate the district office which placed the order if no special order existed

2. To indicate the domestic special order number plus the district office that ordered it

3. To indicate the foreign special order number plus the district office that ordered it

4. To indicate the limited production option number plus the district office that ordered it

UPDATE: I do have one publication that says DSO = District Sales Office. This is from the 1981 FSM on the page shown. However, my 1985 FSM does not say DSO = District Sales Office and I think the 1981 FSM is in error.

[85lebaront2]

Your FSM's verbiage is essentially the same as the MPC's, which I copy/pasted above. And yet it never truly says that DSO = District Sales Office. It says that the "district code" will appear in the DSO space. But the MPC specifically says that DSO = Domestic Special Order.

So I think that Bill was wrong when he said that DSO stands for District Sales Office or Domestic Special Order. The term "district sales" does not appear in the master parts catalog, much less "district sales office". Not even "district office". Just "district code". So, I think DSO always means "Domestic Special Order" in official Fordspeak. The employees may well have used the term DSO to mean district sales office, but the publications don't support that, and it is the publications we are trying to interpret.

Let me say this another way. According to what I read the appropriate terminology is:

• District Code, which is a two-digit code indicating the district office from which the order originated

• DSO = Domestic Special Order

• FSO = Foreign Special Order

• LPO = Limited Production Option

But, the confusion arises because Ford used the "DSO" space on the certification label in 4 ways:

1. To indicate the district office which placed the order if no special order existed

2. To indicate the domestic special order number plus the district office that ordered it

3. To indicate the foreign special order number plus the district office that ordered it

4. To indicate the limited production option number plus the district office that ordered it

UPDATE: I do have one publication that says DSO = District Sales Office. This is from the 1981 FSM on the page shown. However, my 1985 FSM does not say DSO = District Sales Office and I think the 1981 FSM is in error.

Gary, I will need to look at the 1986 manuals, FWIW, Darth has 23 in the DSO location.

[Rembrant]

So I think that Bill was wrong when he said that DSO stands for District Sales Office or Domestic Special Order. The term "district sales" does not appear in the master parts catalog, much less "district sales office". Not even "district office". Just "district code". So, I think DSO always means "Domestic Special Order" in official Fordspeak.

Marti says it refers to the District Sales Office.

http://www.martiauto.com/faqfocus.cfm?qid=24

I was wondering something. Does the DSO ever show only the 2 digit district number? Or are there always numbers above the district number?

Mine is showing as "B3", which is correct for Atlantic Canada, but there are two rows of numbers above that.

I went at looked at some other Bullnose data tags, and they all have two rows of numbers above the district number as well.

My rationale in saying that the DSO stands for District Sales Office is that every vehicle built had a district sales office, but not every vehicle built was a domestic special order.

But to that point...was every vehicle built a vehicle that was ordered by a district? See in the Marti notes that Ford wanted the dealers to order vehicles on a steady basis, so if that is the way it worked, then every vehicle could be considered a domestic special order, couldn't it?

I assume Ford did build plenty of trucks to just random specs, for potential orders?

 

[Rembrant]

I was wondering something. Does the DSO ever show only the 2 digit district number? Or are there always numbers above the district number?

Mine is showing as "B3", which is correct for Atlantic Canada, but there are two rows of numbers above that.

I went at looked at some other Bullnose data tags, and they all have two rows of numbers above the district number as well.

Oh...never mind, I see that the other numbers above the DSO are referencing the axle capacities.

So, my DSO is only shown as "B3", which is the region and nothing more.

Carry on.

 

[Gary Lewis]

I was wondering something. Does the DSO ever show only the 2 digit district number? Or are there always numbers above the district number?

Mine is showing as "B3", which is correct for Atlantic Canada, but there are two rows of numbers above that.

I went at looked at some other Bullnose data tags, and they all have two rows of numbers above the district number as well.

Oh...never mind, I see that the other numbers above the DSO are referencing the axle capacities.

So, my DSO is only shown as "B3", which is the region and nothing more.

Carry on.

Yes, dealerships ordered vehicles, but the vast majority were not "special orders". Very few were Domestic Special Order, Foreign Special Order, or Limited Production Option. So they just had the district code showing on them. My understanding is that things like Police Interceptors were DSO.

As for what Marti says, I believe they are wrong. I've done a lot of reading on this, and with rare exception the Ford documentation says that DSO is Domestic Special Order. For instance, this excerpt from a '65 FSM.

Or, take this excerpt from the Ford Mustang Red Book:

Anyway, let's keep bouncing this around as I'd like to find a definitive answer.

[Rembrant]

As for what Marti says, I believe they are wrong. I've done a lot of reading on this, and with rare exception the Ford documentation says that DSO is Domestic Special Order.

Gary, I'm taking the other side of the coin on this one (all in good fun of course...lol).

The way I perceive it, is that the DSO slot on the door jamb data tag would have nothing but the 2-digit district sales office number there probably 90% of time, if not more often. If a vehicle is a special order (DSO, LPO, or FPO) then those numbers would be in addition to the district number.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, the numbers in the DSO slot are far more often going to reference the district sales office than a domestic special order. And, to take it even further, if a vehicle was an LPO or FPO, then all of the digits in that slot would have nothing at all to do with a domestic special order.

However, I did read in my searches that prior to 1962, there was no district code, so the DSO slot was either left empty for a normal production vehicle, or it had digits IF the vehicle was a special order.

It's interesting indeed.

I think what you may find is that the true definition of DSO, at least when talking about the door data tags, changed and morphed over the years, so BOTH definitions of DSO are probably true it just depends on what vehicle you're looking at.

Since my 1984 F150 is clearly not a special order of any kind, I'm stickin' to my guns that the DSO is the District Sales Office;).

 

[Gary Lewis]

As for what Marti says, I believe they are wrong. I've done a lot of reading on this, and with rare exception the Ford documentation says that DSO is Domestic Special Order.

Gary, I'm taking the other side of the coin on this one (all in good fun of course...lol).

The way I perceive it, is that the DSO slot on the door jamb data tag would have nothing but the 2-digit district sales office number there probably 90% of time, if not more often. If a vehicle is a special order (DSO, LPO, or FPO) then those numbers would be in addition to the district number.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, the numbers in the DSO slot are far more often going to reference the district sales office than a domestic special order. And, to take it even further, if a vehicle was an LPO or FPO, then all of the digits in that slot would have nothing at all to do with a domestic special order.

However, I did read in my searches that prior to 1962, there was no district code, so the DSO slot was either left empty for a normal production vehicle, or it had digits IF the vehicle was a special order.

It's interesting indeed.

I think what you may find is that the true definition of DSO, at least when talking about the door data tags, changed and morphed over the years, so BOTH definitions of DSO are probably true it just depends on what vehicle you're looking at.

Since my 1984 F150 is clearly not a special order of any kind, I'm stickin' to my guns that the DSO is the District Sales Office;).

Let's see how many Ford documents we can find that say "district sales office" vs "domestic special order". I'll keep score, and right now I know of 1 (the 1981 FSM) that says district sales office and 4 (your 1984 FSM, my 1985 FSM, the 1980-89 MPC, and the 1983 dealers fact book) that say "domestic special order.

I'll check my '81 and '82 dealer facts books and I'll bet it is 6:1. Bill, check your '86 FSM and I think we'll be at 7:1. Now if we can find '80, '82, '83, & '84 FSM's plus more of the dealer facts books maybe we can complete the picture.