The reason for the differences on markings, say, between a 5/4 ton and an M38A1, is who was using them. The 5/4 tons were primarily a regular force truck, and as such would be subject to such niceties as the occasional GOCs inspections, or the annual ATI inspections, where such markings were generally "by the book". The book, by the way, was the Force Mobile Command orders (FMCOs) or else the applicable brigade directives.
The M38A1s were primarily a reserve truck once the M151A2s came out, although many served with regular force units as well. Markings in reserve units(as well as cam jobs) were pretty hit or miss. ATIs in reserve units were also of a different standard from a regular force ATI, and the ATI team was happy if the vehicles had their batteries in them, besides such niceties as unit markings.
If I may comment on Bob's jeep, the single color flat paint was by and large non-existent during the M38A1Cdn2 era. FMCOs during that time period called for the Cdn 3 color cam, and it was usually liberally applied annually with a 3 inch brush. It wasn't until the 90s that the multi color cam paint was dropped on B vehicles in favor of the single flat color. Also, the CFRs under the door were on the jeeps in their original semi gloss paint. Of the one or two jeeps I saw in service which had not been cammed up, the CFRs were no longer in that position once the vehicles received another coat of semi gloss. The CFR would have been on the license plate and as well in white numbers on the dash. The Canada flags should have been on the front and rear. Normally, there was a decal for these in red and white, but many units would cut them out of stencils and apply them in black. It wasn't in any manual, but it was just done so that you would have one less thing to duct tape over before you went to the field.
Other markings like the unit tac sign and the call sign were also more of a regular force thing, although the militia should have been using them as well. Call signs were not generally painted on reserve unit vehicles because the net would have been designed based on what vehicles were serviceable and who showed up for an ex. Often, the call signs were just applied with chalk the day of an ex. On a regular force vehicle the call signs would be on both sides of the vehicle near the cowl. Another sign that was to be on vehicles was the bridge class. They should have been a yellow circle with the max weight in tons painted in the circle. They could also have the combined weight of the truck and trailer. Jeeps were below the necessary weight rating to have a bridge class painted on them, although often they were done anyway. As well, the bridge class was normally found on regular force vehicles, and rarely on reserve force vehicles.
Even the tire pressure markings were more often found on reg force vehicles than reserve vehicles. These markings were also called for in the FMCOs but often was not done.
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