Tennessee puts kei trucks in a utility terrain vehicle class, with two dates ahead

Tennessee rewrote its rule for small trucks in 2025, and the rule has since changed once and is due to change twice more. Public Chapter 255 of 2025 (Senate Bill 728) was signed on 29 April 2025 and took effect on becoming law ¹. It put a registered kei truck in the utility terrain vehicle class, which the law defines to include a low speed vehicle, a medium speed vehicle, a Class I or Class II off-highway vehicle and an all-terrain vehicle ². The Department of Revenue says the medium speed class and the Class I off-highway class both include mini-trucks ³.

A registered vehicle in the class may run on any county road and on any state highway posted 45 mph or less, at no more than 35 mph ⁴. No county or town has to open the road first ⁵. It is limited to daylight, needs a driver 16 or older with a driver license and a liability policy, and may never run on an interstate or a road a county, a town or the state has barred ⁶.

The first change came on 1 April 2026. Public Chapter 663 of 2026 lifts the 45 mph limit for a utility terrain vehicle operated for agricultural purposes, which stays barred from the roads the law lists as closed ⁷.

Two dates are ahead. On 1 January 2027 an initial registration of certain vehicles asks for documentation that the applicant is a U.S. citizen, a lawful permanent resident or a person whose presence the federal government has authorized ⁸. On 1 July 2027 Public Chapter 1077 of 2026 bars the initial issuance of a registration to a vehicle that has not met the Financial Responsibility Law of 1977 ⁹.

The old rules for low and medium speed vehicles on streets posted 40 mph or less were deleted by the same 2025 act ¹⁰.

This post reports the public record as read on 29 October 2026. It is general information and not legal advice.