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Idaho
Mini trucks in Elmore County, Idaho
In Idaho a kei truck runs in the UTV lane, never on a regular plate.
Elmore CountyIdaho
Can I own one here
Owning one in Elmore County.
On your own land, yes
Owning a kei truck and working it on a ranch, a farm, a mine or private property does not depend on a road title. Some states still ask for a title or an off road registration.
A 25 year truck on the road
Road use with limits, to confirm. Idaho will not register a vehicle its maker did not certify to federal motor vehicle safety standards, so a kei truck takes no ordinary plate. ITD classes a vehicle of that size that is not FMVSS certified as a UTV, which takes a restricted plate for the roads Idaho opens to off-highway vehicles.
A newer governed truck
Utility terrain vehicle. Titled at the county office as a UTV under ITD's measurement chart, which counts a vehicle not FMVSS certified for highway use.
Roads and towns
Roads and towns in Elmore County.
To confirm. Elmore County's own code was not read in this pass. Idaho Code 49-426 opens county and city roads that are not state highways to a licensed off-highway vehicle until the county, city or highway district closes or limits them, so a kei truck that Idaho titles as a UTV and plates with a restricted plate may use them at up to 45 mph wherever nothing says otherwise.
In town To confirm
- To confirm Glenns Ferry. The city's code was not read in this pass. Idaho Code 49-426(3)(a) leaves a street that is not a state highway open to a licensed off-highway vehicle until the city closes or limits it by ordinance or resolution under 49-426(7).
- To confirm Mountain Home. The city's code was not read in this pass. Idaho Code 49-426(3)(a) leaves a street that is not a state highway open to a licensed off-highway vehicle until the city closes or limits it by ordinance or resolution under 49-426(7).
County roads Open
Open by the state's own default and not yet ruled out as closed. Idaho Code 49-426(3)(a) opens every highway that is not a state or interstate highway to a licensed off-highway vehicle until the governing board closes or limits it under 49-426(7). No ordinance or resolution of the Elmore County commissioners closing or limiting county roads was read in this pass, and the state's 2023 compilation of local off-highway vehicle ordinances holds only a snowmobile ordinance, 2005-1 for the county and no closure of county roads to off-highway vehicles. A road that belongs to a highway district or a city is that body's to close or limit and not the county's. Idaho Code 49-426(3)(a) and (7); no county closure read, read 28 October 2026
State highways Closed
Closed to OHVs.
Getting one here
From Japan to Elmore County.
The nearest ports with a sailing from Japan on record
- The Port of Tacoma, The Northwest Seaport Alliance South Harbor, about 500 road miles.
- The Port of Seattle, The Northwest Seaport Alliance North Harbor, about 500 road miles.
- The Port of Everett, about 500 road miles.
How to import a mini truck, step by step.
Trucks travel in containers, one to a 20 foot box with room for parts or three to a 40 foot box.
Road miles are an estimate, the straight line times 1.2.
The ground
Elmore County, counted.
Farms in Elmore County hold 8,701 acres of woodland. Elmore County averages 117 inches of snow a year. Elmore County has 284 farms and 137 cattle operations, by the 2022 Census of Agriculture.
Importing a kei truck
The essentials, in short.
A truck under 25 can come in only as governed off road equipment, and only if its engine family held an EPA nonroad certificate for that model year. No kei engine family was certified for mini trucks before model year 2010, so a truck built after 31 October 2001 and before model year 2010 has no federal door until its 25th birthday.
Two lanes
A road truck must be 25 years old by its own build date. A newer truck comes in only as governed off road equipment with a certified engine.
The 25 percent duty
Every kei truck pays the 25 percent truck duty at the port, whatever its age.
The paperwork
The customs entry and the two federal declarations, DOT Form HS-7 and EPA Form 3520-1, travel with the truck to your title office.
The title
Keep every stamped paper with the truck. Your state title office asks to see them.
Contact
A question about the law in Elmore County?
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