Can I own one here
Owning one in Knox County.
On your own land
On land that is not a highway a kei truck needs no Illinois plate, because registration and title attach to a vehicle driven or moved upon a highway, 625 ILCS 5/3-402(A).
To confirm.
On the farm
The farm allowance of 11-1426.1(h) lets an all-terrain or recreational off-highway vehicle run county and township roads for farming operations between the home, farm, farm buildings and nearby farm land, without the equipment list of (e) and with farm, home or non-highway vehicle insurance if not on a motor vehicle policy. It names only those two classes, so it does not reach a kei truck.
No Secretary of State page, rule or opinion applying 1-130 or 3-402(A)(2) to a kei truck was found.
A 25 year truck on the road
Road use unclear, to confirm. Illinois registers only a vehicle originally manufactured for operation on highways, and the Secretary of State's own rule lets it refuse one it finds not manufactured or designed for general highway use. The Secretary of State has published nothing on kei trucks, so its Vehicle Title Division decides each truck.
A newer governed truck
Unclear. No Illinois title rule for a non-highway kei truck was found.
Roads and towns
Roads and towns in Knox County.
Roads open. Knox County opens its county roads, apart from County Highway 10, to permitted recreational off-highway vehicles, all-terrain vehicles and golf carts with a licensed and insured driver of 18, Yates City opens its streets, Galesburg's council voted in 2022 against opening its streets and state highways are crossing only.
In town Some
- Closed Galesburg. No street is opened. The city council voted 6 to 0 in August 2022 against an ordinance that would have let registered and inspected golf carts and UTVs use some city streets. Read only in a public radio report, the code was not read. council vote, about 1 August 2022, as reported. No ordinance adopted., read 28 October 2026
- Open Yates City. Village streets are open to golf carts, all-terrain vehicles and recreational off-highway vehicles carrying a permit from the village clerk, or from any Illinois town or county with a substantially similar ordinance. The village's permit needs an inspection by the police chief and verified insurance. Ordinance 2023-761 of 12 April 2023, amending Section 9.22 of the Municipal Offense Code, read 28 October 2026
- To confirm Abingdon. The town's code was not read in this pass.
County roads Open
Every road in unincorporated Knox County under the county's jurisdiction, except County Highway 10, which may only be crossed from one authorized road to another. The ordinance says roads posted 55 mph or less, but 11-1426.1(b) allows a non-highway vehicle only on streets posted 35 mph or less, so the state limit governs. Township roads are not county roads under the ordinance's own definition and need each township's act, none of which was read. Knox County Non-Highway Vehicle Ordinance 2022-048, resolved 26 October 2022 and in force 1 February 2023, amended by Resolution 2023-033 of 26 April 2023, in force 1 June 2023, read 28 October 2026
State highways Closed
Closed to OHVs.
Getting one here
From Japan to Knox County.
The nearest ports with a sailing from Japan on record
- The Port of Savannah, Georgia Ports Authority, about 1,000 road miles.
- The JAXPORT, Jacksonville Port Authority, about 1,100 road miles.
- The Port of Los Angeles, about 1,900 road miles.
How to import a mini truck, step by step.
A newer off road truck never lands in California. It comes in through Tacoma or by way of Houston.
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
Knox County, counted.
Farms in Knox County hold 28,570 acres of woodland. Knox County has 984 farms and 232 cattle operations, by the 2022 Census of Agriculture. Knox County averages 24 inches of snow a year.
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 30 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 Knox County?
Ask about a truck, a state or the papers, and we answer with what applies to you.
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