Can I own one here
Owning one in McLean 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 McLean County.
Towns only. McLean County lets non-highway vehicles only cross its county highways at crossings it designates for towns with their own ordinance, Arrowsmith, Hudson and Lexington open their streets and Bloomington and Normal were not read.
In town Some
- Open Arrowsmith. Village streets other than county roads are open by day to golf carts and UTVs with a permit and a licensed, insured driver of 18, at no more than 30 mph, crossing McLean County Road 3300 only at right angles. The ordinance's UTV must conform to the federal low speed vehicle standard, 49 CFR 571.500. Ordinance 18-4-15, passed 3 August 2015, read 28 October 2026
- Open Hudson. The village has a golf cart or UTV ordinance and asked the county for a crossing of a county highway, as the county's Transportation Committee minutes of March 2017 state. The ordinance was not read. village ordinance, number and date not read, read 28 October 2026
- Open Lexington. The city has a golf cart or UTV ordinance and asked the county for a crossing of a county highway, as the county's Transportation Committee minutes of March 2017 state. The ordinance was not read. city ordinance, number and date not read, read 28 October 2026
- To confirm Bloomington. The town's code was not read in this pass.
County roads Closed
No county highway is opened along its length. A Non-Highway Vehicle Ordinance for Crossing County Highways lets the Highway Department designate crossings, by permit, for towns that have their own golf cart or UTV ordinance and ask for one. Hudson and Lexington asked first. Read in the Transportation Committee minutes, which recommended it on 7 March 2017, the ordinance text was not read. Non-Highway Vehicle Ordinance for Crossing County Highways, recommended 7 March 2017, read 28 October 2026
State highways Closed
Closed to OHVs.
Getting one here
From Japan to McLean County.
The nearest ports with a sailing from Japan on record
- The Port of Savannah, Georgia Ports Authority, about 900 road miles.
- The JAXPORT, Jacksonville Port Authority, about 1,000 road miles.
- The Port of Los Angeles, about 2,000 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
McLean County, counted.
McLean County has 1,488 farms and 162 cattle operations, by the 2022 Census of Agriculture. 2 active surface mines and quarries work McLean County's ground. Farms in McLean County hold 6,381 acres of woodland.
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 McLean County?
Ask about a truck, a state or the papers, and we answer with what applies to you.
Reach us
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