Can I own one here
Owning one in Mercer 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 Mercer County.
Some routes. Mercer County opens about 63 miles of named county highways and a few New Boston and Keithsburg township roads as posted 35 mph UTV trails for permitted recreational off-highway vehicles with a licensed and insured driver of 21, and state highways are crossing only.
In town To confirm
- To confirm Aledo. The town's code was not read in this pass.
- To confirm Viola. The town's code was not read in this pass.
- To confirm Matherville. The town's code was not read in this pass.
- To confirm Sherrard. The town's code was not read in this pass.
County roads Some
Only the posted UTV trails, held to 35 mph for all traffic. County highways: CH 3, 4 Mile Road, Warren County line to Illinois 17, 10.3 miles. CH 6, Burgess Road, CH 22 to Illinois 94, 10.7 miles. CH 8, Eliza Road, CH 9 to CH 18, 8.4 miles. CH 9, Joy Road, CH 13 to CH 8, 0.25 miles. CH 10, Mannon Road, the north line of Mannon to CH 8, 3.0 miles. CH 13, Millersburg to Seaton, Henderson County line to CH 9, 17.4 miles. CH 15, Ridge Road, 22nd Avenue to Illinois 94, 6.5 miles. CH 17, Buffalo Prairie Road, CH 13 to CH 18, 5.2 miles. CH 22, Alexis Blacktop, 10th Avenue to the north limits of Alexis, 0.75 miles. Township roads in New Boston Township: 55th Street, 75th Avenue, 60th Street (Mannon Road) and Bluff Road. In Keithsburg Township: 90th Street and 60th Avenue. Mercer County Non-Highway Vehicle Ordinance 2021-5 of 8 June 2021 and Amended Ordinance 2021-6, Alteration of County Highway Speed Limits, signed 1 November 2022. Both refer to an earlier Ordinance 08-2020., read 28 October 2026
State highways Closed
Closed to OHVs.
Getting one here
From Japan to Mercer 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
Mercer County, counted.
Farms in Mercer County hold 17,238 acres of woodland. Mercer County has 690 farms and 131 cattle operations, by the 2022 Census of Agriculture. Mercer County averages 21 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 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 Mercer County?
Ask about a truck, a state or the papers, and we answer with what applies to you.
Reach us
Use the form on this page. We read every message.