Can I own one here
Owning one in Winnebago 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 Winnebago County.
To confirm. Winnebago County opens county highways to UTVs only inside Durand and the Village of Winnebago, by resolutions whose adoption was not read, Durand opens its streets posted 35 mph or less by permit and Rockford's streets were not read.
In town Some
- Open Durand. Village streets posted 35 mph or less are open to recreational off-highway vehicles and UTVs with a village permit, from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., except Center Square, Saelens Park outside its marked route and the areas on the ordinance's Exhibit A. Roads not under the village's or Winnebago County's sole jurisdiction stay closed. Village Code Chapter 11, Article XXIII, Ordinance 2022-9 of 25 July 2022 as revised by Ordinance 2024-13 of 13 May 2024, read 28 October 2026
- Some Winnebago. The village has passed an ordinance letting UTVs and recreational off-highway vehicles use its streets, as the county's committee packet of December 2023 states. The village ordinance was not read. village ordinance, number and date not read, read 28 October 2026
- Closed Rockford. The city council declared non-highway vehicles nuisances and illegal on public streets, with impound, in amendments described on the city's page. The ordinance was not read. city ordinance amendments on ATVs and non-highway vehicles, number and date not read, read 28 October 2026
- To confirm Machesney Park. The town's code was not read in this pass.
County roads Some
Only county highways inside villages that opened their own streets. South Street (CH 62) and Crowley Road (CH 79) within Durand, approved by the Public Works Committee as item 22-031 in August 2022. Cunningham Road (CH 49) and Winnebago Road (CH 16) within the Village of Winnebago, a resolution in the Operations Committee packet for the board meeting of 14 December 2023. Neither board adoption was read. Public Works Committee item 22-031 of August 2022 and a draft County Board resolution, 2023 CR, for 14 December 2023, read 28 October 2026
State highways Closed
Closed to OHVs.
Getting one here
From Japan to Winnebago 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 Everett, about 2,000 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
Winnebago County, counted.
Winnebago County averages 38 inches of snow a year. 3 active surface mines and quarries work Winnebago County's ground. Winnebago County grows 126 acres of orchards and vineyards.
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 Winnebago County?
Ask about a truck, a state or the papers, and we answer with what applies to you.
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