Can I own one here
Owning one in Des Moines County.
On your own land
On private land closed to the public a kei truck needs no plate, title or DNR registration.
On the farm
An ATV or off-road utility vehicle may use a highway between sunrise and sunset incidental to its agricultural use, stops for fuel, food and a nonalcoholic drink included, at 35 mph or less, 321.234A(1)(a). It needs no registration when used that way or used only as a farm implement, 321I.9(2) and (3), and the DNR says the age and insurance terms of 321.234A(2) do not reach it. The DNR's 2025 sheet adds that no license is needed within two miles of the farm and a Class C license beyond, citing 321.176 and 761 IAC 605.3.
Whether a governed kei truck used only in farming is an implement of husbandry was not found in any DOT text. It is the question for Iowa DOT Motor Vehicle Division before a farmer drives one on a road.
A 25 year truck on the road
Road use unclear, to confirm. Iowa law tells the DOT and every county treasurer to refuse registration and title to a vehicle without a federal safety certification label, and chapter 321 gives no exception for age. A kei truck carries no such label, so the DOT's Vehicle Services decides whether any road path opens.
A newer governed truck
Private land only. None as delivered. Iowa Code 321.30(2)(a) bars a motor vehicle title without a federal label, and the off-road utility vehicle class needs nonhighway tires or tracks.
Roads and towns
Roads and towns in Des Moines County.
Roads open. Every unpaved county road in Des Moines County is open to registered ATVs and UTVs with a licensed and insured driver of eighteen or older at 35 mph or less and paved county roads only to cross them or reach the nearest gravel. A kei truck on its own road tires is neither an ATV nor an off-road utility vehicle.
In town To confirm
No town street opening was found in the codes read.
County roads Some
Every unpaved secondary road in unincorporated Des Moines County is open by state law to a registered ATV or off-road utility vehicle. A paved undivided two-lane secondary road is open only over the most direct route to a riding park or trail, an open road, an open city street or the rider's home, unless the board of supervisors authorizes it for any trip, Iowa Code 321I.10(4)(a)(3). The county ordinance keeps paved roads to a minimum, opening graveled public roads except Level C roads and a paved road only to cross it or to reach the closest gravel road, between 4 a.m. and 10 p.m. It predates the 2022 act and no longer appears in the list of ordinances the county posts, so whether it still stands is a question for the county. Des Moines County ATV/UTV Ordinance #56, adopted in 2018 with the day left blank in the posted copy, read 28 October 2026
State highways Closed
Closed to OHVs.
Getting one here
From Japan to Des Moines 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
Des Moines County, counted.
Des Moines County grows 113 acres of orchards and vineyards. Des Moines County has 648 farms and 106 cattle operations, by the 2022 Census of Agriculture. Farms in Des Moines County hold 13,444 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 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 Des Moines County?
Ask about a truck, a state or the papers, and we answer with what applies to you.
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