Home / States / Montana / Deer Lodge County
Montana
Mini trucks in Deer Lodge County, Montana
Kei trucks in Montana register for the road as unconventional light vehicles.
Deer Lodge CountyMontana
Can I own one here
Owning one in Deer Lodge County.
On your own land, yes
Owning a kei truck and working it on a ranch, a farm, a mine or private property does not depend on a road title. Some states still ask for a title or an off road registration.
A 25 year truck on the road
Open to road use. Montana's Motor Vehicle Division titles and registers Japanese mini-trucks as unconventional light vehicles. Once the owner certifies its street equipment, a kei truck registers as a passenger car or truck with ordinary plates.
A newer governed truck
Off highway vehicle. Titled and registered as an OHV through the county treasurer. The title manual lets a mini-truck owner choose OHV instead of street-legal.
Roads and towns
Roads and towns in Deer Lodge County.
To confirm. Anaconda-Deer Lodge County's code holds an off-road vehicle article that keeps motorized vehicles off certain county land and off undesignated trails, and the part of the code read opens no street to an unregistered off-highway vehicle. A kei truck titled and registered street-legal drives the roads.
In town To confirm
- To confirm Anaconda-Deer Lodge County. The consolidated government's code of ordinances holds no article that opens a street to off-highway vehicles in the chapter read. Chapter 22, vehicles and traffic, has Article X, off-road vehicle restrictions, from Ordinance 95 of 1988: it bars every motorized vehicle, a term that takes in dirt bikes, four-wheel drive vehicles, all terrain vehicles and recreational vehicles whether built for off-road or on-road use, from county land south of 7th Street and east of Sunnyside Road, and it applies to trails, waterline easements and paths that are not designated public roadways. The same chapter's other articles cover equipment, speed limits, stop signs, parking, fire lanes, loading zones, phones, bicycles and snowmobiles. Articles I and II and the code's other chapters were not read, so a street authorization elsewhere is not ruled out. Code of Ordinances, Anaconda-Deer Lodge County, Chapter 22 Article X, sections 22-293 to 22-298, Ordinance 95 of 1988, read 28 October 2026
County roads To confirm
The consolidated government is both county and city, so Chapter 22 Article X (Ordinance 95 of 1988) is its one off-highway rule found: it keeps motorized vehicles of every kind off county land south of 7th Street and east of Sunnyside Road and off trails, waterline easements and paths that are not designated public roadways. It opens no road. No other act opening a road to off-highway vehicles was read. Code of Ordinances Chapter 22 Article X, sections 22-293 to 22-298, read 28 October 2026
State highways Closed
Closed to OHVs.
Getting one here
From Japan to Deer Lodge County.
The nearest ports with a sailing from Japan on record
- The Port of Seattle, The Northwest Seaport Alliance North Harbor, about 500 road miles.
- The Port of Tacoma, The Northwest Seaport Alliance South Harbor, about 500 road miles.
- The Port of Everett, about 500 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
Deer Lodge County, counted.
Deer Lodge County averages 75 inches of snow a year. Farms in Deer Lodge County hold 1,564 acres of woodland. Deer Lodge County has 103 farms and 35 cattle operations, by the 2022 Census of Agriculture.
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 Deer Lodge 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.