Can I own one here
Owning one in Bonner 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
Road use with limits, to confirm. Idaho will not register a vehicle its maker did not certify to federal motor vehicle safety standards, so a kei truck takes no ordinary plate. ITD classes a vehicle of that size that is not FMVSS certified as a UTV, which takes a restricted plate for the roads Idaho opens to off-highway vehicles.
A newer governed truck
Utility terrain vehicle. Titled at the county office as a UTV under ITD's measurement chart, which counts a vehicle not FMVSS certified for highway use.
Roads and towns
Roads and towns in Bonner County.
To confirm. Ponderay opens every city street to an ATV or UTV that carries a restricted plate and the OHV sticker, and Priest River bars only a recreational vehicle that is not properly licensed.
In town Open
- To confirm Clark Fork. The city's code was not read in this pass. Idaho Code 49-426(3)(a) leaves a street that is not a state highway open to a licensed off-highway vehicle until the city closes or limits it by ordinance or resolution under 49-426(7).
- To confirm Dover. The city's code was not read in this pass. Idaho Code 49-426(3)(a) leaves a street that is not a state highway open to a licensed off-highway vehicle until the city closes or limits it by ordinance or resolution under 49-426(7).
- To confirm East Hope. The city's code was not read in this pass. Idaho Code 49-426(3)(a) leaves a street that is not a state highway open to a licensed off-highway vehicle until the city closes or limits it by ordinance or resolution under 49-426(7).
- To confirm Hope. The city's code was not read in this pass. Idaho Code 49-426(3)(a) leaves a street that is not a state highway open to a licensed off-highway vehicle until the city closes or limits it by ordinance or resolution under 49-426(7).
- To confirm Kootenai. The city's code was not read in this pass. Idaho Code 49-426(3)(a) leaves a street that is not a state highway open to a licensed off-highway vehicle until the city closes or limits it by ordinance or resolution under 49-426(7).
- To confirm Oldtown. The city's code was not read in this pass. Idaho Code 49-426(3)(a) leaves a street that is not a state highway open to a licensed off-highway vehicle until the city closes or limits it by ordinance or resolution under 49-426(7).
- Open Ponderay. An ATV, UTV or motorbike may use all city streets in Ponderay on the paved or dirt part of the road, but not sidewalks or trails unless the city designates them. The operator needs a valid restricted vehicle license plate with the IDPR OHV registration sticker on it, a driver's license, a helmet under 18, a muffler and spark arrester, brake light, headlight, taillight and a mirror showing 200 feet behind. The city may create further restricted areas by resolution. Ponderay City Code chapter 5-6, Ordinance 117 of 21 May 2012, read 28 October 2026
- Open Priest River. No person may operate an ATV or any other recreational vehicle that is not properly licensed on any public way or property in the city, so a vehicle with a valid license is not barred by this section. Priest River City Code 6-1-4, Ordinance 482 of 5 June 2006, read 28 October 2026
- To confirm Sandpoint. The city's code was not read in this pass. Idaho Code 49-426(3)(a) leaves a street that is not a state highway open to a licensed off-highway vehicle until the city closes or limits it by ordinance or resolution under 49-426(7).
County roads Open
Open by the state's own default and not yet ruled out as closed. Idaho Code 49-426(3)(a) opens every highway that is not a state or interstate highway to a licensed off-highway vehicle until the governing board closes or limits it under 49-426(7). No ordinance or resolution of the Bonner County commissioners closing or limiting county roads was read in this pass, and the state's 2023 compilation of local off-highway vehicle ordinances holds only a snowmobile chapter, Ordinance 380 of 1999, which names county roads for snowmobiles for the county and no closure of county roads to off-highway vehicles. A road that belongs to a highway district or a city is that body's to close or limit and not the county's. Idaho Code 49-426(3)(a) and (7); no county closure read, read 28 October 2026
State highways Closed
Closed to OHVs.
Getting one here
From Japan to Bonner County.
The nearest ports with a sailing from Japan on record
- The Port of Everett, about 300 road miles.
- The Port of Seattle, The Northwest Seaport Alliance North Harbor, about 350 road miles.
- The Port of Tacoma, The Northwest Seaport Alliance South Harbor, about 350 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
Bonner County, counted.
11 active surface mines and quarries work Bonner County's ground. Bonner County averages 68 inches of snow a year. Bonner County has 798 farms and 226 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 Bonner County?
Ask about a truck, a state or the papers, and we answer with what applies to you.
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