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West Virginia
Mini trucks in Kanawha County, West Virginia
Kei trucks in West Virginia, free on the farm and street legal on back roads.
Kanawha CountyWest Virginia
Can I own one here
Owning one in Kanawha County.
On your own land
On private land and on a farm off the public road a mini-truck is not on a highway and none of the county or town acts on this map applies. Title and registration are for street-legal use under 17A-13-1, and that section opens no area that is not open to motor vehicle use (17A-13-1(f)).
On the farm
A mini-truck used exclusively for agricultural or horticultural purposes is exempt from title and registration and may use highways other than expressways to go from one tract of land to another, owned by the same person or different persons, up to 35 miles and by day. A farm exempt vehicle may not use the highways between sunset and sunrise unless it is a Class A farm-use vehicle with a current inspection sticker traveling 35 miles or less between tracts.
A 25 year truck on the road
Road use with limits. West Virginia lets a titled, registered and equipped mini-truck run as a street-legal special purpose vehicle, off controlled-access and federal-aid highways and for no more than 20 miles on a road with centerline markings.
A newer governed truck
Farm use. None required for a mini-truck used exclusively for agricultural or horticultural purposes. A title is required for street-legal use.
Roads and towns
Roads and towns in Kanawha County.
To confirm. Kanawha County keeps ATVs that are not street legal off paved roads in its unincorporated area under a 2004 ordinance, and its commission said in September 2020 that a street-legal special purpose vehicle may still use certain paved roads there. A kei truck is a mini-truck and so a special purpose vehicle, titled, registered and equipped. Which roads qualify was not read, so the county reads to confirm.
In town To confirm
No town street opening was found in the codes read.
County roads Some
In the unincorporated area the Safe Roads Ordinance of 2004 still bars ATVs that are not street legal from paved roads. On 10 September 2020 the commission said the county's law does not prohibit a street-legal special purpose vehicle from operating on certain paved roads in the unincorporated area. Which roads qualify was not read. Read in a television news report of that statement, and the 2004 ordinance text was not found. Safe Roads Ordinance of 2004, number not found, as the commission described it on 10 September 2020, read 28 October 2026
State highways Closed
Closed to OHVs.
Getting one here
From Japan to Kanawha County.
The nearest ports with a sailing from Japan on record
- The Port of Savannah, Georgia Ports Authority, about 500 road miles.
- The JAXPORT, Jacksonville Port Authority, about 700 road miles.
- The Port of Los Angeles, about 2,500 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
Kanawha County, counted.
3 active surface mines and quarries work Kanawha County's ground. Kanawha County is mostly urban, with 29 percent of its people outside urban areas. Kanawha County averages 25 inches of snow a year.
Areas
The areas Kanawha County is part of.
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 Kanawha County?
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