Disclosure: this guide contains referral links, marked where they appear. Market data is independently measured from public sources on the dates shown.
If you are trying to work out which state wrote the cleanest short definition, the answer is Nebraska. Colorado has since written a more complete statute — it pre-empts the usual refusals point by point — but Colorado’s registration does not open until January 1, 2028, and its bill runs to thirteen pages. Nebraska did it in a paragraph, and it has been in force for years.
Nebraska’s statute has no length limit. It allows up to 1,500cc and 67 inches of width. It uses the phrase “foreign-manufactured import vehicle” in its own text. And instead of confining these trucks to low-speed roads, it opens every road except interstates, expressways and freeways — and requires the headlights on instead.
That combination is worth studying whether or not you live here, because it is the template other states should be copying. Several are copying a worse one: Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Massachusetts’ pending bill all define these vehicles at 130 inches or less, which is the Japanese standard replaced in October 1998 and excludes every kei truck built since.
I research Japan’s used vehicle market from Sapporo.
The Short Answer
- Roads: everything except interstates, expressways and freeways. No posted-speed cap, no local opt-in.
- Headlights and taillights must be on whenever the truck is operated. That is the statute’s safety trade for the road access.
- The definition has real headroom on every axis — 1,500cc against your 660, 67 inches against 58, 4,200 lb against roughly 1,600–1,900.
- No length limit at all, so the 130-inch problem does not exist here.
- Titling: $10, at your County Treasurer, with an inspection because your proof of ownership is an import document rather than a Nebraska title.
The Definition, and Why It Is Well Written
Nebraska defines a minitruck — the statute is cited on the DMV’s own minitruck page and appears in the Revised Statutes at § 60-636.01 — as:
a foreign-manufactured import vehicle or domestic-manufactured vehicle which is powered by an internal combustion engine with a piston or rotor displacement of one thousand five hundred cubic centimeters or less, is sixty-seven inches or less in width, has a dry weight of four thousand two hundred pounds or less, travels on four or more tires, has a top speed of approximately fifty-five miles per hour, is equipped with a bed or compartment for hauling, has an enclosed passenger cab, is equipped with headlights, taillights, turnsignals, windshield wipers, a rearview mirror, and an occupant protection system, and has a four-speed, five-speed, or automatic transmission.
Three things make this the cleanest definition in the country on this subject.
It names what it is regulating. “A foreign-manufactured import vehicle” is right there in the definition. Nebraska did not pretend to be writing a general rule that happens to catch Japanese trucks; it wrote a class for imported small trucks and said so. Compare that with states where these vehicles are handled by inference from a general FMVSS requirement, and the difference in clarity is the difference between a rule and a lottery.
Every figure has headroom. A kei truck is 660cc against a 1,500cc ceiling, 1,475 mm (58.1 in) wide against 67 inches, and roughly 1,500–1,900 lb against a 4,200 lb cap. Nothing in the definition is close to binding. That is deliberate: the limits are there to exclude vehicles that are obviously something else, not to fine-tune which imports qualify.
It defines by function, not by a foreign envelope. A bed or compartment for hauling, an enclosed passenger cab, headlights and wipers and mirrors and occupant protection, a four-speed, five-speed or automatic transmission, and a top speed of about 55 mph. That is a description of what the vehicle is and does. It cannot go stale when Japan changes its own regulations — which is exactly what happened to the states that copied Japan’s 3.30 m length limit and then watched Japan replace it.
The one figure that raises an eyebrow is the 4,200 lb dry weight cap, which is far above anything in the kei class. It is there because the definition also has to accommodate larger imported trucks, and because Nebraska pairs minitrucks with “former military vehicles” in the same operating statute — the legislature was writing a home for road-capable vehicles that do not fit ordinary passenger classes, not a kei-specific carve-out.
Where You Can Drive It
Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-6,379 is two sentences long, and it is the whole operating rule:
A minitruck or a former military vehicle shall not be operated on the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, on expressways, or on freeways. A minitruck or a former military vehicle shall be operated with its headlights and taillights on.
Note what is absent. No posted-speed ceiling. No four-lane restriction. No county or municipal opt-in. No daylight-only limitation. No mileage radius. Nebraska excluded the three road classes where a 55 mph vehicle genuinely does not belong, and left the rest of the network open.
And note what it added instead: lights on, always. I have no crash data to prove which approach is safer, and I am not going to pretend otherwise — but the reasoning behind a lights-on rule is easy to follow. A daytime-lights requirement addresses visibility, costs the owner nothing, and does not push the vehicle onto a narrower set of roads. A 35 mph ceiling, by contrast, keeps a truck capable of 55 off the roads where traffic moves at its own speed and concentrates it where drivers are least expecting it. Nebraska picked the instrument that does not create that trade-off.
Practically, for a truck that cruises at 50–55, “all roads except interstates, expressways and freeways” is the entire usable network. The honest performance figures are in the specs guide, and they are the reason the exclusion costs you nothing you would have used.
Titling One
Nebraska’s process is unusually cheap and unusually local. From the DMV’s minitruck page:
- $10 titling fee.
- Application goes to your County Treasurer, not a central office.
- An Application for Certificate of Title, plus proof of ownership. For an import that is the Manufacturer’s or Importer’s Certificate rather than a US title.
- An Affidavit for Verification of Ownership — the form Nebraska uses for ATVs, minibikes, UTVs and minitrucks.
- A vehicle inspection, which the page says is required whenever proof of ownership is anything other than a Nebraska Certificate of Title. An imported truck falls squarely in that.
The inspection is the step to plan for, and it is the same inspection several other states run: matching the vehicle’s identification against the ownership documents. A Japanese chassis number is not a 17-character VIN, so bring the export certificate, its certified translation and the Customs paperwork, and expect the inspector to be working from documents rather than from a database. The import guide covers which document is which and when each arrives.
Where Colorado Went Further
Honesty requires an update to the ranking. In May 2025 Colorado passed HB25-1281, which does everything Nebraska’s definition does — 140 inches of length, 67 of width, an import-status clause — and then keeps going. It requires a top speed of at least 50 mph rather than approximately 55, specifies a two-speed idle emissions test that a Japanese-market engine can actually take, bars the state from declaring these vehicles unroadworthy based on design, and folds them into the definition of “motor vehicle” for insurance purposes.
Nebraska’s advantage is that it exists now. Colorado’s registration does not open until January 1, 2028. If you are drafting a bill, copy Colorado. If you want to drive next month, Nebraska is the better address.
What Nebraska Tells You About the Other 49
The reason to read this page even from another state is that Nebraska proves the objections are not technical.
States that refuse kei trucks generally say they cannot be registered because they do not comply with federal safety standards. Nebraska’s minitrucks do not comply with those standards either — they are the same trucks. Nebraska decided that a small enclosed cab-over truck with lights, wipers, mirrors, seat belts and a 55 mph capability is a thing it can allow on county roads and city streets with the headlights on, and wrote that down.
So when New York requires FMVSS compliance as originally manufactured, or Georgia cancels titles it already issued, those are choices rather than necessities. The 50-state guide maps where every state landed, and Nebraska is the page to hand a legislator who says it cannot be done.
For Reference: What These Trucks Cost
Nebraska is open, so the purchase is the decision. This is the Japan-side market, measured August 19, 2026 — every eligible truck listed publicly in Japan, at ¥159/USD:
| Model | Listings in Japan | Median price in Japan |
|---|---|---|
| Subaru Sambar | 78 | ¥364,000 (≈$2,289) |
| Mitsubishi Minicab | 64 | ¥394,000 (≈$2,478) |
| Honda Acty | 80 | ¥398,000 (≈$2,503) |
| Suzuki Carry | 99 | ¥399,000 (≈$2,509) |
| Daihatsu Hijet | 60 | ¥453,000 (≈$2,849) |
Landed cost runs about $4,800–6,700 depending on specification, itemised in the cost guide, with the raw dataset published so you can recount any figure.
Two Nebraska notes. The state salts its roads and its winters are long, so the underbody advice from the Michigan guide applies here in full: buy a truck from a warm, dry Japanese prefecture, read the auction sheet for C codes rather than paint grade, and undercoat it in the first month. And because Nebraska’s definition imposes no weight or length constraint you need to work around, you can simply buy the best-condition truck rather than the one that fits a statutory box — which is not true in Indiana or North Carolina.
Nebraska puts no dimensional obstacle between you and the truck you actually want, so condition is the only variable left. CAR FROM JAPAN lists eligible trucks with the inspector’s auction sheet attached — the document that tells you about corrosion before it tells you about paint — and my referral code takes $100 off a first purchase: enter KEITRUCK at the order step (referral link).
FAQ
Are kei trucks street legal in Nebraska?
Yes, as minitrucks. Once titled and registered they may be operated on every road except the interstate system, expressways and freeways, with headlights and taillights on. There is no posted-speed restriction and no local opt-in requirement.
Does Nebraska have a length or weight limit that could disqualify my truck?
No length limit at all, and the weight limit is 4,200 lb dry — far above a kei truck’s roughly 1,500–1,900 lb. The displacement ceiling is 1,500cc against your 660cc and the width limit is 67 inches against about 58. Nothing in the definition binds.
What does it cost to title a minitruck in Nebraska?
The titling fee is $10, paid at your County Treasurer. A vehicle inspection is required because your proof of ownership will be an importer’s certificate rather than a Nebraska Certificate of Title.
Do I have to drive with the lights on?
Yes. § 60-6,379 requires a minitruck to be operated with its headlights and taillights on. It is the statute’s stated trade for giving you the road network instead of a speed cap.
Why is Nebraska’s statute considered the best model?
It names “foreign-manufactured import vehicle” in its own text, defines the class by function rather than by copying another country’s dimensional envelope, leaves real headroom on every figure, and regulates risk through a lights-on requirement rather than by confining the vehicle to low-speed roads. A functional definition does not go stale when the exporting country changes its rules.
Can I drive a minitruck on a Nebraska highway?
Yes, on ordinary state and US highways. The exclusions are the interstate system, expressways and freeways — three specific road classes rather than a speed threshold.