2006 Minnesota Statutes

168.011 DEFINITIONS.
    Subdivision 1. Words, terms, and phrases. Unless the language or context clearly indicates
that a different meaning is intended, the following words, terms, and phrases, for the purposes of
this chapter, shall be given the meanings subjoined to them.
    Subd. 2. Application for registration; listing for taxation. "Application for registration"
shall have the same meaning as "listing for taxation," and when a motor vehicle is registered
it is also listed.
    Subd. 2a. Commissioner. "Commissioner" means the commissioner of the Minnesota
Department of Public Safety.
    Subd. 3. Highway. "Highway" has the meaning given "street or highway" in section 169.01,
subdivision 29 .
    Subd. 4. Motor vehicle. (a) "Motor vehicle" means any self-propelled vehicle designed and
originally manufactured to operate primarily on highways, and not operated exclusively upon
railroad tracks. It includes any vehicle propelled or drawn by a self-propelled vehicle and includes
vehicles known as trackless trolleys that are propelled by electric power obtained from overhead
trolley wires but not operated upon rails. It does not include snowmobiles, manufactured homes,
or park trailers.
(b) "Motor vehicle" includes an all-terrain vehicle only if the all-terrain vehicle (1) has at
least four wheels, (2) is owned and operated by a physically disabled person, and (3) displays
both disability plates and a physically disabled certificate issued under section 169.345.
(c) "Motor vehicle" does not include an all-terrain vehicle except (1) an all-terrain vehicle
described in paragraph (b), or (2) an all-terrain vehicle licensed as a motor vehicle before August
1, 1985. The owner may continue to license an all-terrain vehicle described in clause (2) as a
motor vehicle until it is conveyed or otherwise transferred to another owner, is destroyed, or fails
to comply with the registration and licensing requirements of this chapter.
(d) "Motor vehicle" does not include an electric personal assistive mobility device as defined
in section 169.01, subdivision 90.
(e) "Motor vehicle" does not include a motorized foot scooter as defined in section 169.01,
subdivision 4c .
    Subd. 5. Owner. "Owner" means any person owning or leasing a vehicle, or having the
exclusive use of the vehicle, under a lease or otherwise, for a period greater than 30 days.
    Subd. 5a. Registered owner. "Registered owner" means any person, other than a secured
party, having title to a vehicle. If a passenger automobile is under lease for a term of 180 days or
more, the lessee is deemed to be the registered owner, for purposes of registration only; provided
that the application for renewal of the registration of a passenger automobile is sent to the lessor.
    Subd. 6. Tax. "Tax" means the annual registration tax imposed on vehicles in lieu of all other
taxes, except wheelage taxes which may be imposed by any city, and gross earnings taxes paid
by companies. The annual tax is both a property tax and a highway use tax and shall be on the
basis of the calendar year.
    Subd. 7. Passenger automobile. (a) "Passenger automobile" means any motor vehicle
designed and used for carrying not more than 15 individuals, including the driver.
(b) "Passenger automobile" does not include motorcycles, motor scooters, buses, school
buses, or commuter vans as defined in section 168.126.
(c) "Passenger automobile" includes, but is not limited to:
(1) pickup trucks and vans, including those vans designed to carry passengers, with a
manufacturer's nominal rated carrying capacity of one ton; and
(2) neighborhood electric vehicles, as defined in section 169.01, subdivision 91.
    Subd. 8. Manufactured home. "Manufactured home" has the meaning given it in section
327.31, subdivision 6.
    Subd. 8a. Park trailer. "Park trailer" means a trailer that:
(1) exceeds 8-1/2 feet in width in travel mode but is no larger than 400 square feet when the
collapsible components are fully extended or at maximum horizontal width; and
(2) is used as temporary living quarters.
"Park trailer" does not include a manufactured home.
    Subd. 8b. Travel trailer. "Travel trailer" means a trailer, mounted on wheels, that:
(1) is designed to provide temporary living quarters during recreation, camping, or travel;
(2) does not require a special highway movement permit based on its size or weight when
towed by a motor vehicle; and
(3) complies with sections 169.80, subdivision 2, and 169.81, subdivision 2.
    Subd. 9. Bus; intercity bus. (a) "Bus" means (1) every motor vehicle designed for carrying
more than 15 passengers including the driver and used for transporting persons, (2) every motor
vehicle that is (i) designed for carrying more than ten passengers including the driver, (ii) used for
transporting persons, and (iii) owned by a nonprofit organization and not operated for hire or for
commercial purposes, or (3) every motor vehicle certified by the Department of Transportation
as a special transportation service provider vehicle and receiving reimbursement as provided in
section 256B.0625, subdivision 17.
(b) "Intercity bus" means any bus operating as a common passenger carrier over regular
routes and between fixed termini, but excluding all buses operating wholly within the limits of
one city, or wholly within two or more contiguous cities, or between contiguous cities and a
terminus outside the corporate limits of such cities, and not more than 20 miles distant measured
along the fixed route from such corporate limits.
    Subd. 10. Truck. "Truck" means any motor vehicle designed and used for carrying things
other than passengers, except pickup trucks and vans included within the definition of passenger
automobile in subdivision 7.
    Subd. 11. Tractor. "Tractor" means any motor vehicle designed or used for drawing other
vehicles but having no provision for carrying loads independently.
    Subd. 12. Truck-tractor. "Truck-tractor" means:
(1) a motor vehicle designed and used primarily for drawing other vehicles and not
constructed to carry a load other than a part of the weight of the vehicle and load drawn; and
(2) a motor vehicle designed and used primarily for drawing other vehicles used exclusively
for transporting motor vehicles and capable of carrying motor vehicles on its own structure.
    Subd. 13. Trailer. "Trailer" means any vehicle designed for carrying property or passenger
on its own structure and for being drawn by a motor vehicle but shall not include a trailer drawn
by a truck-tractor semitrailer combination, or an auxiliary axle on a motor vehicle which carries a
portion of the weight of the motor vehicle to which it is attached. For the purpose of registration,
trailers coupled with a truck-tractor, semitrailer combination are semitrailers.
    Subd. 14. Semitrailer. "Semitrailer" means a vehicle of the trailer type so designed and used
in conjunction with a truck-tractor that a considerable part of its own weight or that of its load
rests upon and is carried by the truck-tractor and shall include a trailer drawn by a truck-tractor
semitrailer combination. For the purpose of registration, trailers coupled with a truck-tractor,
semitrailer combination are semitrailers.
    Subd. 15. Unloaded weight. "Unloaded weight" means the actual weight of the vehicle
fully equipped without a load.
    Subd. 16. Gross weight. (a) "Gross weight" means the actual unloaded weight of the
vehicle, either a truck or tractor, or the actual unloaded combined weight of a truck-tractor and
semitrailer or semitrailers, or of the truck-tractor, semitrailer and one additional semitrailer, fully
equipped for service, plus the weight of the maximum load which the applicant has elected to
carry on such vehicle or combined vehicles.
(b) The term gross weight applied to a truck used for towing a trailer means the unloaded
weight of the truck, fully equipped for service, plus the weight of the maximum load which the
applicant has elected to carry on such truck, including the weight of such part of the trailer and
its load as may rest upon the truck.
(c) The term gross weight applied to school buses means the weight of the vehicle fully
equipped with all fuel tanks full of fuel, plus the weight of the passengers and their baggage
computed at the rate of 100 pounds per passenger seating capacity, including that for the driver.
The term gross weight applied to other buses means the weight of the vehicle fully equipped with
all fuel tanks full of fuel, plus the weight of passengers and their baggage computed at the rate of
150 pounds per passenger seating capacity, including that for the driver. For bus seats designed for
more than one passenger, but which are not divided so as to allot individual seats for the passengers
that occupy them, allow two feet of its length per passenger to determine seating capacity.
(d) The term gross weight applied to a truck, truck-tractor or a truck used as a truck-tractor
used exclusively by the owner thereof for transporting unfinished forest products or used by the
owner thereof to transport agricultural, horticultural, dairy and other farm products including
livestock produced or finished by the owner of the truck and any other personal property owned
by the farmer to whom the license for such truck is issued, from the farm to market, and to
transport property and supplies to the farm of the owner, as described in subdivision 17, shall be
the actual weight of the truck, truck-tractor or truck used as a truck-tractor or the combined weight
of the truck-tractor and semitrailer plus the weight of the maximum load which the applicant has
elected to carry on such vehicle or combined vehicles and shall be licensed and taxed as provided
by section 168.013, subdivision 1c.
(e) The term gross weight applied to a truck-tractor or a truck used as a truck-tractor used
exclusively by the owner, or by a for-hire carrier hauling exclusively for one owner, for towing an
equipment dolly shall be the actual weight of the truck-tractor or truck used as a truck-tractor plus
the weight of such part of the equipment dolly and its load as may rest upon the truck-tractor or
truck used as a truck-tractor, and shall be licensed separately and taxed as provided by section
168.013, subdivision 1e, and the equipment dolly shall be licensed separately and taxed as
provided in section 168.013, subdivision 1d, which is applicable for the balance of the weight of
the equipment dolly and the balance of the maximum load the applicant has elected to carry on
such combined vehicles. The term "equipment dolly" as used in this subdivision means a heavy
semitrailer used solely by the owner, or by a for-hire carrier hauling exclusively for one owner, to
transport the owner's construction machinery, equipment, implements and other objects used on a
construction project, but not to be incorporated in or to become a part of a completed project.
(f) The term gross weight applied to a tow truck or towing vehicle defined in section 169.01,
subdivision 52 , means the weight of the tow truck or towing vehicle fully equipped for service,
including the weight of the crane, winch and other equipment to control the movement of a
towed vehicle, but does not include the weight of a wrecked or disabled vehicle towed or drawn
by the tow truck or towing vehicle.
    Subd. 17. Farm truck. (a) "Farm truck" means all single-unit trucks, truck-tractors, tractors,
semitrailers, and trailers used by the owner thereof to transport agricultural, horticultural, dairy,
and other farm products, including livestock, produced or finished by the owner of the truck, and
any other personal property owned by the farmer to whom the license for the truck is issued, from
the farm to market, and to transport property and supplies to the farm of the owner. Trucks,
truck-tractors, tractors, semitrailers, and trailers registered as "farm trucks" may be used by the
owner thereof to occasionally transport unprocessed and raw farm products, not produced by the
owner of the truck, from the place of production to market when the transportation constitutes
the first haul of the products, and may be used by the owner thereof, either farmer or logger who
harvests and hauls forest products only, to transport logs, pulpwood, lumber, chips, railroad ties
and other raw and unfinished forest products from the place of production to an intermediate or
final assembly point or transfer yard or railhead, which transportation may be continued by
another farm truck to a place for final processing or manufacture located within 200 miles of the
place of production and all of which is deemed to constitute the first haul of unfinished wood
products; provided that the owner and operator of the vehicle transporting planed lumber shall
have in immediate possession a statement signed by the producer of the lumber designating the
governmental subdivision, section, and township where the lumber was produced and that this
haul, indicating the date, is the first haul thereof. The licensed vehicles may also be used by the
owner thereof to transport, to and from timber-harvesting areas, equipment and appurtenances
incidental to timber harvesting, and gravel and other road-building materials for timber haul roads.
(b) "Farm trucks" shall also include only single-unit trucks that, because of their construction,
cannot be used for any other purpose and are used exclusively to transport milk and cream en route
from a farm to an assembly point or place for final manufacture, and for transporting milk and
cream from an assembly point to a place for final processing or manufacture. This section shall not
be construed to mean that the owner or operator of the truck cannot carry on usual accommodation
services for patrons on regular return trips, such as butter, cream, cheese, and other dairy supplies.
    Subd. 18. Registrar. "Registrar" means the registrar of motor vehicles designated in this
chapter.
    Subd. 19.[Repealed, 1Sp2005 c 6 art 3 s 108]
    Subd. 20. First year of life. "First year of life" means the year of model designation of the
vehicle, or, if there be no year of model designation, it shall mean the year of manufacture.
    Subd. 21. Dealer. "Dealer" means any person, firm, or corporation regularly engaged in the
business of manufacturing, or selling, purchasing, and generally dealing in new and unused motor
vehicles having an established place of business for the sale, trade, and display of new and unused
motor vehicles and having in possession new and unused motor vehicles for the purposes of sale
or trade. "Dealer" also includes any person, firm or corporation regularly engaged in the business
of manufacturing or selling, purchasing, and generally dealing in new and unused motor vehicle
bodies, chassis mounted or not, and having an established place of business for the sale, trade
and display of such new and unused motor vehicle bodies, and having in possession new and
unused motor vehicle bodies for the purposes of sale or trade.
    Subd. 22. Special mobile equipment. "Special mobile equipment" means every vehicle not
designed or used primarily for the transportation of persons or property and only incidentally
operated or moved over a highway, including but not limited to: ditch-digging apparatuses,
moving dollies, pump hoists and other water well-drilling equipment registered under chapter
103I, street-sweeping vehicles, and other machinery such as asphalt spreaders, bituminous mixers,
bucket loaders, tractors other than truck-tractors, ditchers, leveling graders, finishing machines,
motor graders, road rollers, scarifiers, truck-mounted log loaders, earth-moving carryalls,
scrapers, power shovels, draglines, self-propelled cranes, and earth-moving equipment. The
term does not include travel trailers, dump trucks, truck-mounted transit mixers, truck-mounted
feed grinders, or other motor vehicles designed for the transportation of persons or property to
which machinery has been attached.
    Subd. 23.[Repealed, 1989 c 140 s 14]
    Subd. 24.[Repealed, 1973 c 218 s 9]
    Subd. 25. Recreational vehicle. (a) "Recreational vehicle" means travel trailers including
those that telescope or fold down, chassis-mounted campers, motor homes, tent trailers, and
converted buses that provide temporary human living quarters.
(b) "Recreational vehicle" is a vehicle that:
(1) is not used as the residence of the owner or occupant;
(2) is used while engaged in recreational or vacation activities; and
(3) is either self-propelled or towed on the highways incidental to the recreational or vacation
activities.
    Subd. 25a. Motor home. (a) "Motor home" means a recreational vehicle designed to provide
temporary living quarters. The motor home has a living unit built into as an integral part of, or
permanently attached to the chassis of, a motor vehicle or van.
(b) A motor home must contain permanently installed, independent, life-support systems that
meet the American National Standards Institute standard number A119.2 for recreational vehicles
and provide at least four of the following facilities, two of which must be from the systems listed
in clauses (1), (5), and (6): (1) a cooking facility with liquid propane gas supply, (2) a refrigerator,
(3) a self-contained toilet or a toilet connected to a plumbing system with a connection for
external water disposal, (4) a heating or air conditioning system separate from the motor vehicle
engine, (5) a potable water supply system including a sink with a faucet either self-contained or
with connections for an external source, and (6) a separate 110-125 volts electrical power supply.
(c) For purposes of this subdivision, "permanently installed" means built into or attached
as an integral part of a chassis or van, and designed not to be removed except for repair or
replacement. A system that is readily removable or held in place by clamps or tie-downs is
not permanently installed.
(d) Motor homes include a:
(1) type A motor home, which is a raw chassis upon which is built a driver's compartment
and an entire body that provides temporary living quarters as described in paragraph (b);
(2) type B motor home, which is a van that conforms to the description in paragraph (b) and
has been completed or altered by a final-stage manufacturer; and
(3) type C motor home, which is an incomplete vehicle upon which is permanently attached
a body designed to provide temporary living quarters as described in paragraph (b).
(e) A motor vehicle with a slip-in camper or other removable equipment that is mounted into
or on a motor vehicle is not a motor home, is not a recreational vehicle, and must not be registered
as a recreational vehicle under section 168.013.
    Subd. 26. Motorcycle. "Motorcycle" means every motor vehicle having a seat or saddle for
the use of the rider and designed to travel on not more than three wheels in contact with the
ground, including motor scooters and bicycles with motor attached, other than those vehicles
defined as motorized bicycles in subdivision 27, but excluding a tractor.
    Subd. 27. Motorized bicycle. "Motorized bicycle" means a bicycle that is propelled by an
electric or a liquid fuel motor of a piston displacement capacity of 50 cubic centimeters or less,
and a maximum of two brake horsepower, which is capable of a maximum speed of not more
than 30 miles per hour on a flat surface with not more than one percent grade in any direction
when the motor is engaged. "Motorized bicycle" includes an electric-assisted bicycle as defined
in section 169.01, subdivision 4b.
    Subd. 28. Van. "Van" means any vehicle of box-like design with no barrier or separation
between the operator's area and the remainder of the cargo-carrying area, and with a
manufacturer's nominal rated carrying capacity of three-fourths ton or less.
    Subd. 29. Pickup truck. "Pickup truck" means any truck with a manufacturer's nominal
rated carrying capacity of three-fourths ton or less and commonly known as a pickup truck.
    Subd. 30. Distributor. "Distributor" means a person, firm, or corporation which has a
bona fide contract or franchise with a manufacturer to distribute the new motor vehicles of that
manufacturer to licensed new motor vehicle dealers, but does not include a dealer.
    Subd. 31. First-stage manufacturer. "First-stage manufacturer" means a person, firm, or
corporation which manufactures, assembles, and sells new motor vehicles for resale in this state.
    Subd. 32. Final-stage manufacturer. "Final-stage manufacturer" means a person, firm,
or corporation which performs manufacturing operations on an incomplete motor vehicle or a
van-type motor vehicle so that it becomes a type A, B, or C motor home.
    Subd. 33. Van converter or modifier. "Van converter or modifier" means a person, firm, or
corporation engaged in the business of modifying, completing or converting van-type vehicles
into multipurpose passenger vehicles which are not motor homes as defined in subdivision 25.
    Subd. 34. Fleet. "Fleet" means a combination of 50 or more vehicles and trailers owned by a
person solely for the use of that person or employees of the person and registered in this state
under section 168.127. It does not include vehicles licensed under section 168.187.
    Subd. 35. Limousine. "Limousine" means a luxury passenger automobile that is not a van or
station wagon and has a seating capacity of not more than 12 persons, excluding the driver.
    Subd. 36.[Repealed, 1999 c 238 art 2 s 92]
    Subd. 37. All-terrain vehicle. "All-terrain vehicle" has the meaning given in section 84.92,
subdivision 8 .
    Subd. 38. Person. "Person" has the meaning given in section 168A.01, subdivision 14.
    Subd. 39. State. "State" means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia,
Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to
the jurisdiction of the United States.
    Subd. 40. Vehicle. "Vehicle" has the meaning given in section 168A.01, subdivision 24.
    Subd. 41. Neighborhood electric vehicle. "Neighborhood electric vehicle" has the meaning
given in section 169.01, subdivision 91.
History: 1949 c 694 s 1; 1951 c 574 s 1,2; 1953 c 275 s 1; 1955 c 352 s 1; 1955 c 600 s 1;
1957 c 175 s 1; 1959 c 178 s 1; 1959 c 258 s 1; 1959 c 562 s 1; 1959 c 627 s 1; 1961 c 340 s 1;
1963 c 597 s 1; 1963 c 637 s 1; 1965 c 108 s 1,2; 1965 c 364 s 1; 1967 c 876 s 1; 1969 c 824 s
1,2; 1971 c 754 s 1; 1971 c 797 s 1; 1973 c 123 art 5 s 7; 1973 c 218 s 1,2; 1973 c 546 s 1-3;
1974 c 273 s 9; 1975 c 29 s 1; 1976 c 343 s 2; 1977 c 214 s 1,2; 1979 c 213 s 1; 1981 c 363 s
2-6; 1981 c 365 s 9; 3Sp1981 c 1 art 2 s 1-4; 1983 c 198 s 1; 1984 c 549 s 1,2; 1985 c 63 s 1-5;
1985 c 291 s 2-4; 1986 c 444; 1986 c 453 s 1; 1986 c 454 s 10; 1987 c 269 s 3; 1988 c 636 s
1,2; 1988 c 647 s 1; 1989 c 140 s 4-5; 1989 c 307 s 1; 1989 c 318 s 4; 1989 c 342 s 1-4; 1990 c
385 s 1; 1990 c 416 s 1; 1990 c 497 s 1; 1990 c 565 s 26,27; 1991 c 112 s 5; 1991 c 284 s 2;
1992 c 578 s 2; 1993 c 117 s 3; 1993 c 323 s 5; 1994 c 510 art 1 s 1; 1994 c 536 s 1; 1994 c 635
art 1 s 41; 1995 c 46 s 1; 1996 c 289 s 1,2; 1996 c 435 s 3; 1997 c 159 art 2 s 11; 1997 c 250 s
1; 1999 c 238 art 2 s 2; 1Sp2001 c 8 art 2 s 28; 2002 c 250 s 1; 2002 c 285 s 1; 2002 c 364 s
7; 2002 c 371 art 1 s 1,2; art 3 s 1; 1Sp2003 c 19 art 2 s 19; 2005 c 64 s 3,4; 2005 c 135 s 2;
1Sp2005 c 6 art 3 s 18-28; 1Sp2005 c 7 s 19; 2006 c 189 s 1,2