Skip to main content Skip to office menu Skip to footer
Capital IconMinnesota Legislature

Office of the Revisor of Statutes

Chapter 168

Section 168.011

Topics

Recent History

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. 3. Highway. A "highway" is any public thoroughfare for vehicles, including streets in cities.

Subd. 4. Motor vehicle. (a) "Motor vehicle" means any self-propelled vehicle not operated exclusively upon railroad tracks and any vehicle propelled or drawn by a self-propelled vehicle and includes vehicles known as trackless trolleys which are propelled by electric power obtained from overhead trolley wires but not operated upon rails, except snowmobiles, manufactured homes, and park trailers.

(b) "Motor vehicle" also includes an all-terrain vehicle, as defined in section 84.92, subdivision 8, which (1) has at least four wheels, (2) is owned and operated by a physically disabled person, and (3) displays both physically disabled license plates and a physically disabled certificate issued under section 169.345, subdivision 3.

(c) Motor vehicle does not include an all-terrain vehicle as defined in section 84.92, subdivision 8; 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, in which case the owner may continue to license it 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.

Subd. 5. Owner. "Owner" means any person, firm, association, or corporation owning or renting a motor vehicle, or having the exclusive use thereof, under a lease or otherwise, for a period of greater than 30 days.

Subd. 5a. Registered owner. "Registered owner" means any person, firm, association, or corporation, other than a secured party, having title to a motor vehicle. If a passenger automobile, as defined in subdivision 7, 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 described in this subdivision shall be sent to the lessor.

Subd. 6. Tax, fee. "Tax" or "fee" means the annual tax imposed on motor vehicles in lieu of all other taxes thereon, except wheelage taxes, so-called, which may be imposed by any city and except gross earnings taxes paid by companies subject or made subject thereto. Such annual tax shall be deemed both a property tax and a highway use tax and shall be on the basis of the calendar year.

Subd. 7. Passenger automobile. "Passenger automobile" means any motor vehicle designed and used for carrying not more than 15 persons including the driver. "Passenger automobile" does not include motorcycles, motor scooters, and buses described in subdivision 9, paragraph (a), clause (2). For purposes of taxation only, "passenger automobile" includes pickup trucks and vans, including those vans designed to carry passengers with a manufacturer's nominal rated carrying capacity of one ton, but does not include commuter vans as defined in section 168.126.

Subd. 8. Manufactured home; park trailer; travel trailer. (a) "Manufactured home" has the meaning given it in section 327.31, subdivision 6.

(b) "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.

(c) "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:

(a) 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

(b) 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 assembly yard or railhead when the transportation constitutes the first haul thereof, 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, which, because of their construction, cannot be used for any other purpose and are used exclusively to transport milk and cream en route from 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. Sworn statement. "Sworn statement" means any statement required by or made pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, made under oath administered by an officer authorized to administer oaths.

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 apparatus, moving dollies, pump hoists and other water well drilling equipment registered under chapter 103I, 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, earth moving carryalls, scrapers, power shovels, drag lines, 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 equipment. (a) "Recreational equipment" means travel trailers including those which telescope or fold down, chassis mounted campers, house cars, motor homes, tent trailers, slip in campers, and converted buses that provide temporary human living quarters. A vehicle is considered to provide temporary living quarters if it:

(1) is not used as the residence of the owner or occupant;

(2) is used for temporary living quarters by the owner or occupant while engaged in recreational or vacation activities; and

(3) is self-propelled or towed on the public streets or highways incidental to the recreational or vacation activities.

(b) For the purposes of this subdivision, a motor home means a unit designed to provide temporary living quarters, built into as an integral part of, or permanently attached to, a self-propelled motor vehicle chassis or van. A motor home must contain permanently installed independent life support systems which 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) cooking facility with liquid propane gas supply, (2) refrigerator, (3) self-contained toilet or a toilet connected to a plumbing system with connection for external water disposal, (4) heating or air conditioning separate from the vehicle engine, (5) a potable water supply system including a sink with faucet either self-contained or with connections for an external source, and (6) separate 110-125 volt electrical power supply. 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 which is readily removable or held in place by clamps or tie downs is not permanently installed.

(c) Motor homes include but are not limited to, the following:

(1) Type A Motor Home -- a raw chassis upon which is built a driver's compartment and an entire body that provides temporary living quarters as defined in this paragraph;

(2) Type B Motor Home -- a van-type vehicle that conforms to the motor home definition in this paragraph and has been completed or altered by the final stage manufacturer; and

(3) Type C Motor Home -- an incomplete vehicle upon which is permanently attached a body designed to provide temporary living quarters as defined in this paragraph.

(d) Slip in campers are mounted into a vehicle commonly known as a pickup truck, in the pickup box, either by bolting through the floor of the pickup box or by firmly clamping to the side of the pickup box. The vehicle may not be registered as a recreational vehicle.

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 a 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 100 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

HIST: 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

Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes