Minnesota has more carriers than any state on this list but California and Texas: close to 76,000 give a Minnesota address in the census FMCSA published in October 2026, nearly four in five registered for in-state work only, and more than half of them private fleets hauling their own goods. Nearly thirteen thousand carry machinery and large objects, twelve thousand carry grain, feed and hay, nine thousand carry farm supplies, eight and a half thousand carry logs, poles and lumber, and close to four thousand carry livestock. Corn is the top farm product in 52 of the 87 counties in USDA's 2022 census, soybeans in nine, milk and hogs in eight each, cattle in seven and wheat in two. So the Minnesota truck is the grain truck at harvest, the hog hauler on a southern county road, a milk tanker, the log truck up north, the ore truck at the taconite mines on the Iron Range, a semi truck with a sleeper on I-94, a heavy-haul tractor moving a crane around the Twin Cities, a dump truck loading at Burnsville or Savage, and the box truck a private fleet runs for its own deliveries. Each of them is a truck we'd make an offer on.
Ten percent in winter, five tons in spring
Minnesota's weight law has a calendar in it. The ceiling under section 169.824 is 80,000 pounds gross on every street and highway, subject to any lower axle weight posted under section 169.87, and the state posts by axle tonnage rather than gross, so the sign is what binds. Under section 169.826 legal weights rise by ten percent between the dates the commissioner sets for each frost zone each winter, on adequate axle spacing and tire ratings, for any cargo. Spring takes it back and more: an unposted gravel road drops to five tons an axle, which is 10,000 pounds, and bituminous roads are posted at five, seven, nine or ten tons an axle by surface, with many counties issuing no overweight permits while the restrictions run. MnDOT publishes six frost zones, each on its own dates, and the northernmost runs on a calendar of its own. A grain truck that ran the winter increase, a tandem dump truck posted off the gravel roads in April, a heavy-haul tractor on permits and a pickup that never met a scale are the same truck to us.
Where the work is: ships load at Duluth and Two Harbors and Silver Bay on the north shore, where the taconite from Minntac, Hibbing, Keetac, Minorca, Northshore and United goes out, and barges load at St. Paul and Winona on the Mississippi. Containers go onto rail at Duluth, at Shoreham in Minneapolis and at Midway in St. Paul, and the 42 rail yards run from Northtown and Shoreham in the Twin Cities to Willmar, St. Cloud, Mankato, Brainerd, Dilworth, Breckenridge and the border yards at International Falls and Ranier. The racks at St. Paul, Savage, Rosemount, Roseville, Newport, Inver Grove Heights, Mankato, Rochester, Marshall, Sauk Centre, Alexandria, Moorhead, Crookston and Duluth fill the tankers. Stone comes out of Granite Falls, Burnsville, Savage, Mankato and St. Paul Park, granite is cut at St. Cloud, Rockville and Jasper, and the 23 sand and gravel pits run from Elk River and Apple Valley to Rochester, Wabasha and Bemidji. Camp Ripley, the Arden Hills training site and the Guard's armories at Rosemount, St. Cloud, Rochester and Duluth keep military fleets. Tell us the town and whether you want it collected, bought from where it sits, or you'd rather bring it in.
Any deputy registrar
A lost title is replaced through Driver and Vehicle Services, and any of the 163 deputy registrar offices takes title work: in Minneapolis at 300 South 6th Street, 2929 Chicago Avenue South and 1001 Plymouth Avenue North; in Duluth at 6630 Grand Avenue and 1600 Miller Trunk Highway; in Rochester at 1201 South Broadway, 7389 Airport View Drive Southwest and 1706 37th Street Northwest; in Mankato at 410 South 5th Street; in Moorhead at 3300 15th Avenue North.
Order the duplicate, then send us the truck. A lien is settled ahead of the sale, so ask the lender for the payoff early. A prior salvage brand on a Minnesota title is a thing to mention in the first message and nothing more. That message is the year, make, model and VIN, a set of photos, a photo of the title, and the town, and it covers a sleeper, day cab, heavy-haul tractor, dump truck, roll-off, mixer, garbage truck, wrecker or rotator, log truck, tanker, boom or crane truck, box truck, straight truck, utility truck, pickup or dually, with an offer in reply.
Neighboring states
Minnesota shares a border with four states.
Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.