Vehicle registration exemptions - Virginia

Temporary exemption for new resident operating a vehicle registered in another state or country

A resident owner of any passenger car, pickup or panel truck, moped, autocycle, or motorcycle, other than oversized vehicles under 46.2-652, that has been duly registered for the current calendar year in another state or country and that at all times displays the license plate or plates issued by the other jurisdiction, may operate or permit the operation of the vehicle within or partly within Virginia for the first 30 days of his or her residency without registering the vehicle.

Backhoes

No person must obtain the registration certificate, license plates, or decals for or pay a registration fee for any backhoe operated on any highway for up to 20 miles from its operating base.

Vehicles used for spraying fruit trees and other plants

No person is required to obtain the registration certificate, license plates, or decals for or pay a registration fee for any vehicle on which a machine for spraying fruit trees and other plants of the owner or lessee of the truck is securely attached.

Vehicles used for agricultural or horticultural purposes

No person is required to obtain the registration certificate, license plates, or decals for or pay a registration fee for any motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer used exclusively for agricultural or horticultural purposes on lands owned or leased by the vehicle’s owner.

This exemption only applies to:

• Pickup or panel trucks;
• Sport utility vehicles;
• Vehicles other than pickup or panel trucks, sport utility vehicles, trailers, or semitrailers having a gross vehicle weight rating greater than 7,500 pounds; and
• Trailers and semitrailers that are not operated on or over any public highway in Virginia for any purpose other than:
  • Crossing a highway;
  • Operating along a highway for no more than 75 miles from one part of the owner’s land to another, irrespective of whether the tracts adjoin;
  • Taking the vehicle or attached fixtures to and from a repair shop for repairs;
  • Taking another vehicle exempt from registration under any provision of §§ 46.2-664 through 46.2-668 or 46.2-672, or any part or subcomponent of such a vehicle, to or from a repair shop for repairs, including return trips;
  • Operating along a highway to and from a refuse disposal facility for the purpose of disposing of trash and garbage generated on a farm and incidental refuse from the farmer’s or his employee’s home;
  • Operating along a highway for no more than 75 miles for the purpose of obtaining supplies for agricultural or horticultural purposes, seeds, fertilizers, chemicals, or animal feed and returning; or
  • Transporting the vehicle’s owner between his residence and the lands being used for agricultural or horticultural purposes.
  Effective July 1, 2024, the owner or lessee of a pickup or panel truck or sport utility vehicle claiming this exemption must obtain a permanent farm use placard pursuant to 46.2-684.2.

Vehicles used for seasonal transportation of farm produce and livestock

No person is required to obtain the registration certificate, license plates, or decals for or pay a registration fee for any motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer owned by the owner or lessee of a farm and used by him on a seasonal basis in transporting farm produce and livestock along public highways for a distance of no more than 75 miles or to a storage house, packing plant, or market.

This exemption only applies to:

• Pickup or panel trucks;
• Sport utility vehicles;
• Vehicles other than pickup or panel trucks, sport utility vehicles, trailers, or semitrailers having a gross vehicle weight rating greater than 7,500 pounds; and
• Trailers and semitrailers.

Effective July 1, 2024, the owner or lessee of a pickup or panel truck or sport utility vehicle claiming this exemption must obtain a permanent farm use placard pursuant to 46.2-684.2.

Farm machinery and tractors

No person is required to obtain the registration certificate, license plates, or decals for or pay the prescribed fee for any farm machinery or tractor when operated on a highway:

• Between one tract of land and another regardless of whether the land is owned by the same person, or
• To and from a repair shop for repairs.

The owner or lessee of any farm machinery or tractor claiming this exemption is not required to obtain a permanent farm use placard pursuant to § 46.2-684.2.

Vehicles validly registered in other states and used in conjunction with harvesting operations

Vehicles validly registered in other states and used in conjunction with harvesting operations No person is required to obtain the registration certificate, license plates, or decals for or pay a registration fee for any motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer which is validly registered in another state and bears valid license plates issued by that state when the use of the vehicle has been contracted for by the owner or lessee of a farm as an incidental part of the harvesting of a crop from his farm.

This exemption is only valid while the vehicle is engaged principally in transporting farm produce from the farm:

• As an incidental part of harvesting operations;
• Along a public highway for not more than 20 miles to a storage house, packing plant, market, or transportation terminal;
• When the use is a seasonal operation; and
• When the owner of the vehicle has secured from the Commissioner an exemption permit for each vehicle.

The Commissioner, upon receipt of an application certifying that a vehicle is entitled to the exemption and, if the vehicle is a qualified highway vehicle under § 58.1-2700, payment of $150, will issue an exemption permit on a form prescribed by him. The exemption permit must be always carried by the operator of the vehicle for which it is issued or displayed in a conspicuous place on the vehicle. The exemption permit is valid for 90 days from the date of issue and is renewable.

Tractors, trailers, log carts, and similar vehicles owned by sawmill operators

No person is required to obtain the registration certificate, license plates, or decals for or pay a registration fee for any tractor, trailer, log cart, or similar vehicle owned by a sawmill operator when the vehicle is operated or moved:

• Along a highway from one sawmill or sawmill site to another;
• To or from a repair shop for repairs; or
• Across a highway from one contiguous tract of land to another.

Vehicles owned by farmers and used to transport certain wood products

No person is required to obtain the registration certificate, license plates, or decals for or pay a registration fee for any motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer owned by a farm owner when the vehicle is operated or moved along a highway for no more than 75 miles between a sawmill or sawmill site and his farm to transport sawdust, wood shavings, slab wood, and other wood wastes.

This exemption only applies to:

• Pickup or panel trucks;
• Sport utility vehicles;
• Vehicles other than pickup or panel trucks, sport utility vehicles, trailers, or semitrailers having a gross vehicle weight rating greater than 7,500 pounds; and
• Trailers and semitrailers.

The owner or lessee of a pickup or panel truck or sport utility vehicle claiming this exemption must obtain a permanent farm use placard pursuant to 46.2-684.2.

Vehicles owned by maritime cargo terminal operators

No person is required to obtain the registration certificate, certificate of title, license plates, or decals for or to pay a registration fee for any motor vehicle owned or leased by a maritime cargo terminal owner or operator and used to transport a seagoing container and operated along a highway on a route of no more than one mile approved by the Department.

Vehicles used at mines

No person is required to obtain the registration certificate, license plates, or decals for or pay a registration fee for any motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer used at mines when operated on the highway for no more than 20 miles between mines or to or from a repair shop for repairs.

A motor vehicle or trailer, semitrailer, or fertilizer spreader drawn by a farm tractor to transport fertilizer, unginned cotton, or peanuts

No person is required to obtain the registration certificate, license plates, or decals for or pay a registration fee for any motor vehicle or trailer, semitrailer, or fertilizer spreader drawn by a farm tractor used by a farmer, his tenant, agent or employee or a cotton ginner, peanut buyer, or fertilizer distributor to transport unginned cotton, peanuts, or fertilizer owned by the farmer, cotton ginner, peanut buyer, or fertilizer distributor from one farm to another, from farm to gin, from farm to dryer, from farm to market, or from fertilizer distributor to farm and on return to the distributor. 

The owner or lessee of a pickup or panel truck or sport utility vehicle claiming this exemption is required to obtain a permanent farm use placard pursuant to 46.2-684.2.

This exemption does not apply to vehicles operated on a for-hire basis.

Exempted farm vehicles making return trips

No person is required to obtain the registration certificate, license plates, or decals for or pay a registration fee for any farm vehicle exempted from registration when that vehicle is:

• Making a return trip from any marketplace;
• Transporting back to a farm ordinary and essential food, including procuring a meal for a farmer or his employees, and other products for home and farm use while engaged in allowed activities; or
• Transporting supplies to the farm.

The owner or lessee of a pickup or panel truck or sport utility vehicle claiming this exemption must obtain a permanent farm use placard pursuant to 46.2-684.2.

Vehicles used by commercial fisherman

No person is required to obtain the registration certificate, license plates, or decals for or pay a registration fee for any motor vehicle, trailer, boat trailer, or semitrailer, or any combination thereof not having a gross vehicle weight exceeding 12,000 pounds used by commercial fishermen, their agents, or employees for the purpose of:

• Transporting boats or other equipment used in commercial fishing no more than 50 miles between his place of residence or business and the waters within the territorial limits of the Commonwealth or the adjacent marginal seas;
• Any return trip to his place of residence or business; or
• Transporting harvested seafood no more than 50 miles between the place where the seafood is first brought ashore and the transporter’s place of business or the location of the seafood’s first point of sale.

Certain vehicles engaged in mining or quarrying operations

No person is required to obtain the registration certificate, license plates, or decals for or pay a registration fee prescribed for any motor vehicle engaged in coal mining operations or other types of mining and quarrying operations, if the sole function of the motor vehicle is to haul coal from mine to tipple or to haul other mined or quarried products from mine or quarry to a processing plant.

The owner of the vehicle, however, must first obtain, without charge, a permit from the Commissioner of Highways in any case in which the motor vehicle is required to cross the public highways.

The Commissioner of Highways shall not issue the permit unless he is satisfied that the owner of the motor vehicle has, at his own expense, strengthened the highway crossing so that it will adequately bear the load and has provided adequate signs, lights, or flagmen as may be required for the protection of the public.

Any damage done to the highways because of this operation must be repaired in a manner satisfactory to the Commissioner of Highways at the expense of the vehicle’s owner.

Forklift trucks

No person is required to obtain the registration certificate, license plates, or decals for or pay a registration fee for any forklift truck provided it is:

• Operated by a person holding a valid Virginia driver’s license;
• Operated along or across highways only in traveling from one plant, factory, or job site to another by the most direct route;
• Not carrying or transporting any object or person, other than the driver;
• Displaying a slow-moving vehicle emblem in conformity with 46.2-1081;
• In compliance with requirements of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration;
• Not operated on or along any limited access highway; and
• Not operated for over 10 miles.

“Forklift truck” means a self-propelled machine used for hoisting and transporting heavy objects by means of steel fingers inserted under the load.

Vehicles transporting oyster shells

No person is required to obtain the registration certificate, license plates, or decals for or pay a registration fee for any motor vehicle properly registered in Maryland and used for the purpose of hauling oyster shells for less than three miles on a public highway of Virginia to navigable waters to be further transported by water to Maryland.

Tractors, rollers, and other machinery used for highway purposes

See citations below for more details.

Traction engines or any locomotives or electric cars operating on rails

See citations below for more details.

Other exemption rules

• Nocturnal use. It is unlawful for any vehicle exempted from registration to use the highways between sunset and sunrise unless it is equipped with lights as required by law.
• Insurance coverage and proof of insurance. Any motor vehicle, trailer, or semi-trailer that is exempt from motor vehicle registration requirements must be insured under a general liability policy that includes personal injury liability insurance as defined in § 38.2-117 and property damage liability insurance as defined in § 38.2-118, under a policy of motor vehicle insurance as defined in § 38.2-124, or under an umbrella or excess insurance policy. Any such umbrella or excess insurance policy shall not be required to comply with the provisions of Chapter 22 (§ 38.2-2200 et seq.) of Title 38.2 of the Code of Virginia that relate to the ownership, maintenance, or use of the exempt motor vehicle, trailer, or semi-trailer.
• Permanent farm use placards. All farm use placards must be permanent and valid for so long as the owner or lessee uses the vehicle for an exempt purpose and must not require renewal.
  • “Farm use placard” means a device containing letters, numerals, or a combination of both attached to a vehicle that is used for one of the exempt purposes set forth in § 46.2-665, 46.2-666, 46.2-670, 46.2-672, or 46.2-673.

Citations

• Va. Code Ann. 46.2-600 Owner to recure registration and certificate of title or certificate of ownership
• Va. Code Ann. 46.2-100 Definitions
• Va. Code Ann. 46.2-662 Temporary exemption for new resident operating a vehicle registered in another state or country
• Va. Code Ann. 46.2-665 (Effective until July 1, 2024) Vehicles used for agricultural or horticultural purposes
• Va. Code Ann. 46.2-665 (Effective July 1, 2024) Vehicles used for agricultural or horticultural purposes
• Va. Code Ann. 46.2-666 (Effective July 1, 2024) Vehicles used for the seasonal transportation of farm produce and livestock
• Va. Code Ann. 46.2-667 Farm machinery and tractors
• Va. Code Ann. 46.2-668 Vehicles validly registered in other states and used in conjunction with harvesting operations
• Va. Code Ann. 46.2-669 Tractors and similar vehicles owned by sawmill operators
• Va. Code Ann. 46.2-670 (Effective July 1, 2024) Vehicles owned by farmers and used to transport certain wood products
• Va. Code Ann. 46.2-670.1 Vehicles owned by maritime cargo terminal operators
• Va. Code Ann. 46.2-671 Vehicles used at mines
• Va. Code Ann. 46.2-672 (Effective July 1, 2024) Certain vehicles transporting fertilizer, cotton, or peanuts
• Va. Code Ann. 46.2-673 (Effective July 1, 2024) Return trips of exempted farm vehicles
• Va. Code Ann. 46.2-674 Vehicles used by commercial fisherman
• Va. Code Ann. 46.2-675 Certain vehicles engaged in mining or quarrying operations; permit when such vehicle required to cross public highways
• Va. Code Ann. 46.2-678 Forklift trucks
• Va. Code Ann. 46.2-680 Vehicles transporting oyster shells
• Va. Code Ann. 46.2-682 Tractors, rollers, and other machinery used for highway purposes
• Va. Code Ann. 46.2-683 Traction engines; vehicles operating on rails
• Va. Code Ann. 46.2-684 Nocturnal use of highways by exempted vehicles
• Va. Code Ann. 46.2-684.1 Insurance coverage and proof of insurance by exempted motor vehicles
• Va. Code Ann. 46.2-684.2 Permanent farm use placards