You have to sign an affidavit that the truck hasn't been used on a public road since the last time it was tagged. Yes you have to complete the 2290 to get the tags for it. If you need the tags soon you may as well plan on going to the IRS office in Jackson (or wherever is closest) and getting it stamped or use one of the online services (charge $10 for one truck or like $25 for up to 6). I've seen some of the 2290's take over 30 days to come back right now. Probably trying to push us to the electronic filing but don't offer a no cost way to do that. :-(