The Commercial Drivers License, or CDL, is widely recognized as the industry standard for operating certain commercial vehicles on US roads and highways. The license requires special skills and knowledge related to operating large vehicles, such as tractor-trailers, buses, semi-trucks, and 18 wheelers. The FMCSA implemented the CDL License and Training Program to restrict driving commercial vehicles only to drivers possessing certain skills and knowledge.
Of course, each state has different CDL requirements and many states differ in their expectation of the knowledge base that a CDL graduates should encompass upon graduation. Such as the
California truck driving schools page, which requires that each applicant pass a vision test in addition to the other tests administered. Or the
Texas truck driving schools section, which shows that applicants surrender their currents driver licenses. However, each state is required to be at minimum as stringent and conclusive in their CDL tests as the Federal Standards are.
Over 8 million drivers have passed the CDL test and obtained their Commercial Driving License. This page was designed by Top Trucking Schools as a resource and to give the student CDL driver a quick overview of the procedural regulations of the CDL program and testing on the individual state level. Of course, many regulations are constantly changing - and we will continue to change with them. Good luck!
