Commercial Driver Licenses

Driver Licenses

For information from the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, click here.

You must possess a Commercial Driver License (CDL) if:

you operate a truck or truck combination with a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR, or total capacity weight as determined by the manufacturer) of 26,001 pounds or more, or
you operate a vehicle that is designed to carry 16 or more passengers (including the driver), or
your vehicle requires a placard to transport hazardous materials.

You are exempt from obtaining a CDL if you:

drive authorized emergency vehicles, or
are military personnel driving military vehicles, or
are a farmer transporting farm machinery, products, or supplies within 150 miles of your farm, or
drive recreational vehicles for recreation reasons, or
drive a single-unit truck used to transport your own personal property which is not for sale, or
are employed by a publicly owned transit system and move trucks for maintenance or parking within the transit system's property.

Reciprocations of CDLs:

Florida reciprocates all CDL license classes, endorsements, and restrictions for any of the 50 states and Canada. Please note that a Heavy Vehicle license from Puerto Rico is not reciprocal as a CDL.
If you recently drove heavy vehicles while in the military, it is possible that you can obtain a commercial driver license without passing a skills test. Please click here for more information concerning this option. Welcome back, veterans!

CDL license classes and their testing requirements include:

Class A - combination trucks with a GVWR of 26,001 lbs. or more, provided the towed vehicle's GVWR is over 10,000 lbs.

Testing requirements

minimum age 18

CDL General Knowledge test

Combination vehicle test

Air brakes

Vision - 20/40 in each eye

Hearing - must hear a whisper

Pre-Trip

Basic Skills

Driving

Note: Drivers under 21 years of age will be restricted to intrastate operation only

Class B - straight (single-unit) trucks with a GVWR of 26,001 lbs. or more

Testing requirements

CDL General Knowledge test

Air brakes if applicable

Vision - 20/40 in each eye

Hearing - must hear a whisper

Pre-Trip

Basic Skills

Driving

Note: Drivers under 21 years of age will be restricted to intrastate operation only.

Class C - trucks with a GVWR of less than 26,001 lbs. but that are (1) designed to carry 16 or more passengers (including the driver), or (2) require a placard to transport hazardous materials

Testing requirements

General Knowledge test

Air brakes if applicable

Vision - 20/40 in each eye

Hearing - must hear a whisper

Driving

Note: Drivers under 21 years of age will be restricted to intrastate operation only.

Additional testing may be required, depending on the endorsement(s) needed. With the exception of hazardous materials, you may take any of the written CDL tests at any Pinellas County Tax Collector office that offers driver license services, except our South County branch. Testing and processing for a hazardous materials endorsement must take place at state driver license offices only.

For a listing of third party testers for the skills (driving) test, please click here . For a listing of state skills testing sites, please click here.

Please note that because of vision requirements, CDL holders are not eligible to renew on-line.