Does Location Of CDL School Matter?
Topic 5288 | Page 1
ThinkingApe, Welcome to TruckingTruth. This site is great and the FREE online CDL course is worth hundreds. I strongly recommend taking complete advantage of it. Your license and the school you attend does matter. I am not sure how much. I am attending school in Texas. A student had a license from a different state and she had to get it converted to Texas. She was originally from Texas, so I don't know if there were any residency rules that she might have had to meet. I am using my GI Bill. The public school is taking care of that. I had to provide my Certificate of Eligibility. You have to request that from the VA. It took about a month to get. I was on my forth day of class before I provided that to the school. I don't know how long it will take before I get my housing allowance. My suggestion would be to talk with the school of your choice. If they know what they are doing, they will get the answers for you. If they can't, keep looking.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
You should check with your state's MVA. Maryland will not convert or transfer an temp. CDL issued by another jurisdiction which also includes Canada.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
Each state has different regulations.
Let me give you examples.
1. In Texas, you need to be Texas Resident.
2. A student in my class arrived with her Indiana CDL Permit, yet she had to take all written exams in Texas.
3. Sometimes company sponsored schools help you out.
CREngland in Utah tell their students not to put their home addresses when filling out form, but the address of CREngland. This would make them resident of Utah until they have their CDL. However, the student has to convert the licence to different state within 90 days.
It is a temporal residency. The student needs to decide to remain a Utah resident or change within 90 days.
Some states don't accept the CDL of certain states. Nevada does not accept Utah for example.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
This question has become far more complicated in the past few years. At one time you could pretty much transfer your license from one state to another with a little paperwork. But the Company-Sponsored Training Programs began luring new drivers out of their home states for CDL training which was cutting into the bottom line of the Independent Truck Driving Schools and the state itself.
For instance...if you lived in Indiana but wanted to go through company-sponsored training with a company in Texas, the company would send you a bus ticket to their facility in Texas. You would temporarily become a Texas resident, get your permit, get your training, and then get your CDL. At that point you would simply transfer your license back to Indiana and you're all set. Well the independent schools in Indiana lost a student and the state lost a lot of fees for all of the testing you went through out of state. So more and more states have passed laws preventing licenses from being transferred into the state, thereby making it far more difficult to attend any sort of training or get your license out of state.
So check with your home state and speak with the various Company-Sponsored Training Programs about your options. A lot of company-sponsored programs are now trying to cut deals with truck driving schools around the country to handle their training for them in states that won't allow license transfers.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
Company-sponsored Training:
A Company-Sponsored Training Program is a school that is owned and operated by a trucking company.
The schooling often requires little or no money up front. Instead of paying up-front tuition you will sign an agreement to work for the company for a specified amount of time after graduation, usually around a year, at a slightly lower rate of pay in order to pay for the training.
If you choose to quit working for the company before your year is up, they will normally require you to pay back a prorated amount of money for the schooling. The amount you pay back will be comparable to what you would have paid if you went to an independently owned school.
Company-sponsored training can be an excellent way to get your career underway if you can't afford the tuition up front for private schooling.
Thank you everyone for the replies! I guess my situation might be somewhat unusual. I reside in PA and hold a PA driver's license, but beyond that I have no ties to this state, and in fact, have no interest in living here. If I attended CDL school in another state I would most likely begin my search for employment in that state. I appreciate the information, the law seems a bit confusing on this topic. It's also good to know that it takes the VA that long to get you your certificate of eligibility, though, I suppose that really comes as no surprise.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
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Good Morning! First of all, thank you for all of the information this website provides, it is really useful and has helped me tremendously while I have been preparing to enter the world of truck driving. My question is this: I currently hold a Pennsylvania Driver's License. Does it matter which state I attend CDL training in? I was not sure if I had to attend CDL school in the state in which I held a valid driver's license in or not. Also, if anyone has any advice or experience with using the GI Bill to pay for CDL school, I would greatly appreciate it!
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles: