TEN EASY STEPS TO A C.D.L. (July 2024 revision)
(For Self-Study CDL applicants with some experience
in truck/bus operation)
OBTAIN A CDL MANUAL Locate the latest version online of the
Idaho CDL manual through the Idaho Transportation Department:
https://itd.idaho.gov//wp-content/uploads/2016/06/cdl_manual.pdf
You can download the PDF le to your phone, computer, or tablet,
or obtain a paper manual. Earlier versions of the manual are ne for
general study, but be sure to review the rst chapter in the latest
version of the manual to keep up with FMCSA required changes.
1.
2.
3.
REVIEW MEDICAL REQUIREMENTS/ OBTAIN DOT MEDICAL:
Read the applicable pages in Chapter One of the CDL manual to
see if you are required to have a medical examiner’s certicate for
the driving you intend to do. MOST commercial driving activities
require a medical certicate. The following link will take you to a
list of commodities and whether they are exempt (no medical card
needed for INTRASTATE hauling) or regulated (medical card required
for all commercial hauling purposes):
https://isp.idaho.gov/cvs/commodities/
A Department of Transportation (DOT)
physical examination is conducted
by a licensed medical provider and
may be valid for up to 24 months. The
examiner may also issue a medical
examiner’s certicate for less than 24
months when it is desirable to monitor
a medical condition. The provider must
be listed on the “National Registry of
Certied Medical Examiners”. A list of
National Registry certied providers
in your area can be found here:
https://nationalregistry.fmcsa.dot.gov/home
STUDY THE REQUIRED PORTIONS OF THE CDL MANUAL: Near the
front of the CDL manual is a chart that will tell you what chapters to study
for the Commercial License and related endorsement(s) you desire. Your
particular equipment combination will dictate what you need to study
and test for. If you have a vehicle with air brakes, you’ll need that test. For
a class A CDL, you must take the Combination Vehicles test. The General
Knowledge test is required of all new CDL applicants. Details on testing
are below.
4.
GO TO A COUNTY SHERIFF’S DRIVER’S LICENSING OFFICE:
• START THE CDL PROCESS: Tell the Examiner you are
there to begin the process of obtaining a CDL. They
will have you complete an application for a CDL, and
will help you declare a driving category—a federal
rule to determine whether you plan to drive only in
Idaho or interstate, and whether you are medical
card required (“non-excepted”) or not required
(“excepted”).
• BRING YOUR MEDICAL CERTIFICATE: If you are
required to have a medical certicate, obtain it as soon as possible and take it with you to the DMV.
They will scan a copy of your medical certicate card to be incorporated into your driving record. All
commercial drivers who are “non-excepted” must submit a medical certicate to your county DMV
or ITD when obtained and upon each renewal.
* If you are for some reason ineligible to obtain a DOT Medical, you CANNOT drive a commercial
vehicle in interstate commerce, unless you plan to work for a government agency or other excepted
interstate category. This website contains more information about CDL medical requirements:
http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/topics/medical/medical.htm
• BRING YOUR BIRTH CERTIFICATE (REQUIRED IF OBTAINABLE), US PASSPORT, or OTHER
PROOF OF LAWFUL PERMANENT RESIDENCY IN THE UNITED STATES: Federal rules require all
applicants for a Commercial Learner’s Permit or CDL to present proof of legal presence in the United
States to the DMV to be entered on the driver’s record. This will only need to be done one time.
• PROVIDE PROOF OF IDAHO RESIDENCY: Federal regulations require all applicants for a
Commercial Learner's Permit or CDL to provide proof of Idaho residency. Proof of Idaho residency
can be a utility bill, ofcial government tax document, mortgage/lease/rental agreement, etc.
Documentation must be dated within 1 calendar year and include the physical residence address
and your full name.
• TAKE THE REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE TESTS: When you are
ready, take your written knowledge tests. The written tests
are $5.00 each. Some county DMV ofces have limitations on
times they do testing, or require appointments to test. Call
your DMV to see what their testing hours are. You should
take and pass the General Knowledge test before attempting
to take other tests. While it is permissible to do so, most
applicants should not attempt to take multiple tests on the
same day. Test results remain valid for one year from the date
they were passed. If you don’t obtain your CDL in that year you must re-take all the written tests.
If you fail a test, you can re-test in three days (and pay another ve dollars).
• SKILLS TEST FEE: The county DMV agent will collect a skills test fee of $10 from you. All knowledge
tests required for the license you are seeking must be passed before the skills test can be administered.
The skills test fee is the county portion of your road test. The CDL Examiner will charge a separate
fee for the test payable directly to the Examiner at the time of testing.
5.
6.
• OBTAIN A COMMERCIAL LEARNER’S PERMIT: You
must obtain a Commercial Learner’s Permit (CLP) to
obtain or upgrade a commercial license. The permit costs
$29 and is valid for one year. It allows you to drive a truck
or bus on public streets to practice driving a commercial
vehicle. You must have a licensed CDL driver rated to
drive the equipment you are practicing in riding with you
at all times when on public streets. The licensed driver
must be sitting in the right seat (trucks) or in the row
behind the driver (busses) with you when you are practicing on public streets. Federal Rules require
you hold a CLP for at least 14 days before you can take a skills test.
COMPLETE ENTRY LEVEL DRIVER TRAINING: As of February 7, 2022,
CDL Applicants must comply with Entry-Level Driver Training (ELDT)
regulations. These rules require that all entry-level drivers of commercial
motor vehicles (CMVs) receive training from a provider listed on FMCSA’s
Training Provider Registry. To be eligible to take required skills tests,
commercial driver’s license (CDL) applicants must have completed
applicable entry-level driver training from a registered training provider.
LEARN MORE at: http://tpr.fmcsa.dot.gov or scan the code using the camera
on your smartphone.
PRACTICE THE VEHICLE INSPECTION: During the 14 day waiting period, practice and prepare for
your test. The pre-trip vehicle inspection must be done on any commercial vehicle you test in, regardless
of size or type. Most applicants who fail the skills test do so by not preparing well enough for the pre-
trip inspection. Do the following before attempting to take your skills test:
• STUDY CHAPTER 11 THOROUGHLY: If a
component is on your vehicle and in Chapter
11, you need to memorize it for the test. There
are plenty of components you are required to
memorize, so concentrate on those items. It is
imperative that you know how to do the brake
test on the vehicle you will be testing in. Doing
the brake check improperly will result in failing
the test. You will have 45 minutes to complete
your pre-trip inspection on test day.
• WATCH THE VIDEO(s): The videos listed below are extremely helpful to prepare you to
take the test. These short productions will help show you HOW TO DO THE VEHICLE
INSPECTION; that is, what the examiner expects you to describe to him or her as you are
inspecting your vehicle. This will give you a much better idea of how to conduct your inspection
on test day. Note: Watching videos alone will not thoroughly prepare you to take the skills
test. Use the videos as a helpful guide to show you how to tell the inspector what you are
looking for, in addition to studying all required inspection components listed in Chapter 11.
7.
• TRUCK INSPECTION VIDEO: Produced by Steven
Lloyd, an Idaho CDL Examiner in Meridian. Steve’s
video can be found at: https://www.cdlidaho.com/
Click on the “video” link at the top of the page. It also
shows the backing exercises; it’s a very useful video.
• TRUCK INSPECTION VIDEO: Produced by Harry Packwood, an
Idaho CDL Examiner in Boise. Also a very good study resource. It can
be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PScgfTEchOE
• SCHOOL BUS VIDEO: There are several helpful videos on
how to inspect school busses on YouTube. Here is one that
covers the vehicle inspection in a concise, efcient manner.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOkJqDoCzak8
Note: These are public-source YouTube videos that have been
reviewed by staff at the Idaho Transportation Department
andare recommended. Thereisnocost to watch these videos.
ITD does not guarantee that this content will remain available.
PRACTICE THE BACKING MANEUVERS DESCRIBED IN CHAPTER 12: Refer to the diagrams and
measurements shown in Chapter 12, and set up a practice course in a suitable area if possible.
• The “Straight line back” and “Offset Back” maneuvers
are required of all applicants.
• The Examiner will select either the alley dock or parallel
park maneuver on test day, so you should practice both
of those maneuvers.
• Time Limits on the tests are designed to allow sufcient
time for beginning drivers (who have practiced) to complete the maneuvers without penalty.
Unprepared applicants who go over the time limit will have points added to their score, and may not
pass the exercise.
• Use “looks”, pull ups, and reference markers as described in the manual if you need them during the
test. Just like in the “real world”, pulling up your vehicle or getting out to check your position during
backing is less costly than running into something!
• Excessive pull-ups are deducted from your score, but the deduction for pulling up is less than that of
crossing a boundary line or cone and causing an encroachment.
9.
PREPARE FOR THE ROAD TEST: For the road test, review Chapter 13 in the CDL manual.
• Make sure you know how to conduct a proper “Stop/Start” exercise, as described in the manual.
• Know where to stop at intersections.
• If taking a school bus test, you will need to study the student discharge requirements in Chapter 10.
• Make sure you move your head as you check your mirrors, pass through intersections, etc. so the
examiner can see that you are checking for trafc and hazards.
• Maintain frequent checks in your mirrors.
• Keep both hands on the wheel unless you are shifting.
• Know how your vehicle off-tracks. Running over curbs or other objects will result in failing the test.
• Know how to shift the vehicle you are driving. Practice until you can shift smoothly.
• Obey all trafc laws and travel at the speed limit unless weather or trafc requires an adjustment.
• Pay attention to highway signs that a commercial driver should observe. You will be tested on them!
SCHEDULE & TAKE THE SKILLS TEST: Contact one of
the CDL Skills Test Examiners in your area to make an
appointment for your test. The test normally takes about
two hours. Most Idaho CDL examiners have full time
jobs and do tests as a part time service to the state, so
you may have to work around their schedule. The Skills
Test fee is set by each examiner; the fee is not to exceed
$190 per test per Idaho Code. Most examiners take cash
only, but some accept other payment methods. Refer
to the CDL Examiner list for examiners, availability of
rental vehicles, etc. The link is here: https://itd.idaho.gov/itddmv/?target=drivers-license-id-cards#cdl
IMPORTANT NOTES:
• FMCSA rules require that you hold your Commercial Learner’s Permit for 14 days minimum before
testing, even if you have a CDL and are just upgrading your license
• You MUST contact the examiner well in advance- Examiners are required to notify ITD a minimum of
48 hours before any CDL test
• BRING THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT TO THE TEST! MANY VEHICLES WILL RESULT IN A RESTRICTED
LICENSE:
* “E” RESTRICTION: Testing in a truck or bus with an automatic transmission will result in a
restriction being placed on your CDL that you can ONLY drive commercial vehicles with automatic
transmissions.
* “O” RESTRICTION: Testing in a Class A combination that is NOT a TRACTOR-TRAILER with a
fth wheel hitch will result in a restriction being placed on your CDL that you can only drive Class
A vehicles that
* “L” RESTRICTION: Testing in a vehicle that does not have air brakes will result in this restriction.
8.
10.
• Have a CDL licensed driver go with you to the test site unless you can legally drive your commercial
vehicle there under a farm or other exemption.
• Don’t forget your: Driver’s license, commercial learner’s permit, registration, and proof of insurance.
• Make sure your vehicle’s lights and equipment are working properly, or you cannot take the test in
that vehicle. Our examiners appreciate it if the interior of your truck or bus is reasonably clean on
test day.
OBTAIN & ADD TO YOUR CDL: Once you pass the skills test, the examiner will transmit your test
results to ITD for processing.
• You MUST return to the county DMV to have your new
Commercial License issued.
• The cost is $40 and it’s good for 4 years.
• Once you have your “base” CDL, you can later add
endorsements as needed.
• Some endorsements (or removal of restrictions) will
require additional skills tests.
TYPICAL C.D.L. ACQUISITION COSTS
ITEM COST NOTES AVERAGE TOTAL
WRITTEN TESTS
$5 EACH $15-20 depending on endorsements desired $15
SKILLS TEST
$ VARIES
Typically $ 120-150 to examiner, $10 to county, up
to $200 or more for rental truck if needed
$140 if using
your own
vehicle
COMMERCIAL
LEARNER’S PERMIT
$29
Required for all CDL tests and upgrades, and to
practice on roadway prior to testing
$29
LICENSING
VARIES
$15 to add an endorsement after original issue;
$25 to upgrade a license; $40 for 4 year CDL
$40 TYPICALLY
MEDICAL EXAM
IF
REQUIRED
$60-150- costs vary widely; every two years or
more frequently if needed
$125
HAZMAT
ENDORSEMENT
IF
REQUIRED
$86.50 for the Hazmat Threat Assessment
every four years
+ $5 written test every 4 years
$92
We hope you have found this informaon useful. For any quesons email to:
