2023 Pennsylvania Consolidated & Unconsolidated Statutes › Title 75 - VEHICLES › Chapter 16 - Commercial Drivers › Section 1607 - Commercial driver's license qualification standards

§ 1607. Commercial driver's license qualification standards.
(a) Testing.--
(1) The Commonwealth shall offer one knowledge test to all commercial driver's license holders until April 1, 1992, for each class and for each endorsement for driving a commercial motor vehicle which complies with minimum standards established by Federal regulation and all other requirements of the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986 (Public Law 99-570, 49 U.S.C. App. § 2701 et seq.). This subsection shall not apply to an applicant for a commercial driver learner's permit.
(2) No person shall be issued a commercial driver's license unless the person is a resident of this Commonwealth and has passed a knowledge and skills test for driving a commercial motor vehicle which complies with minimum standards established by Federal regulation, all other requirements of the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986 and other requirements imposed under Federal regulation which are published by the department as a notice in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. The department shall publish the content of the driving examination for the commercial driver's license as a notice in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. The tests shall be offered by the department or its agents.
(3) The department may authorize a person, including an agency of this or another state, an employer, a private institution, association or driver training school, or a department, agency or instrumentality of local government to administer the skills test specified by this section, provided:
(i) The test is the same as that which would otherwise be administered by the department.
(ii) The third party has entered into an agreement with the department.
(4) (Repealed).
(5) As a result of this section, no layoffs shall occur in the classification known as Driver's License Examiner.
(6) The department shall provide applicants for commercial driver's licenses with the choice of selecting a knowledge test administered in either a written or an oral format:
(i) The department shall administer the knowledge tests in both the English and Spanish languages.
(ii) An applicant requesting the oral or Spanish version of the knowledge test must schedule for the examination at a testing site authorized by the department.
(iii) The department shall offer alternate testing formats to avoid discrimination against drivers with limited literacy or verbal comprehension skills.
(iv) The alternative of an oral version of the knowledge test shall not be available to persons seeking a hazardous materials endorsement on a commercial driver's license.
(v) The use of interpreters shall not be permitted.
(7) The department shall accept the results of skills tests administered in other states and sent electronically by the other state, provided that the skills test administered meets Federal testing standards.
(8) The department shall require a driver to retake one or more tests authorized under this chapter within 30 days upon receiving credible information that the commercial driver learner's permit holder or commercial driver's license holder is suspected of fraud related to the issuance of a commercial driver learner's permit or commercial driver's license.
(9) Interpreters shall not be permitted during the administration of the skills test. Neither the commercial driver learner's permit holder nor the test examiner may communicate in a language other than English during the skills test.
(b) Waiver of test.--
The department shall waive the skills test specified in this section for a commercial driver's license applicant:
(1) Holding a valid Class 2, 3 or 4 license who meets the requirements of Federal regulations. If permitted by Federal regulation, the department may waive the written test requirement for a commercial driver's license applicant holding a valid Class 2, 3 or 4 license.
(2) Who, subject to the limitations and requirements of 49 CFR 383.77 (relating to substitute for driving skills tests), meets all certifications required for waiver under 49 CFR 383.77 and who certifies all of the following:
(i) That the applicant is a member of the active or reserve components of any branch or unit of the armed forces of the United States or a veteran who received an honorable discharge from any branch or unit of the active or reserve components of the armed forces of the United States.
(ii) That the applicant is or was regularly employed in a position in the armed forces of the United States requiring operation of a commercial motor vehicle.
(iii) That the applicant has legally operated, for at least two years within the five years immediately prior to applying for a commercial driver's license, a vehicle representative of the commercial motor vehicle the driver applicant operates or expects to operate, either under the exemption from this Commonwealth's commercial driver's license requirement provided by section 1606(b)(2) (relating to requirement for commercial driver's license) or the equivalent exemption of another state or while on active duty in a foreign jurisdiction.
(c) Limitations on issuance of license.--
(1) Applicants for a commercial driver's license shall provide the department with the names of all states where the applicant has been previously or is currently licensed to operate any type of motor vehicle.
(2) The department shall request the complete driving record from all states where the applicant was licensed within the previous ten years to operate any type of motor vehicle. Suitable notations of all convictions, disqualifications and other licensing actions for violations of any State or local law relating to motor vehicle traffic control, other than a parking violation, committed in any type of vehicle may be stored and admitted into evidence by the department as provided in section 1516(b) (relating to department records). All actions reported to the department under this paragraph shall have the same effect on subsequent actions as if the reported action had been taken by the department.
(3) A commercial driver's license or commercial driver learner's permit shall not be issued to a person while the person is subject to a disqualification from driving a commercial motor vehicle or while the person's driver's license is suspended, revoked or canceled in any state; nor shall a commercial driver's license be issued to a person who has a commercial driver's license issued by any other state unless the person first surrenders all such licenses, which shall be returned to the issuing state for cancellation.
(4) A person must complete training as prescribed by 49 CFR Pt. 380 (relating to special training requirements) before taking the knowledge test for a hazardous materials endorsement for the first time.
(d) Commercial driver learner's permit.--
(1) The department shall issue a commercial driver learner's permit in accordance with section 1505 (relating to learners' permits).
(2) A commercial driver learner's permit is required for the addition of endorsements and the removal of restrictions established under this chapter, including those established by regulation.
(3) Before a person may take the examination for a commercial driver's license, the person must have held a learner's permit for 15 days for the class of vehicle the person intends to drive.
(4) A commercial driver learner's permit shall be valid for a period of one year from the date of issuance without having to retake the general and endorsement knowledge tests.
(5) An applicant for a commercial driver learner's permit must have a valid driver's license or commercial driver's license issued by the department.
(6) A commercial driver learner's permit is only valid when the commercial driver learner's permit holder has in the driver's immediate possession both the permit and a driver's license or commercial driver's license.
(7) A commercial driver learner's permit holder must be accompanied at all times by a CDL holder who has a valid commercial driver's license with the proper class and endorsements necessary to operate the vehicle being driven. The CDL holder must, at all times, be physically present in the front seat of the vehicle next to the commercial driver learner's permit holder or, in the case of a bus or passenger vehicle, directly behind or in the first row behind the driver and must have the commercial driver learner's permit holder under observation and direct supervision.
(8) A commercial driver learner's permit holder with a passenger or school bus endorsement is prohibited from operating a vehicle carrying a passenger other than Federal or State auditors and inspectors, test examiners, other trainees and the CDL holder accompanying the commercial driver learner's permit holder.
(9) A commercial driver learner's permit holder with a tank endorsement may only operate an empty tank vehicle and is prohibited from operating a tank vehicle that previously contained hazardous materials that has not been purged of any residue.
(10) An applicant for a commercial driver learner's permit must be at least 18 years of age.
(11) A commercial driver learner's permit holder is prohibited from operating a commercial motor vehicle if the vehicle is transporting hazardous materials and is required to be placarded in accordance with department regulations.
(12) A person must complete training as prescribed by 49 CFR Pt. 380 before taking the skills test for a Class A or Class B commercial driver's license for the first time.
(13) A person must complete training as prescribed by 49 CFR Pt. 380 before taking the skills test for a passenger (P) or school bus (S) endorsement for the first time.
(14) The requirements of paragraphs (12) and (13) do not apply to an individual who obtained a commercial driver learner's permit before February 7, 2020, or a later date as permitted by Federal regulation, if the individual obtains a commercial driver's license before the commercial driver learner's permit or commercial driver learner's permit renewal expires.
(15) The department shall waive the knowledge test specified under this section, subject to the limitations in 49 CFR 383.77, for an applicant who meets all the requirements for a waiver under 49 CFR 383.77(a).
(e) Federal disqualifications.--
Upon receipt of a notification from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration that a person is subject to a disqualification imposed by Federal law, the department shall record the disqualification in the person's driving record.
(Apr. 16, 1992, P.L.169, No.31, eff. 60 days; July 11, 1996, P.L.660, No.115, eff. 60 days; Dec. 9, 2002, P.L.1278, No.152, eff. 60 days; July 15, 2004, P.L.694, No.75, eff. 60 days; July 5, 2005, P.L.100, No.37; Nov. 26, 2008, P.L.1658, No.133, eff. 60 days; Nov. 1, 2013, P.L.673, No.82, eff. 60 days; Oct. 22, 2015, P.L.199, No.49, eff. 60 days; Nov. 25, 2020, P.L.1246, No.131)
2020 Amendment.
Act 131 amended subsec. (d)(4) and added subsecs. (c)(4) and (d)(12), (13), (14) and (15), effective in 60 days as to the addition of subsec. (d)(15), six months as to the amendment of subsec. (d)(4) and January 1, 2022, as to the addition of subsecs. (c)(4) and (d)(12), (13) and (14).
2015 Amendment.
Act 49 amended subsec. (a)(6) and added subsecs. (a)(7), (8) and (9) and (d)(4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10) and (11).
2013 Amendment.
Act 82 amended subsec. (b).
2005 Amendment.
Act 37 amended subsec. (c) and added subsec. (e). Section 10(2) of Act 37 provided that Act 37 shall take effect 90 days after publication of a notice in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. The notice was published July 16, 2005, at 35 Pa.B. 4029.
2004 Amendment.
Act 75 amended subsec. (d).
1996 Amendment.
Act 115 amended subsec. (a). Section 27 of Act 115 provided that the provisions of 67 Pa. Code §§ 75.25, 75.26, 75.27 and 75.28 are repealed upon the publication of testing procedures as set forth in section 1607(a) in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. The notice of testing procedures was published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin on August 24, 1996, at 26 Pa.B. 4143.
Cross References.
Section 1607 is referred to in sections 1603, 1611 of this title.