§ 4108. Commercial driver license, commercial learner's permit qualification standards

(a) Before issuing a commercial driver license or commercial learner's permit, the Commissioner shall request the applicant's complete operating record from any state in which the applicant was previously licensed to operate any type of motor vehicle in the past 10 years and conduct a check of the applicant's operating record by querying the National Driver Register established under 49 U.S.C. § 30302 and the Commercial Driver's License Information System established under 49 U.S.C. § 31309 to determine if:

(1) the applicant has already been issued a commercial driver license;

(2) the applicant's commercial driver license has been suspended, revoked, or canceled; or

(3) the applicant has been convicted of any offense listed in 49 U.S.C. § 30304(a)(3).

(b) The Commissioner shall not issue a commercial driver license or commercial learner's permit to any person:

(1)(A) Under 21 years of age in the case of commercial driver licenses, except that persons 18 years of age or older may obtain a commercial driver license that restricts the driver to operation solely within this State.

(B) Under 18 years of age in the case of commercial learner's permits.

(2) Who, within three years of the license application and for initial applicants only, has been convicted of an offense listed in subsection 4116(a) of this title or a comparable offense in any jurisdiction, or convicted of an offense listed in 49 U.S.C. § 30304(a)(3) in any jurisdiction.

(3) Unless Vermont is the state of domicile of the person and the person has passed a knowledge and skills test for driving a commercial motor vehicle which complies with minimum federal standards established by federal regulation enumerated in 49 C.F.R. part 383, subparts F, G, and H and has satisfied all other requirements of 49 U.S.C. ch. 313, as may be amended, and the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986, Title XII of Pub. L. 99-570, as amended, in addition to other requirements imposed by state law or federal regulation. The tests shall be prescribed and conducted by the Commissioner.

(c) The Commissioner may authorize a person, including an agency of this or another state, an employer, a private driver training facility, or other private institution, or a department, agency, or instrumentality of local government, to administer the skills test specified by this section, provided:

(1) the test is the same as would otherwise be administered by the State; and

(2) the third party has entered into an agreement with this State which complies with requirements of 49 C.F.R. § 383.75.

(d) At the discretion of the Commissioner, the knowledge test and the skills test required under 49 C.F.R. §§ 383.113 and 383.133, as amended, and the tests required for a passenger endorsement or a tank vehicle endorsement or a hazardous materials endorsement under 49 C.F.R. §§ 383.117, 383.119, or 383.121, as amended, may be waived for a commercial motor vehicle driver with military commercial motor vehicle experience who is currently licensed at the time of his or her application for a commercial driver license, if the test is substituted with an applicant's driving record in combination with the driving experience specified in this subsection. The Commissioner shall impose conditions and limitations to restrict the applicants from whom alternative requirements for the skills test may be accepted. Such conditions shall include the following:

(1) the applicant must certify that, during the two-year period immediately prior to applying for a commercial driver license, he or she:

(A) has not had more than one license in addition to a military license;

(B) has not had any license suspended, revoked, or cancelled;

(C) has not had any convictions for any type of motor vehicle for the disqualifying offenses specified in subsection 4116(a) of this title;

(D) has not had more than one conviction for any type of motor vehicle for serious traffic violations specified in subdivision 4103(16) of this title; and

(E) has not had any conviction for a violation, other than a parking violation, of military, State, or local law relating to motor vehicle traffic control arising in connection with any traffic accident, and has no record of an accident in which he or she was at fault; and

(2) the applicant must provide evidence and certify that he or she:

(A) is regularly employed or was regularly employed within the last 12 months in a military position requiring operation of a commercial motor vehicle;

(B) was exempted from the commercial driver license requirements in 49 C.F.R. § 383.3(c); and

(C) was operating for at least the two years immediately preceding discharge from the military a vehicle representative of the commercial motor vehicle the driver applicant operates or expects to operate.

(e) Obtaining a commercial learner's permit is a precondition to the initial issuance of a commercial driver license. The issuance of a commercial learner's permit also is a precondition to the upgrade of a commercial driver license if the upgrade requires a skills test. A permit may be issued to an individual who holds a valid Vermont driver's license who has passed the vision and written tests required for the class of license authorizing the operation of the type of vehicle for which the permit application is being made. A commercial learner's permit holder is not eligible to take the commercial driver license skills test in the first 14 days after initial issuance of the commercial learner's permit. A permit shall be issued for a period of one year, and only one renewal or reissuance of a commercial learner's permit may be granted within a two-year period.

(f) The fee for a knowledge test and the fee for a skills test shall each be $32.00. The fee for an endorsement test shall be $14.00. In the event that an applicant fails a test three times, he or she may not take the test again for at least six months. A fee of $24.00 shall be paid by the applicant before he or she may schedule a skills test. If an applicant does not appear for the scheduled skills test, the $24.00 scheduling fee is forfeited, unless the applicant has given the Department at least 48 hours' notice of cancellation of the test. If the applicant appears for the skills test, the $24.00 scheduling fee for that test will be used as part of the test fee. Use of an interpreter is prohibited during the administration of the knowledge or skills tests.

(g) A commercial driver license or commercial learner's permit may 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 license is suspended, revoked, or cancelled in any state. A driver license may not be issued to a person who has a commercial driver license issued by any state unless the person first surrenders all driver licenses issued by any state, which licenses shall be returned to the issuing states for cancellation.

(h) A person shall be entitled to take the test for a commercial driver license unless his or her driver's license is, at the time of the requested test, suspended, revoked, cancelled, or disqualified in any other state. (Added 1989, No. 239 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 1991, No. 88, § 9; 1995, No. 47, § 15, eff. April 20, 1995; 1999, No. 110 (Adj. Sess.), § 8; 2003, No. 154 (Adj. Sess.), § 13, eff. June 8, 2004; 2009, No. 108 (Adj. Sess.), § 5, eff. July 1, 2011; 2011, No. 128 (Adj. Sess.), § 23; 2013, No. 20, § 1; 2015, No. 50, § 27, eff. June 3, 2015; 2015, No. 159 (Adj. Sess.), § 54; 2017, No. 113 (Adj. Sess.), § 154; 2019, No. 60, §§ 5, 6.)