Welcome to CDL Information Sharing

New FMCSA rules become effective on October 1st, 2016

Our goal is to make the transition to the new FMCSA regulations as smooth as possible for all parties involved.

CDL Skills Test Locations

*Coming in 2017/18

There are a total of 25 CDL locations, please see the provided handout for addresses

Abilene Amarillo Austin (TXDOT) Corpus Christi Cuero Dallas South DL Center Eagle Pass El Paso Northwest (Mile Marker 1) Ft Worth DL Center Hearne Houston Gessner DL Center Houston North DL Center Kilgore *Midland/Odessa *Edinburg *New Braunfels

Laredo Livingston (TXDOT) Lubbock Odessa (closing when new site opens) Paris Rosenberg DL Center San Angelo San Antonio Southeast Terrell (Canton TXDOT) Waco Weslaco Wichita *Houston Southeast DL Center *Grand Prairie *Georgetown

White Space Areas Mobile CDL Teams

White Space-Defined as a Municipal area outside a 50 mile radius from a DPS office.

Mobile CDL Team- Available for testing to tax payer funded governmental agencies

Medical Certificate Depending on how a driver certifies will determine

whether a Medical Certificate will be required.

Commercial Learner Permit (CLP)

Commercial Learner Permit(CLP) A Commercial Learner Permit (CLP) must be obtained by anyone

wanting to apply for a CDL.

A CLP must be held for a minimum of 14 days prior to being allowed to take a CDL skills test. This applies to original applicants, modifications in grade and adding endorsements which require a skills test

CLP card must be accompanied with the permit holder’s base DL/CDL

CLP expires 180 days from issuance or when the base license expires, or when Lawful Presence expires, whichever comes first

CLP may be renewed one time without re-testing as long as the base license and/or the CLP has not expired. It may be renewed up to 30 days in advance.

CDL Knowledge Exams All DPS offices will continue to administer the CDL knowledge

exams

All knowledge exams are required to be taken and passed in a specific order prior to obtaining a CLP.

If any one knowledge exam is failed three times or the driver exceeds the 90 days, the driver must re-apply, and repay the $25.00 CLP fee, and retake all required exams.

If a CDL holder wishes to upgrade class or add Passenger and/or School Bus endorsement they must pass the required knowledge exams and obtain a CLP and hold it along with their base license for a minimum of 14 days prior to applying for the upgrade.

Skills Exam

The Skills Exam is allotted a maximum of 2 hours and consists of three parts:

One Hour

Vehicle Inspection

Basic Control Skills

One Hour

Road Test

Vehicle Inspection Test

CDL Manual – Chapter 11

The driver must show that the vehicle is safe to drive. They will have to walk around the vehicle and point to or touch each item and explain to the CDL tester what they are checking and why. They will NOT have to crawl under the vehicle. Will randomly choose from A-D pre-inspection test.

Basic Control Skills Exams Consists of three parts--Chapter 12

• Straight Line Backing

• Offset Backing – Left or Right

• Parallel Parking – Sight Side or Conventional

Road Test

CDL Manual -- Chapter 13

The driving route has a variety of traffic situations

The CDL tester will be scoring the driver on specific driving maneuvers as well as their general driving behaviors

All maneuvers are listed and described in the CDL Manual

CDL Third Party Skills Testing

The Texas Commercial Driver License Third Party Skills Testing (TPST) program was implemented April 3, 2017.

TPST program authorizes qualified companies or governmental agencies accredited by the Department to administer the driving skills examination for Class A, B, & C CDL applicants

All information can be viewed on the DPS web site at:

www.dps.texas.gov search CDL TPST

A Truck Tractor can be used for a Class B-CDL driving test

Exempt Vehicle Testing

If your vehicle qualifies as an Exempt Vehicle as defined in Texas Administrative Code, Title 37 Part 1, Chapter 16 (fire truck, farm vehicle, recreational vehicle, etc…) you will be able to take the skills portion of your test at these additional locations:

Exempt Vehicle Testing cont. Abilene Alice Alpine Andrews Anson Austin - Denson Baird Ballinger Baytown Beaumont Beeville Big Lake Big Spring Borger Bowie Brady Breckenridge Brownfield Brownsville Brownwood Bryan Canadian Carrollton Castroville Cedar Hill Childress Clarendon Clearlake-Webster Coleman Colorado City Columbus Comanche Conroe Corpus Christi Crane Crosbyton Cuero

Dalhart Del Rio Denver City Dimmitt Dumas Eagle Pass Eastland El Paso-Gateway El Paso-Hondo Pass El Paso Northwest El Paso-Scott Simpson Floydada Fort Stockton Fort Worth DLC Fredericksburg Friona Garland DLC Graham Haskell Hempstead Hereford Houston-East Houston-North Houston-Winkler Hurst Junction Kermit Kerrville Kingsville

Lamesa Laredo Leon Valley DLC Levelland Littlefield Lubbock Lufkin Midland Monahans Muleshoe Munday New Boston Odessa Ozona Pampa Panhandle Paris Pecos Perryton Plainview Post Presidio Quanah Roby San Angelo San Antonio-Pat Booker San Antonio-Southeast

Seminole Seymour Snyder Sonora Spring DLC Stanton Stephenville Sweetwater Texas City Tilden Tulia Van Horn Vega Vernon Waco CDL Waxahachie Webster-Clearlake Weslaco Wichita Falls Zapata

QUESTIONS