California’s truck speed limit is 55 mph on every highway in the state, even where passenger cars are allowed to drive 65 or 70. The cap comes from Vehicle Code Section 22406 and applies regardless of road type, traffic, or weather.1California Legislative Information. California Code VEH 22406 A truck on a wide-open rural interstate posted at 70 for cars is still legally required to stay at or below 55. There is no exception for light traffic or for keeping up with surrounding vehicles.
That gap of 10 to 15 mph between what trucks can do and what passenger cars can do is one of the widest in the country, and California has kept it in place through repeated attempts to narrow it.2Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Maximum Posted Speed Limits
Which Vehicles Have to Drive 55
The 55 mph ceiling does not apply to every truck or every commercial driver. Vehicle Code 22406 names six specific categories, defined by how the vehicle is configured rather than by who holds the license:
- Any motortruck or truck tractor with three or more axles, or any motortruck or truck tractor pulling another vehicle.
- Any passenger vehicle or bus towing another vehicle.
- Any school bus carrying students.
- Any farm labor vehicle carrying passengers.
- Any vehicle transporting explosives.
- A trailer bus.
The second category trips up a lot of people. If you’re pulling a boat, a travel trailer, or a rented U-Haul behind your personal car, you are capped at 55 mph just like a loaded semi.1California Legislative Information. California Code VEH 22406 The statute looks at the vehicle-and-trailer combination, not at whether the driver has a commercial license.
What a Ticket Costs
The consequences for breaking the truck speed limit scale sharply with how fast you were going.
Up to 14 MPH Over
Driving between 56 and 69 mph in a covered vehicle is an infraction. The base fine is modest, but California adds penalty assessments, surcharges, and court fees that multiply any base fine by roughly four to five times. A $35 base fine becomes about $233 by the time the assessments are added on, and higher base fines scale up from there.3Judicial Council of California. Uniform Bail and Penalty Schedule Effective January 1, 2026 Miss the 20-day payment window and a 50 percent late charge is added.
The conviction adds a point to your driving record. In a commercial vehicle, that count is multiplied by 1.5, so a single speeding ticket puts 1.5 points on your record instead of one. California’s negligent operator thresholds are four points in 12 months, six in 24 months, and eight in 36 months, and the multiplier pushes commercial drivers toward those thresholds faster.
15 MPH or More Over
This is a different animal. Under Vehicle Code 22406.1, driving a commercial vehicle at 15 mph or more above any posted speed limit is a misdemeanor, not an infraction.4California Legislative Information. California Code VEH 22406.1 For a truck already capped at 55, that means getting clocked at 70 triggers misdemeanor charges. The minimum suggested bail for a traffic misdemeanor in 2026 is $392 after assessments, with actual fines for excessive speeding running considerably higher.3Judicial Council of California. Uniform Bail and Penalty Schedule Effective January 1, 2026
The same statute labels the violation a “serious traffic violation” under California’s commercial driver licensing rules, which pulls in a separate set of CDL sanctions on top of the fine and the points.4California Legislative Information. California Code VEH 22406.1 A CDL holder who speeds 15 or more over in a personal vehicle is cited for an infraction rather than a misdemeanor, but the “serious traffic violation” label still applies.
CDL Disqualification Rules
For anyone who drives for a living, the federal fallout tends to matter more than the fine. Because speeding 15 mph or more over the limit counts as a “serious traffic violation” under both California and federal rules, each conviction feeds a system that can pull a driver off the road.
A second serious traffic violation within three years results in a 60-day CDL disqualification. A third within three years extends that to 120 days.5eCFR. 49 CFR 383.51 – Disqualification of Drivers Each conviction counts toward the total regardless of whether it happened in a commercial vehicle or a personal one. A CDL holder who picks up one serious violation in the truck during the week and another in a pickup on the weekend still faces the 60-day disqualification.
Is the 55 MPH Limit Going to Change?
Not in the near term, and not on the strength of anything currently moving through Sacramento. Assembly Bill 471 was introduced to raise the commercial vehicle limit to 65 mph on designated rural freeways, which would have aligned California with most other states. The bill stalled in committee and did not advance.
Supporters argued that uniform speeds would reduce lane-changing conflicts and improve freight efficiency. Opponents pointed to crash severity and stopping-distance data behind the current cap. As of 2026, no amendment to Vehicle Code 22406 has been enacted, and the 55 mph ceiling remains the enforceable standard. Changes in neighboring states, or signs posted for passenger traffic at higher numbers, do not affect what applies to a covered vehicle in California.