How to Get a CDL in Maryland: Permit, Training, and Skills Test

To get a CDL in Maryland, you apply through the MDOT Motor Vehicle Administration with a valid Maryland driver’s license, a DOT medical certificate, and proof you’ve completed federally approved entry-level driver training; you then pass written knowledge tests to receive a commercial learner’s permit, hold that permit at least 14 days while you practice, and finish with a three-part skills test in a vehicle that matches the class you want. The learner’s permit fee is $106, and once issued, a standard CDL is valid for eight years.¹ Plan on several weeks from first paperwork to card in hand.

Step 1: Pick the Right CDL Class

Federal rules define three classes, and Maryland uses the same definitions. Choose the highest class you’ll realistically need, because moving up later means more training and another skills test.

Class A covers combination vehicles rated 26,001 pounds or more where the towed unit is over 10,000 pounds. Tractor-trailers and most flatbed rigs sit here.
Class B covers single vehicles rated 26,001 pounds or more, or those towing a unit of 10,000 pounds or less. Think dump trucks, large buses, and box trucks.
Class C covers smaller vehicles that still carry 16 or more passengers (driver included) or haul placarded hazardous materials.

A Class A license lets you drive anything a Class B or C holder can.²

Step 2: Confirm You’re Eligible

You must be 18 to drive commercially inside Maryland. If you plan to cross state lines, haul hazmat, or carry passengers interstate, the minimum is 21.³ You also need a full Maryland driver’s license already — a learner’s permit or provisional won’t do.

The MVA runs your record through the national Commercial Driver’s License Information System to confirm you don’t already hold a CDL elsewhere and to surface prior violations.⁴ Recent suspensions, DUI convictions, or serious traffic offenses can knock you out before you ever sit for a written test. If your record is borderline, clear it up with the MVA first.

Step 3: Pass the DOT Physical and Self-Certify

Every CDL applicant needs a current Medical Examiner’s Certificate (Form MCSA-5876) from a healthcare provider on FMCSA’s National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners. You can search the registry on the FMCSA site.⁵ The exam checks vision, hearing, blood pressure, and general fitness for commercial driving.

For vision, Maryland requires at least 20/40 in each eye and a 70-degree field of vision in each eye. If you don’t meet those thresholds, FMCSA runs an alternative vision program you may qualify under.⁶

At application you also self-certify what kind of commercial driving you’ll do. FMCSA uses four categories, and most drivers land in one of the first and third:

Interstate non-excepted (NI): across state lines, federal medical card required.
Interstate excepted (EI): across state lines but exempt from the federal medical card (rare).
Intrastate non-excepted (NA): Maryland only, state medical requirements apply.
Intrastate excepted (EA): Maryland only, exempt from state medical requirements.

Your category determines whether the MVA keeps a current federal medical card on file for the life of your CDL.⁷

Step 4: Gather Your Documents

Bring all of this to the MVA for your learner’s permit visit:

Proof of identity and age: U.S. passport, birth certificate, or another REAL ID-compliant document.
Original Social Security card (not a photocopy).
Two proofs of Maryland residency, such as utility bills or bank statements showing your name and address.
Medical Examiner’s Certificate, Form MCSA-5876.⁸
Your current Maryland driver’s license.

Missing one item means another trip. Residency proofs trip up applicants most often; expired bills or anything without a full street address tend to get rejected.

Step 5: Pass the Knowledge Tests and Get Your Learner’s Permit

At the MVA office you start with a vision screening, then take the written knowledge tests. The general knowledge exam covers safe driving, inspections, cargo, and bad-weather driving. Class A applicants add a combination vehicles test. Any endorsement-specific written tests (air brakes, hazmat, tanker, passenger, school bus) happen during the same visit.

The commercial learner’s permit costs $106. Once you pass and pay, the MVA issues it the same day.¹ Federal law then requires you to hold the permit at least 14 days before taking the skills test.⁹ During that window and after, you can practice only under direct supervision of someone who holds a CDL of the same class or higher.

Step 6: Complete Entry-Level Driver Training

Before you can schedule a skills test, federal rules require first-time Class A and Class B applicants to complete Entry-Level Driver Training through a provider listed on FMCSA’s Training Provider Registry. The same requirement applies when upgrading from Class B to Class A or adding a hazmat (H), passenger (P), or school bus (S) endorsement for the first time.¹⁰

The curriculum has three parts: classroom theory, behind-the-wheel on a closed range, and behind-the-wheel on public roads. Theory covers inspections, shifting, hours-of-service, hazard perception, and post-crash procedures. Range work covers straight-line backing, offset backing, alley docking, and parallel parking. Road training covers turns, lane changes, merging, and emergency maneuvers.¹¹

Your provider uploads your completion to the Training Provider Registry electronically, and the MVA checks the registry before letting you schedule a test. Verify any school appears on the FMCSA registry before you pay; unlisted schools can’t satisfy the requirement, however good their program is.

Step 7: Pass the Three-Part Skills Test

You schedule the skills test through the MDOT MVA, at an MVA site or an approved third-party testing location, and you supply a vehicle that matches the class you want. The state does not provide one.

The test has three segments and you must pass each to continue:¹²

Pre-trip inspection. You walk the vehicle, point to each component, name it, and explain what you’re checking. Engine compartment, brakes, steering, tires, lights, and coupling devices for Class A. The air brake check belongs to this segment if the vehicle has them. Failing the pre-trip ends the test on the spot.
Basic control skills. Low-speed maneuvers including a forward stop, straight-line backing, offset backing, and forward offset tracking. Examiners score errors; too many ends the segment.
Public road test. You drive a real-traffic route with turns, intersections, lane changes, and speed management while the examiner watches mirrors, signaling, following distance, and vehicle handling.

Fail any segment and the MVA charges a retest fee before you can rebook.¹³ Showing up more than 15 minutes late counts the same as a failure. Once you pass all three, return to an MVA branch to convert your permit into a full CDL; the card is mailed to your address.

Watch the Automatic Transmission Trap

The vehicle you test in sets the restrictions printed on your license. Test in an automatic and you get an “E” restriction, meaning you can only drive automatics commercially. Removing it later requires another skills test in a manual.¹⁴ If the jobs you want expect manual experience, test in a manual the first time.

Add Endorsements If You Need Them

Endorsements expand what you can drive or haul. Maryland uses six codes:

H (Hazardous Materials): written test plus a TSA security threat assessment.
N (Tank Vehicle): written test for liquid or gas tanks over 119 gallons individually or 1,000 gallons total.
P (Passenger): written test plus a skills test in a passenger vehicle.
S (School Bus): written test plus a skills test in a school bus.
T (Doubles/Triples): written test only.
X: combined tanker and hazmat; both written tests plus the TSA assessment.

You can add endorsements with your initial application or later. Adding H, P, or S after your initial CDL triggers entry-level driver training for that endorsement.¹⁰

Hazmat is the one to plan ahead for. Beyond the written test, you submit fingerprints at an approved TSA enrollment center and clear a background check that reviews criminal history and immigration status. The federal processing fee is roughly $85, and approval typically takes two to eight weeks. The MVA won’t add H or X until clearance comes through. The clearance expires every five years, which is why a CDL with hazmat is valid for five years instead of eight.¹ Certain convictions, including treason, espionage, murder, terrorism, and crimes involving explosives, permanently bar you from the endorsement, and a longer list of offenses (arson, robbery, extortion, and felony drug distribution among them) disqualifies you for seven years from conviction or five years from release.

If You Drove in the Military, Ask About the Skills Test Waiver

Service members who operated heavy military vehicles may be able to skip the driving portion of the skills test. Federal regulations let states waive it for current or former service members who meet all of the following:¹⁵

At least two years operating a military vehicle equivalent to the CDL class you want, immediately before separation.
Currently in a military driving role or separated within the past 12 months.
No suspensions, revocations, or cancellations in the past two years; no disqualifying offenses; no more than one serious violation; and no at-fault crash convictions in that window.

You still take the written tests and meet every other requirement. Some states also offer an “Even Exchange” that waives both the skills and knowledge tests when the military occupational specialty matches civilian CDL duties; confirm with the MVA which waiver Maryland currently honors and bring your DD-214.¹⁶

After You’re Licensed: Medical Card, Renewal, and Conduct

A standard Maryland CDL is valid for eight years; a CDL with a hazmat endorsement is valid for five. Renewal is $64 standard, or $40 for a hazmat-conversion renewal.¹

Keep your medical certificate current between renewals. If it expires and you don’t file a new one, the MVA downgrades your CDL to a non-commercial license until you turn in an updated certificate. Drivers in the non-excepted interstate or intrastate categories should track that expiration date closely.⁷

Commercial driving carries a stricter conduct standard than a regular license. A blood alcohol concentration of 0.04 behind the wheel of a commercial vehicle, half the limit for a regular license, brings a one-year disqualification.¹⁷ DUIs (in any vehicle, not just a commercial one), refusing a chemical test, leaving the scene of a crash, or using any vehicle to commit a felony each carry a one-year disqualification on a first offense, three years if hazmat was aboard, and a lifetime disqualification on a second offense of any major category. Using a commercial vehicle to transport controlled substances brings a lifetime disqualification with no path to reinstatement.¹⁸ These rules apply whether or not you were on the clock when it happened.

1
MDOT Motor Vehicle Administration. License and ID Fees
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Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Drivers
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MDOT Motor Vehicle Administration. Get or Renew a CDL
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American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators. Commercial Driver’s License Information System (CDLIS)
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Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners
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MDOT Motor Vehicle Administration. Vision Tests and Requirements
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Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Medical
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Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Medical Examiners Certificate (MEC), Form MCSA-5876
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eCFR. 49 CFR 383.25 – Commercial Learner’s Permit (CLP)
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Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Entry-Level Driver Training
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FMCSA Training Provider Registry. ELDT Curricula Summary
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MDOT Motor Vehicle Administration. Commercial Drivers License Manual
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Legal Information Institute. Maryland Code of Regulations COMAR 11.17.14.07 – Commercial Drivers License Skills Tests
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MDOT Motor Vehicle Administration. CDL Classifications, Endorsements and Restrictions
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eCFR. 49 CFR 383.77 – Substitute for Knowledge and Driving Skills Tests
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Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Military Skills Test Waiver Program
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Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Is a Driver Disqualified for Driving a CMV While Off-Duty With a Blood Alcohol
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eCFR. 49 CFR 383.51 – Disqualification of Drivers