CDL Endorsements: Hazmat, Tanker, Doubles/Triples, Passenger & School Bus

An endorsement adds authorization to a base CDL for a specific vehicle type or cargo — five exist federally, and every state issues all five under the same federal definitions. What varies by state is the fee and, beyond the federal knowledge/skills baseline below, any additional state-specific testing.

Hazardous materials (Hazmat) (H)

What it permits: Required to drive a commercial motor vehicle used to transport hazardous materials in a quantity that requires placarding under federal hazmat rules.
Federal testing baseline: Knowledge test only, federally — 49 CFR §383.93 sets this as the federal minimum; a state could add a skills-test requirement on top of it, but none in this dataset currently does.
State endorsement fee: $2–$109.25 (based on 33 of 51 jurisdictions verified so far that publish a distinct fee)
Offered: 51 of 51 jurisdictions verified so far

Separate federal process: A hazardous materials endorsement additionally requires a TSA security threat assessment, which is a federal process separate from the state endorsement. Full TSA process detail →

Tank vehicle (Tanker) (N)

What it permits: Required to drive a vehicle designed to transport liquid or gaseous material in a tank (or tanks) with an individual rated capacity over 119 gallons and an aggregate rated capacity of 1,000 gallons or more, whether the tank is permanently or temporarily attached.
Federal testing baseline: Knowledge test only, federally.
State endorsement fee: $1–$59 (based on 29 of 51 jurisdictions verified so far that publish a distinct fee)
Offered: 51 of 51 jurisdictions verified so far

Doubles/Triples (T)

What it permits: Required to pull two or three trailers connected together. In practice this is almost always a Class A endorsement, since a multi-trailer combination typically exceeds the Class B weight threshold on its own.
Federal testing baseline: Knowledge test only, federally.
State endorsement fee: $1–$59 (based on 29 of 51 jurisdictions verified so far that publish a distinct fee)
Offered: 51 of 51 jurisdictions verified so far

Passenger (P)

What it permits: Required to drive a vehicle designed to carry 16 or more passengers, including the driver — buses and large vans fall under this threshold.
Federal testing baseline: Knowledge AND skills test, federally — one of only two endorsements (with school bus) that requires both.
State endorsement fee: $1–$100 (based on 29 of 51 jurisdictions verified so far that publish a distinct fee)
Offered: 51 of 51 jurisdictions verified so far

School Bus (S)

What it permits: Required to drive a commercial motor vehicle used to transport pre-primary, primary, or secondary school students to or from school, or to or from a school-sponsored event. Federal rule (49 CFR §383.123(a)(1)) requires qualifying for the passenger (P) endorsement's knowledge and skills tests as well, since a school bus is itself a passenger-carrying vehicle — this is a federal requirement, not a state-by-state variation.
Federal testing baseline: Knowledge AND skills test, federally.
State endorsement fee: $0–$100 (based on 30 of 51 jurisdictions verified so far that publish a distinct fee)
Offered: 51 of 51 jurisdictions verified so far

By state

Endorsement definitions and the federal testing baseline above don’t change state to state, but fees and any added state-specific testing do. Look up your own state for its exact figures on each of the five endorsements, and see CDL classes for which base license an endorsement attaches to. This covers 51 of the 51 US jurisdictions on record so far.

Browse CDL requirements by state →

Endorsement definitions and federal testing requirements above are drawn from 49 CFR §383.93 and, for the tank-vehicle definition, from 49 CFR §383.5. The school bus endorsement’s passenger-endorsement prerequisite is drawn from 49 CFR §383.123(a)(1) (eCFR), verified against their current text during this review.