CDL Requirements in Missouri

Verified against Missouri Department of Revenue, Driver License Bureau · 2026-07-25

Compiled and verified against primary state DMV/DPS/BMV sources by GetCDLLicense — cite-or-deny, with no invented figures. How we source & verify →

Missouri splits CDL administration across two agencies: the Department of Revenue issues the license and permit, while the Missouri State Highway Patrol independently administers every CDL knowledge and skills test at its own Troop testing locations — DOR's own contact page states plainly that 'Driver License Testing (written & road)' is 'administered by Missouri State Highway Patrol.' No third-party testing program of the kind many states run was found. Missouri also sets a 21-and-older minimum specifically for the School Bus (S) endorsement, stricter than the general 18-intrastate baseline that applies to its other endorsements.

Missouri's CDL requirements — including a $44 commercial learner permit fee and an intrastate minimum age of 18 — are verified against Missouri Department of Revenue, Driver License Bureau (see Missouri DOR — Commercial Driver License (CDL) Requirements), current as of 2026-07-25.

Missouri CDL Requirements at a Glance

This is the fee, age, and testing detail for Missourispecifically — for the full step-by-step process see how to get a CDL, and for what Class A, B, and C each permit see CDL classes.

CLP, age, fee, renewal, and testing requirements for a commercial driver’s license in Missouri
Commercial learner’s permit (CLP)
CLP fee	$44
Minimum holding period before skills test	14 days
CLP validity	—
Age minimums
Intrastate minimum age	18
Interstate minimum age	21 (federal floor)
Fees
Application fee	—
Initial CDL fee	$58
Renewal fee	$58
Renewal period	3 or 6 years (applicant's choice)
Knowledge test fee	$25
Skills test fee	$25
Testing rules
Third-party testers allowed	No
Retest waiting period	—

Other published fees

CDL, 3-year term (alternative to 6-year): $29
Duplicate CDL, 6-year term: $38
Duplicate CDL, 3-year term: $29
CDL with School Bus (S) endorsement, age 75+, new (2-year term): $16.50
CDL with School Bus (S) endorsement, age 75+, renewal (2-year term): $9

The $44.00 CLP fee is DOR's own bundled total: a $25.00 written (knowledge) examination fee, a $10.00 permit fee (1-year/360-day term), and a $9.00 office processing fee. The CLP is valid for 360 days, is non-renewable, and cannot be issued with a Hazardous Materials (H), Hazardous Materials/Tank (X), or Double/Triple Trailer (T) endorsement (302.700, RSMo; 49 CFR 383.153(b)); the School Bus (S) endorsement is allowed on a CLP. Applicants must already hold a Missouri base driver license and complete all required knowledge tests before a CLP is issued; out-of-state CLPs cannot be transferred in. DOR defines the CLP's validity as exactly 360 days rather than stating it in months, so it is shown here as days rather than approximated into a month figure.

Confirmed directly in the Missouri CDL Manual: 18 years (intrastate until age 21), 21 years (interstate if otherwise eligible) — matches the federal baseline exactly. Separately, Missouri's own regulation (12 CSR 10-24.160) sets a flat 21-or-older minimum for the School Bus (S) endorsement itself, regardless of intrastate/interstate status; see endorsements.schoolBus.details.

Both the knowledge and skills tests are administered exclusively by the Missouri State Highway Patrol at its Troop testing locations/Driver Examination Stations, by appointment for skills testing; no third-party or employer-based testing program was found anywhere on DOR's or the CDL manual's testing pages. Knowledge exams: General Knowledge (50 questions), Air Brake (25), Combination Vehicle (20), plus endorsement-specific exams (Hazmat 30, Doubles/Triples 20, Passenger 20, Tank 20, School Bus 20) — each requiring an 80% passing score. Tests are administered only in English, with no interpreter permitted. No day-based retest waiting period is published for either the knowledge or skills test.

Missouri CDL Endorsements

Hazmat, tanker, doubles/triples, passenger, and school bus endorsement availability, fees, and testing in Missouri
Endorsement	Available	Fee	Knowledge test	Skills test
Hazardous materials (H)	Yes	—	Yes	No
Tank vehicle (N)	Yes	—	Yes	No
Doubles/triples (T)	Yes	—	Yes	No
Passenger (P)	Yes	—	Yes	Yes
School bus (S)	Yes	—	Yes	Yes

Hazardous materials: 30-question written exam; must be retaken at every renewal or whenever an additional endorsement is added, to keep the H endorsement. Requires a TSA-administered fingerprint-based security threat assessment through TSA's data-collection vendor; a CDL carrying a Hazmat endorsement cannot be issued beyond the date of the driver's current security threat assessment, capping the cycle at 5 years even on an otherwise 6-year license. Cannot be added to a CLP. Renewal notices are mailed 90 days before CDL expiration; a temporary 90-day endorsement can bridge a renewal in process. Not available to non-domiciled CDL holders.

Tank vehicle: Tank Vehicle (N) endorsement: 20-question special knowledge exam on tank-vehicle handling; no separate DOR fee or skills-test requirement published.

Doubles/triples: Double/Triple Trailer (T) endorsement: 20-question special knowledge exam on multi-trailer handling; the manual states explicitly that this endorsement 'cannot be added to a CLP.' No separate DOR fee published.

Passenger: 20-question knowledge exam plus a skills test performed in an actual passenger vehicle; restriction codes M/N are applied if the skills test is performed in a smaller vehicle group than the class sought. No separate DOR fee published.

School bus: 20-question knowledge exam plus a skills test in an actual school bus, including a student-loading/discharge demonstration (CDL Manual §13.1.10). Applicants must be 21 years of age or older — a Missouri-specific floor (12 CSR 10-24.160) stricter than the general 18-intrastate baseline — and meet additional driver-history checks. Endorsement holders aged 75 or over must complete mandatory skills retesting (basic controls and on-road) at least biennially and are issued a license term not exceeding two years; DOR's current fee schedule prices this at $16.50 (new) or $9.00 (renewal) for that 2-year term. Under age 75, no day-based retest cadence beyond normal CDL renewal is published.

For what each endorsement permits, the federal knowledge/skills testing baseline behind it, and hazmat’s separate TSA security threat assessment, see CDL endorsements.

Federal requirements that apply in Missouri

These are set by federal regulators and are the same in every US jurisdiction. Full detail here.

Entry-Level Driver Training (ELDT). Since February 2022, first-time CDL applicants — and drivers upgrading to Class A or seeking a first-time school bus, passenger, or hazmat endorsement — must complete Entry-Level Driver Training with a provider on the FMCSA Training Provider Registry before testing.
DOT medical certificate. Most CDL holders who operate in interstate commerce must hold a valid DOT medical examiner's certificate, issued by an examiner listed on the FMCSA National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners.
Interstate minimum age. Federal rules set 21 as the minimum age to drive commercially across state lines; states set their own intrastate minimum, commonly 18.
Hazmat security threat assessment. A hazardous materials endorsement additionally requires a TSA security threat assessment, which is a federal process separate from the state endorsement.

Missouri-specific: Missouri allows a CDL applicant to schedule a skills test before finishing ELDT, but the Highway Patrol examiner will deny the hazmat knowledge test or any CDL skills test if ELDT completion cannot be verified at the time of testing. Both DOR and the Highway Patrol check completion by querying the FMCSA Training Provider Registry through the Commercial Skills Test Information Management System (CSTIMS). DOR states plainly that it 'does not approve or deny ELDT programs' beyond confirming federal Training Provider Registry listing — there is no additional state-level provider certification layer (a Department of Higher Education 'Proprietary School' accreditation exists but is optional and unrelated to ELDT eligibility).

Self-certification in Missouri

Missouri Department of Revenue, Driver License Bureau administers self-certification for the following FMCSA operating categories:

Non-Excepted Interstate
Non-Excepted Intrastate
Excepted Interstate
Excepted Intrastate

Confirmed directly on DOR's CDL Medical Certification page, which names and defines all four FMCSA self-certification categories (using DOR's own codes NI, NA, EI, EA). Drivers certifying to Non-Excepted Interstate or Non-Excepted Intrastate must have an unexpired, qualified medical examiner certificate on file in the medical registry.

means no primary source publishes that figure — left blank on purpose rather than estimated or copied from an unverified aggregator.

Sources

Data last verified: 2026-07-25 (verified by: agent) | Source: Missouri Department of Revenue, Driver License Bureau