CDL Requirements in North Carolina
Verified against North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles (NCDMV), N.C. Department of Transportation ·
Compiled and verified against primary state DMV/DPS/BMV sources by GetCDLLicense — cite-or-deny, with no invented figures. How we source & verify →
North Carolina's Division of Motor Vehicles (NCDMV), part of the Department of Transportation, prices CDLs and endorsements as flat annual rates set directly in statute — $25.50 per year of the license's issued term plus $5.00 per year for each endorsement — rather than a single bundled fee, and layers a separate one-time $51.50 application fee on top for most first-time applicants (waived when renewing an existing CDL or converting an already-issued NC learner's permit). A standard CDL is issued for 5 years, but that term shortens to 3 years for NC-certified school bus drivers holding both the Passenger and School Bus endorsements together, and is instead pegged to the holder's federal security threat assessment expiration for anyone carrying a Hazmat or combined Tank-and-Hazmat endorsement.
North Carolina's CDL requirements — including a $51.5 commercial learner permit fee and an intrastate minimum age of 18 — are verified against North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles (NCDMV), N.C. Department of Transportation (see NCDMV — Commercial Driver License), current as of 2026-07-25.
North Carolina CDL Requirements at a Glance
This is the fee, age, and testing detail for North Carolinaspecifically — 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.
| Commercial learner’s permit (CLP) | |
|---|---|
| CLP fee | $51.50 |
| Minimum holding period before skills test | 14 days |
| CLP validity | 6 months |
| Age minimums | |
| Intrastate minimum age | 18 |
| Interstate minimum age | 21 (federal floor) |
| Fees | |
| Application fee | $51.50 |
| Initial CDL fee | — |
| Renewal fee | — |
| Renewal period | 5 years for most CDLs; 3 years for an NC-certified school bus driver's CDL carrying both Passenger (P) and School Bus (S) endorsements; a CDL carrying a Hazmat (H) or Tank-and-Hazmat (X) endorsement instead expires with the holder's TSA security threat assessment (issued for up to 5 years) (N.C. Gen. Stat. §20-7(f), §20-37.16(c2)) |
| Knowledge test fee | — |
| Skills test fee | — |
| Testing rules | |
| Third-party testers allowed | No |
| Retest waiting period | 1 day |
Other published fees
- Class A, B, or C CDL, per year of the license's issued term (N.C. Gen. Stat. §20-37.16(d)): $25.50
- Each CDL endorsement (H, N, P, S, T, or X), per year of the endorsement's issued term (N.C. Gen. Stat. §20-37.16(d)): $5
The $51.50 non-refundable application fee (N.C. Gen. Stat. §20-37.15) is charged when first applying for a commercial learner's permit; it covers three knowledge-test attempts and does not apply again when that permit is later converted into a CDL or when renewing an existing CDL. A CLP is valid for 180 days and is eligible for one additional 180-day renewal. CLP holders who add a Tank (N) or Passenger (P) endorsement to practice with are automatically issued a restriction barring cargo in the tank or passengers on the bus, respectively, until the full CDL is issued.
NCDMV's own CDL page states plainly: applicants and CLP holders must be at least 18 years old, or 21 for operations in interstate commerce or for a Hazardous Materials endorsement (the latter two are the federal floor, restated here as NCDMV presents it).
NCDMV administers both knowledge and skills tests directly at its own driver license offices; no third-party CDL testing program was found. Knowledge tests require no appointment and are limited to one attempt per test per day; after three failed attempts on the general knowledge test, a new application fee must be paid for three more attempts. Skills tests require a phone appointment (919-715-7000), and the applicant must supply their own commercial motor vehicle that is representative of the class/endorsement being tested. Test scores remain valid for 90 days in NCDMV's records. No source states a day-based cooling-off period specific to a failed skills test.
North Carolina CDL Endorsements
| Endorsement | Available | Fee | Knowledge test | Skills test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hazardous materials (H) | Yes | $5 | Yes | No |
| Tank vehicle (N) | Yes | $5 | Yes | No |
| Doubles/triples (T) | Yes | $5 | Yes | No |
| Passenger (P) | Yes | $5 | Yes | Yes |
| School bus (S) | Yes | $5 | Yes | Yes |
Hazardous materials: Hazardous Materials (H) endorsement, $5.00 per year of the endorsement's issued term (N.C. Gen. Stat. §20-37.16(d)). North Carolina also issues a combined Tank-and-Hazmat (X) endorsement, at the same per-year rate, for tank vehicles that carry hazardous materials. A CDL carrying an H or X endorsement expires on the date of the holder's federal security threat assessment rather than on the standard 5-year cycle, and the endorsement is retested at every renewal.
Tank vehicle: Tank Vehicle (N) endorsement — for tank vehicles not carrying hazardous materials — $5.00 per year of the endorsement's issued term (N.C. Gen. Stat. §20-37.16(d)).
Doubles/triples: Doubles/Triples (T) endorsement, $5.00 per year of the endorsement's issued term (N.C. Gen. Stat. §20-37.16(d)).
Passenger: Passenger Transport (P) endorsement, $5.00 per year of the endorsement's issued term (N.C. Gen. Stat. §20-37.16(d)).
School bus: School Bus (S) endorsement, $5.00 per year of the endorsement's issued term (N.C. Gen. Stat. §20-37.16(d)). By statute, a CDL certifying its holder to drive a school bus in North Carolina carries both the Passenger (P) and School Bus (S) endorsements together and is issued on a shortened 3-year cycle rather than the standard 5-year CDL cycle. Uniquely among North Carolina's CDL skills tests, the School Bus skills test is administered exclusively by NCDMV's School Bus and Traffic Safety Section (919-715-7000), not by regular driver license examiners.
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 North Carolina
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.
Self-certification in North Carolina
North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles (NCDMV), N.C. Department of Transportation administers self-certification for the following FMCSA operating categories:
- Non-Excepted Interstate
- Non-Excepted Intrastate
- Excepted Interstate
- Excepted Intrastate
NCDMV's Form CDL-MED-1 (Medical Certification of Driver Type) has the applicant check exactly one of four boxes: Non-Excepted Interstate, Excepted Interstate, Non-Excepted Intrastate, or Excepted Intrastate. Only the two Non-Excepted categories require a DOT medical examiner's certificate; both Intrastate categories carry license restriction 'K'. Effective June 28, 2025, NCDMV stopped accepting paper Medical Examiner Certificates directly from drivers — examiners must submit them electronically through FMCSA's National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners portal.
Source Notes
Where a source is stale, conflicting, or required a judgment call, we document it here rather than presenting a single confident-sounding number. See our methodology for how these calls are made.
- NCDMV's live 'Licenses & Fees' webpage does not render its fee tables in static HTML (they load via an authenticated SharePoint data call), so the dollar amounts in this record are instead drawn directly from N.C. General Statutes §20-37.15/§20-37.16 and NCDOT's 2024 fee-adjustment notice, which state the same figures.
- North Carolina's CDL medical self-certification form (CDL-MED-1) and Commercial Driver's License Manual both carry print revision dates from 2013–2014, even though both remain the versions currently linked from NCDMV's live CDL pages and the manual PDF file itself was regenerated in 2024 with post-2022 (ELDT-era) content.
means no primary source publishes that figure — left blank on purpose rather than estimated or copied from an unverified aggregator.
Sources
- NCDMV — Commercial Driver License
- N.C. General Statutes §20-37.16 — Content of License; Classifications and Endorsements; Fees
- N.C. General Statutes §20-37.15 — Application for Commercial Drivers License
- N.C. General Statutes §20-7 — Issuance and Renewal of Drivers Licenses
- NCDMV — 2024 DMV Quadrennial Fee Adjustment (current CDL and endorsement fee amounts)
- NCDMV — Commercial Driver's License Manual
- NCDMV — Form CDL-MED-1, Medical Certification of Driver Type
- NCDMV — Licenses & Fees
Data last verified: 2026-07-25 (verified by: agent) | Source: North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles (NCDMV), N.C. Department of Transportation