CDL Requirements in Pennsylvania

Verified against Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Driver and Vehicle Services · 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 →

PennDOT licenses commercial drivers through its Driver and Vehicle Services division, using a two-step Knowledge Test Authorization (KTA) process before a CLP itself is issued. PennDOT does not publish a single flat first-time CDL fee — the fee for a PA resident upgrading an existing license to a CDL is instead prorated based on how many months remain before that underlying license expires. PennDOT authorizes both its own Driver License Centers and PennDOT-certified third-party organizations to administer the CDL skills test.

Pennsylvania's CDL requirements — including an intrastate minimum age of 18 — are verified against Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Driver and Vehicle Services (see PennDOT — Commercial Driver's Manual (PUB 223, rev. 6-26)), current as of 2026-07-25.

Pennsylvania CDL Requirements at a Glance

This is the fee, age, and testing detail for Pennsylvaniaspecifically — 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 Pennsylvania
Commercial learner’s permit (CLP)
CLP fee	—
Minimum holding period before skills test	15 days
CLP validity	12 months
Age minimums
Intrastate minimum age	18
Interstate minimum age	21 (federal floor)
Fees
Application fee	—
Initial CDL fee	—
Renewal fee	$127.50
Renewal period	4 years
Knowledge test fee	—
Skills test fee	—
Testing rules
Third-party testers allowed	Yes
Retest waiting period	—

Other published fees

Four-Year CDL Renewal with Hazmat: $149.50
Four-Year CDL Renewal with Motorcycle: $151.50
Four-Year CDL Renewal with Hazmat and Motorcycle: $173.50
Two-Year CDL Renewal, age 65+: $71.50
Out-of-State New Driver, Four-Year CDL: $127.50
Upgrade From Non-Commercial to Commercial, 7-12 months before expiration: $43.50
Upgrade From Non-Commercial to Commercial, 13-24 months before expiration: $65.50
Upgrade From Non-Commercial to Commercial, 25-36 months before expiration: $87.50
Upgrade From Non-Commercial to Commercial, 37-48 months before expiration: $109.50
Upgrading Commercial Class or Endorsement (non-Hazmat): $21.50
Removing Commercial Restrictions: $21.50
Upgrading to Transport Hazardous Materials (Hazmat): $43.50
Change or Replacement of CDL: $42.50
Duplicate Camera Card: $5

A Knowledge Test Authorization (KTA) is issued first, valid one year with three attempts per test to pass; only after all required knowledge tests are passed is the actual CLP issued. Pennsylvania law requires a 15-day wait from CLP issuance to the scheduled Class A, B, or C skills test date — one day longer than the 14-day federal floor. The applicant has one year total to pass all knowledge and skills tests before needing to reapply. No flat CLP fee is published separately: for PA residents upgrading an existing driver's license, PennDOT instead charges a single prorated 'Upgrade From Non-Commercial to Commercial' fee (one permit, with photo, included) that scales with the months remaining before the base license expires: $43.50 (7-12 months out), $65.50 (13-24 months), $87.50 (25-36 months), or $109.50 (37-48 months); additional fees apply for Hazmat, Motorcycle, or extra permits.

PennDOT's Commercial Driver's Manual (PUB 223) states Class A, B, and C licenses are issued to persons 18 or older, but a driver must be 21 or older to operate a CMV in interstate commerce, matching the federal floor exactly.

PennDOT authorizes PennDOT-certified third-party organizations (state/local government agencies, motor carriers, private driver-training facilities, and other private institutions) to administer the CDL skills test alongside PennDOT's own Driver License Centers, under 49 CFR §383.75. No fixed day-based knowledge-test retest cooldown is published; instead a Knowledge Test Authorization is valid one year with three attempts per test, and a CLP allows three attempts at the skills test before it expires and the process must restart.

Pennsylvania CDL Endorsements

Hazmat, tanker, doubles/triples, passenger, and school bus endorsement availability, fees, and testing in Pennsylvania
Endorsement	Available	Fee	Knowledge test	Skills test
Hazardous materials (H)	Yes	$43.50	Yes	No
Tank vehicle (N)	Yes	$21.50	Yes	No
Doubles/triples (T)	Yes	$21.50	Yes	No
Passenger (P)	Yes	$21.50	Yes	Yes
School bus (S)	Yes	$21.50	Yes	Yes

Hazardous materials: 30-question knowledge test (PA CDL Manual/CDL FAQ). PennDOT's own fee schedule lists a distinct $43.50 'Upgrading to Transport Hazardous Materials' charge, separate from the $21.50 generic endorsement-upgrade fee applied to the other four endorsements. PennDOT's two pages about the separate federal background-check cost disagree with each other and are not reconciled here — see the Source Notes below.

Tank vehicle: 20-question knowledge test; no skills test. Billed under PennDOT's generic $21.50 'Upgrading Commercial Class or Endorsement' fee.

Doubles/triples: 20-question knowledge test; no skills test. Billed under PennDOT's generic $21.50 'Upgrading Commercial Class or Endorsement' fee.

Passenger: 20-question knowledge test plus a skills test performed in an actual bus. Billed under PennDOT's generic $21.50 'Upgrading Commercial Class or Endorsement' fee.

School bus: 25-question knowledge test (requires holding the Passenger endorsement first) plus a skills test that must be performed in an actual school bus; the School Bus endorsement card is reissued annually. Billed under PennDOT's generic $21.50 'Upgrading Commercial Class or Endorsement' fee.

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 Pennsylvania

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 Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Driver and Vehicle Services administers self-certification for the following FMCSA operating categories:

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

Every CLP and CDL applicant/holder must file Self-Certification Form DL-11CD declaring one of the four FMCSA operation categories; this identifies which drivers must keep a current DOT Medical Examiner's Certificate on file with PennDOT.

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.

PennDOT publishes two different figures for the federal hazmat background-check cost: its 'Payments and Fees' page cites a flat '$60.00' federal fee, while its Hazardous Materials Endorsement FAQ separately itemizes a $57.25 TSA fee plus a $24.15 FBI background-check fee ($81.40 total) — neither matches the other, and neither matches TSA's own current $85.25 HME threat-assessment fee. This site shows only PennDOT's own $43.50 state endorsement fee; confirm the current total federal cost directly with PennDOT or TSA before applying.

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: Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Driver and Vehicle Services