Driver's License, CDL and ID cards

Commercial Motor Vehicles and Driver’s Licenses

This bill allows DMV to comply with new Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regulation amendments for commercial motor vehicles (CMV) and commercial driver’s licenses (CDL).

•Creation and issuance of new Non-Domiciled commercial learner’s permits (CLP) and CDL, labeled as such and issued in specific, limited circumstances.

Applicants for a non-domiciled commercial permit or license will be required to meet all other licensing requirements including providing the necessary proof of legal presence, identification, social security number, and Virginia residency and will need to complete all required testing and meet the minimum learner’s permit holding period (if applicable).

In addition, if not already presented as part of their proof of legal presence, applicants will need to present either an unexpired foreign passport with an unexpired I-94 or an unexpired Employment Authorization Document (EAD). Document numbers from these items will be recorded by the DMV CSR on the driver’s record. The CDL or CLP issued to these applicants is considered non- domiciled because while the holder is a resident of Virginia, he is domiciled elsewhere; otherwise, it authorizes the same privileges as a standard commercial permit or license.

The credentials will display one of the following statements:

“non-domiciled CLP” or “non-domiciled CDL”

•Issuance of Virginia CDLs to military personnel stationed in Virginia but domiciled in another jurisdiction, in conformance with the federal Military CDL Act of 2012.  Such persons must be a member of the active duty military, military reserves, National Guard, active duty United States Coast Guard, or Coast Guard Auxiliary; and is not domiciled in Virginia, but whose temporary or permanent duty station is located in the Virginia.

 CLP/CDL applicants will be asked to indicate their place of domicile on the DL1P. There will be four options as follows:

• The commercial learner’s permit holding period for drivers who have completed driver training through the Department of Education or the military will be reduced to 14-day minimum.

• Applicants will be required to present a letter on either the Virginia school’s letterhead or military letterhead indicating successful completion of the commercial driver training program.  The letter will include the applicable codes for school type and school.

• Clarification regarding proof of citizenship or lawful permanent residency requirements prior to issuance of a CDL or CLP. These provisions do not affect Virginia’s legal presence requirements.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration requires all applicants for a standard commercial permit or license to submit federally acceptable evidence that they are either a U.S. citizen or Legal Permanent Resident of the U.S. Unfortunately, FMCSA’s list of acceptable documents varies from Virginia’s list. FMCSA’s list of acceptable documents includes:

❖Unexpired U.S. passport

❖U.S. birth document issued by a U.S. state, jurisdiction, or territory

❖Consular Report of Birth Abroad

❖Certificate of Naturalization

❖Certificate of Citizenship

❖Unexpired Permanent Resident Card

Applicants who have not presented one of the above documents to DMV since January 1, 2004, will be required to present an acceptable document in order to renew or obtain a duplicate or reissue of their CLP or CDL.

• Acceptance of CDL skills test results from other states, provisions to allow Virginia to test drivers from other states who completed driver training in Virginia, and authorization for DMV to assess an $85 fee for that testing.

If a Virginia driver completed training and testing in another state, the test results will be electronically sent to the CDL/NDR work center and will be posted to the customer record. If a customer indicates they completed testing in another state, check the customer record for test results.  If no results are present, contact the CDL/NDR work center.

Out of state drivers who attend driver training in Virginia and wish to be tested by DLQA will need to visit a Virginia DMV Customer Service Center to present their school certificate and pay the $85.  The driver will then be asked to present the DMV receipt to DLQA before testing.

• Bond requirements for non-governmental 3rd party testers to cover re-testing costs in the event of fraudulent activities. DMV will require a bond in the amount of $5,000.

Additional changes are being made in conjunction with the implementation of this bill to ensure DMV’s continued compliance with FMCSA regulations. These changes include:

A. The system will automatically add “M” and “N” restrictions to CLPs:

• M restriction = Operation of passenger vehicle is restricted to a Class B or Class

C passenger vehicle.

Whenever a Class B CLP is issued with a P endorsement, the system will automatically add an M restriction.

• N restriction = Operation of passenger vehicle is restricted to a Class C

passenger vehicle.

Whenever a Class C CLP is issued with a P endorsement, the system will automatically add an N restriction.

B. Adding a “K” restriction to all CLP/CDLs when the driver self certifies as an Intrastate driver – The system will provide a prompt when the K needs to be added or removed.

• Currently, only CLP/CDL holders under age 21 and those under Virginia DMV’s medical review control are restricted to intrastate operation. However, effective July 1st,:

❖Drivers who have a self-certification status of INTERSTATE and change it to INTRASTATE will need to have a new CLP/CDL issued with a “K” restriction code.

❖Drivers who have a “K” restriction on their CLP/CDL because they had self-certified to INTRASTATE and change it to INTERSTATE must have a new CLP/CDL without the “K” restriction code.

❖Drivers who currently have a self-certification status that is INTRASTATE but do not have the “K” restriction will have the restriction added when they obtain a duplicate, reissue, or renewal.

These bills contain the following components:

1. Commercial Motor Vehicles and Third Party Testing of Commercial Drivers:

•Removes the provision allowing the transfer of a commercial driver’s instruction permit (CIP) from another state. This bill prevents holders of out of state CIPs from applying for a Virginia CIP without successfully completing the CDL knowledge exam(s). Holders of out of state CIPs who apply for a Virginia CIP will be required to pass the CDL general knowledge exam and the other knowledge exams for the vehicle(s) they plan to operate. However, drivers will be given credit towards the 30-day CIP holding period for the time they held their out of state CIP. The holding period requirement must be met before the applicant is allowed to take the skills exam. The system has been programmed to require out of state CIP holders who apply for a Virginia CIP to pass the knowledge test(s) before receiving their CIP. The customer service representative will need to initiate the test in the system to have the exams transmitted to SecuriTest automated testing system.

•Provides for an initial validity period of 180 days for commercial driver’s instruction permits with the opportunity to renew the permit for another 180 days without testing.

•Requires nationwide criminal background checks for all test examiners including third party testers. The federal regulations require background checks for states to improve the ability to detect and prevent fraudulent testing and licensing activity in the CDL program.

•Allows for the waiver of the commercial driving skills tests for drivers with experience operating military commercial motor vehicles.

•Provides the authority for military third party testers to administer state CDL knowledge and skills tests. Also provides additional clarification regarding requirements for third party testers and examiners.

•Creates a new ‘X’ endorsement for commercial drivers who hold endorsements to operate both tank vehicles and those carrying hazardous materials. The system will have edits in place to require the customer service representative (CSR) to remove the “H” and “N” endorsements and add an “X” endorsement, if a CDL holder has both an “N” endorsement for tank and an ‘H’ endorsement for hazardous materials on record. The ‘X’ endorsement will be decoded on the back of the license as “Hazmat and Tank Vehicle.” Licenses issued prior to July 1, 2014, will continue to display both the ‘N’ for tank and ‘H’ for hazardous materials endorsements, however, any license issued (original, renewal, duplicate, or reissue) on or after July 1, 2014, will display an ‘X’ rather than both an ‘N’ and an ‘H’ if the driver has met the requirements for a tank vehicle endorsement and a hazardous materials endorsement.

•Creates a new ‘E’ restriction for commercial drivers who test in a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) without a manual transmission. The ‘E’ restriction will be decoded on the back of the license as “Restricted to Automatic Transmission Only.” This new restriction will be determined based on the vehicle the driver uses to take his/her skills test. It will only apply to licenses issued on or after July 1, 2014.

•Swaps the current meaning of the ‘K’ and ‘L’ restriction codes.

Currently

•‘K’ restriction means “CMV without air brakes”

•‘L’ restriction means “CDL valid only in Virginia”

Effective July 1, 2014:

•‘K’ will mean “CDL valid only in Virginia”

•‘L’ will mean “CMV without air brakes”

The restriction ‘3R’ which prior to 7/01/14 prints ‘K’, will be changed to print ‘L’ and the restriction ‘3S’ which prior to 07/01/14 prints ‘L’ will be changed to print ‘K’.

Licenses issued prior to July 1, 2014, will continue to display the

•‘K’ decoded as “CMV without air brakes”

•‘L’ as “CDL valid only in Virginia,”

Any CDL issued (original, renewal, duplicate, or reissue) on or after July 1, 2014, will be corrected to reflect the July 1, 2014 meanings.

2. Prohibition of Hand-held Cell Phone Use in Commercial Vehicles:

Adds the use of a hand-held mobile telephone while driving a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) to the list of offenses considered “serious traffic violations” which may result in the disqualification of commercial driving privileges. Convictions for using a hand-held mobile telephone while operating a non-commercial motor vehicle are not included in the list of “serious traffic violations”.

Under the Driver License Issue Screen in the section of Drivers Education Information, there are 2 new Classroom Type codes affecting drivers under 19 years of age but at least 16 years and 3 months who have surrender their driver’s license and have moved to Virginia from another state, U.S. territory  or Canadian province or territory.

‘4’ – At least 30/6 driver ed (oos, US terr, Canada) (4). NOTE: the wording of this entry has been changed.

‘B’ – Less than 30/6 driver ed (oos, US terr, Canada)(B)

Scenario 1:

•Virginia Resident

•Age: at least 16 and 3 months and under age 19

•Holds  license  from another state, U.S. Territory or Canadian province/territory

•Provides proof of driver’s education (at least 30 hrs. classroom/6 hrs in car.

In the Driver Education Information section for this scenario, select option "4" in the Classroom Type dropdown.

Outcome:  Driver will  be issued  a permanent license.

Scenario 2:

•Virginia resident

•Age: at least 16 and 3 months and under age 19

•Holds  license  from another state, U.S. territory or Canadian province/territory

•Has not taken driver’s education or cannot provide proof

In the Driver Education Information section for this scenario, select option "B" in the Classroom Type dropdown.

Outcome: Driver is issued  a DRM (Temp License) to allow time to take Virginia driver’s education or obtain proof of the acceptable driver’s education already taken.  After proof is provided, the holder is issued  a permanent Virginia driver’s license.

Scenario 3:

•Virginia resident

•Age: at least 16 and 3 months and under age 19

•Has held  a license  from another state, U.S. territory or Canadian province/territory for at least 1 year

•Completed In-Car Maneuvers Observation Record (CSMA 19)

•Has completed some  driver’s education but it does not meet Virginia’s minimum requirements

In the Driver Education Information section for this scenario, select option "B" in the Classroom Type dropdown.

Outcome: Driver is required to prove driver’s education that does not meet our requirements, provide verification that license  has been  held  for at least one year and pass the knowledge and behind the wheel  tests.

These drivers will  NOT be required to attend the court ceremony.