In Florida the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) issues commercial driver licenses. The process has the same shape in every state: prove residency, pass knowledge tests to earn a commercial learner permit (CLP), complete required training, then pass a three-part skills test. This guide walks through each step using Florida's own pages, its CDL Handbook and the federal rules that apply everywhere.
Who can apply
FLHSMV lists these general requirements for every CDL applicant:
- Hold a Florida operator's license.
- Pass the vision requirements, the knowledge tests and the skills tests.
- Be at least 18 years old. Applicants under 21 are limited to intrastate driving, meaning inside Florida.
- Be a Florida resident and prove it.
For an original CLP or CDL, FLHSMV accepts one of these as proof of residency: a Florida Class E license or ID held more than six consecutive months, a lease in your name in place more than six consecutive months, a residential mortgage or deed in your name signed more than six months ago, a Florida voter registration card, a statement of domicile under section 222.17 of the Florida Statutes, or a homestead tax exemption on Florida property. Bring your standard identity documents as well; check the HSMV "what to bring" pages for your situation, since the list depends on whether you are a citizen, immigrant or non-immigrant.
Step 1: Choose your class and endorsements
| Class | What it covers (per FLHSMV) |
|---|---|
| Class A | A truck or combination of 26,001 pounds or more that tows a trailer over 10,000 pounds. This is the tractor-trailer license. |
| Class B | Straight trucks and buses of 26,001 pounds or more. |
| Class C | Vehicles carrying placarded hazardous materials, or designed to carry 16 or more people including the driver, under 26,001 pounds GVWR. |
Endorsements go on top of a class: H (placarded hazardous materials), N (tank vehicles), P (passengers), S (school bus, which also requires P), T (double/triple trailers; triples are not allowed on Florida roads) and X (combined H and N). If you want to haul freight in a tractor-trailer, Class A is the one to plan for. The Class A knowledge tests are General Knowledge and Combination Vehicles, plus Air Brakes if the truck you test in has air brakes, plus any endorsement exams.
Step 2: Get your commercial learner permit
You earn the CLP by passing the required knowledge tests. FLHSMV says the tests are offered in multiple languages and may be taken orally in English or Spanish, except the hazardous materials test. Interpreters are not allowed during any test. Study the Florida CDL Handbook; it is the state's own study guide and says plainly that it is not a substitute for a truck driver training class.
Federal rules set two timing limits on every CLP, under 49 CFR 383.25: the permit is valid for no more than one year from the date it is first issued, and a CLP holder is not eligible to take the CDL skills test in the first 14 days after the permit is first issued. Plan your schedule around both.
Only the passenger (P), school bus (S) and tank vehicle (N) endorsements may be added to a CLP. The handbook also notes restrictions that apply to permit holders, such as limits on carrying passengers in a bus and hauling cargo in a tank vehicle while on a permit.
Step 3: Entry-level driver training (ELDT)
The Florida CDL Handbook explains that federal ELDT rules apply to people who are getting a Class A or Class B CDL for the first time, upgrading from Class B to Class A, or getting the school bus (S), passenger (P) or hazardous materials (H) endorsement for the first time. The training must be completed before you can take the skills test or, for endorsements, the knowledge test, and the rule has applied since February 7, 2022. The federal rule in 49 CFR 380.601 applies to people applying for a CDL, a higher class or an added endorsement.
In practice this means you should not pay for a skills test slot until your training provider has finished your training. When you compare schools, ask each one how it handles ELDT, and use our CDL School Tuition Report to see which schools have verified, published prices.
Step 4: Medical certification
When you apply you must tell FLHSMV what kind of driving you do or expect to do, called self-certification. The CDL Handbook describes four categories:
- Non-excepted interstate: you drive or expect to drive across state lines and must hold a current federal medical examiner's certificate (the "DOT card") and give it to FLHSMV. The handbook says most interstate CDL holders are in this group.
- Excepted interstate: you only do specific excepted work, such as transporting school children or government work, and do not need the certificate.
- Non-excepted intrastate: you drive only inside Florida but are subject to state medical requirements and need a certificate.
- Excepted intrastate: you drive only inside Florida and are not subject to the state's medical requirements.
If you drive in both interstate and intrastate commerce you must choose interstate, and if you do both excepted and non-excepted work you must choose non-excepted. If you are required to have a certified medical status and let your certificate lapse, you become "not-certified" and may lose your CDL. Under 49 CFR 391.45, drivers generally must be re-examined at least every 24 months, with shorter intervals for some conditions such as insulin-treated diabetes.
Step 5: Pass the three-part skills test
Once you have your CLP, have waited out the 14 days and have completed any required training, you take the CDL skills test in the type of vehicle you want to be licensed for. Florida's test has three segments, taken in order, and you must pass each before moving to the next:
- Vehicle inspection: you point to or touch each item and explain what you would inspect and why.
- Basic vehicle control: moving the vehicle forward, backward and turning within a defined area marked with cones, barriers or lanes.
- On-road driving: turns, intersections, railroad crossings, curves, grades and highway driving. The handbook notes that special test procedures apply to railroad crossings in Florida.
FLHSMV states that skills tests must be conducted in English. Skills testing in Florida runs through the CDL and Third Party Testing Unit, which oversees state-certified third-party administrators and testers, so ask your school or FLHSMV where tests are scheduled. A vehicle that has labeled or marked components cannot be used for the skills test. If you test in a combination vehicle that is not a standard tractor-semitrailer, or one connected by a pintle hook instead of a fifth wheel, the license can be issued with an "O" restriction that bars tractor-trailer driving.
Fees
FLHSMV's fee page lists "Original/Renewal Commercial Driver License" at $75.00, with a reduced $48.00 fee for original and renewal school board commercial licenses. It does not list a CLP fee on that page, so confirm current amounts with FLHSMV before you go. The 2022 CDL Handbook states a $91.00 background check fee for new or renewed hazardous materials endorsements, in addition to other issuance fees; that figure is from the 2022 handbook, so verify it too.
Disqualifications that end a CDL career early
Federal rules in 49 CFR 383.51 and Florida's handbook agree on the major points. A first offense of driving a commercial vehicle at .04% blood alcohol or higher, driving under the influence, refusing a test, driving under the influence of a controlled substance, leaving the scene of a crash, or using a CMV in a felony brings at least a one-year loss of the CDL, and at least three years if you were hauling placarded hazardous materials. A second offense is a lifetime disqualification, although the federal rule lets a state consider reinstatement after 10 years for some offenses if the driver completed a state-approved rehabilitation program. Any detectable alcohol under .04% puts you out of service for 24 hours. Two serious traffic violations in a CMV within three years means at least 60 days off, and three means at least 120 days. Losing your regular license for alcohol, drugs or a felony also costs you your CDL for one year.
For a hazmat endorsement you must also pass a TSA background check with fingerprints, and you must be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident. The handbook says you must be at least 21 for this endorsement.
Checklist: Florida CDL in order
- Confirm you meet the age and residency rules and gather proof of residency.
- Decide on Class A, B or C and any endorsements.
- Choose your self-certification category and get a DOT medical certificate if you need one.
- Study the Florida CDL Handbook and pass the knowledge tests to earn your CLP.
- Complete ELDT with a registered training provider.
- Wait at least 14 days after the CLP is first issued, and keep the permit within its one-year validity.
- Schedule and pass the vehicle inspection, basic control and on-road skills test in the right vehicle.
- Pay the license fee to FLHSMV and keep your medical status current.
Where to compare schools
Florida's FMCSA-registered schools are listed on our state hub. For city-level comparisons see Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando and Tampa. If cost is the obstacle, see the free and funded training pages for Jacksonville and Tampa. We only show a price when a school has confirmed it; otherwise we say to call to confirm.
Compare FMCSA-registered CDL schools in Florida →
What schools actually charge: CDL School Tuition Report 2026.
Sources
- Florida HSMV: Commercial Driver License
- Florida HSMV: Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers
- Florida HSMV: Fees
- Florida CDL Handbook (July 2022 version)
- 49 CFR 383.25 (commercial learner's permit)
- 49 CFR 383.51 (disqualification of drivers)
- 49 CFR 391.45 (medical examination and certification)
- 49 CFR 380.601 (entry-level driver training applicability)