CDL training navigator

Permit, physical, required training, endorsements, schools and how to pay for it. Read these in order and you will know what each step costs and why it exists.

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CDL classes A, B and C

A commercial driver's license comes in three classes. Pick the class by the heaviest vehicle you expect to drive, because a higher class also covers the ones below it.

Class A

Combination vehicles with a combined weight rating of 26,001 pounds or more, where the trailer is rated over 10,000 pounds. This is the tractor-trailer license, and the one most freight jobs ask for.

Class B

A single vehicle rated 26,001 pounds or more, pulling a trailer of 10,000 pounds or less. Think dump trucks, box trucks, concrete mixers and most buses.

Class C

Smaller vehicles that carry 16 or more people including the driver, or hazardous materials that require placards.

Which one should you get?

  • If you are not sure, Class A keeps the most doors open.
  • If you want to be home every night driving a dump truck or a bus, Class B costs less and takes less time.
  • Moving up from B to A later means more required training and another skills test.