Vermont § 4108 - Commercial driver’s license, commercial learner’s permit qualification standards

§ 4108. Commercial driver’s license, commercial learner’s permit qualification standards

• (a) Before issuing a commercial driver’s license or commercial learner’s permit, the Commissioner
  shall request the applicant’s complete operating record from any state in which the
  applicant was previously licensed to operate any type of motor vehicle in the past
  10 years and conduct a check of the applicant’s operating record by querying the National
  Driver Register established under 49 U.S.C. § 30302, the Commercial Driver’s License Information System established under 49 U.S.C. § 31309, and the Commercial Driver’s License Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse established under
  49 C.F.R. Part 382, Subpart G and required pursuant to 49 C.F.R. § 382.725 to determine if: (1) the applicant has already been issued a commercial driver’s license; (2) the applicant’s commercial driver’s license has been suspended, revoked, or canceled; (3) the applicant has been convicted of any offense listed in 49 U.S.C. § 30304(a)(3); or (4) the applicant has a verified positive, adulterated, or substituted controlled substances
  test result; has an alcohol confirmation test with a concentration of 0.04 or higher;
  has refused to submit to a test in violation of 49 C.F.R. § 382.211; or the applicant’s employer has reported actual knowledge, as defined at 49 C.F.R. § 382.107, that the applicant used alcohol on duty in violation of 49 C.F.R. § 382.205, used alcohol before duty in violation of 49 C.F.R. § 382.207, used alcohol following an accident in violation of 49 C.F.R. § 382.209, or used a controlled substance in violation of 49 C.F.R. § 382.213. (b) The Commissioner shall not issue a commercial driver’s license or commercial learner’s
  permit to any individual: (1)(A) Under 21 years of age in the case of commercial driver’s licenses, except that individuals
  18 years of age or older may obtain a commercial driver’s license that restricts the
  driver to operation solely within this State. (B) Under 18 years of age in the case of commercial learner’s permits. (2) Who, within three years of the license application and for initial applicants only,
  has been convicted of an offense listed in subsection 4116(a) of this title or a comparable offense in any jurisdiction, or convicted of an offense listed in
  49 U.S.C. § 30304(a)(3) in any jurisdiction. (3) Unless Vermont is the state of domicile of the individual and the individual has passed
  a knowledge and skills test for driving a commercial motor vehicle that complies with
  minimum federal standards established by federal regulation enumerated in 49 C.F.R. Part 383, subparts F, G, and H, as may be amended, and has satisfied all other requirements
  of 49 C.F.R. Part 380 and 49 U.S.C. Chapter 313, as may be amended, and the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986,
  Pub. L. No. 99-570, Title XII (Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986), as may
  be amended, in addition to other requirements imposed by State law or federal regulation.
  The tests shall be prescribed and conducted by the Commissioner. (4) Who has a verified positive, adulterated, or substituted controlled substances test
  result; has an alcohol confirmation test with a concentration of 0.04 or higher; has
  refused to submit to a test in violation of 49 C.F.R. § 382.211; or for whom an employer has reported actual knowledge, as defined in 49 C.F.R. § 382.107, that the applicant used alcohol on duty in violation of 49 C.F.R. § 382.205, used alcohol before duty in violation of 49 C.F.R. § 382.207, used alcohol following an accident in violation of 49 C.F.R. § 382.209, or used a controlled substance in violation of 49 C.F.R. § 382.213. (c) The Commissioner may authorize a person, including an agency of this or another state,
  an employer, a private driver training facility, or other private institution, or
  a department, agency, or instrumentality of local government, to administer the skills
  test specified by this section, provided: (1) the test is the same as would otherwise be administered by the State; and (2) the third party has entered into an agreement with this State that complies with requirements
  of 49 C.F.R. § 383.75. (d) At the discretion of the Commissioner, the knowledge test and the skills test required
  under 49 C.F.R. §§ 383.113 and 383.133, as amended, and the tests required for a passenger endorsement or a tank vehicle
  endorsement or a hazardous materials endorsement under 49 C.F.R. § 383.117, 383.119, or 383.121, as amended, may be waived for a commercial motor vehicle driver with military commercial
  motor vehicle experience who is currently licensed at the time of his or her application
  for a commercial driver’s license, if the test is substituted with an applicant’s
  driving record in combination with the driving experience specified in this subsection.
  The Commissioner shall impose conditions and limitations to restrict the applicants
  from whom alternative requirements for the skills test may be accepted. Such conditions
  shall include the following: (1) the applicant must certify that, during the two-year period immediately prior to applying
  for a commercial driver’s license, he or she: (A) has not had more than one license in addition to a military license; (B) has not had any license suspended, revoked, or cancelled; (C) has not had any convictions for any type of motor vehicle for the disqualifying offenses
  specified in subsection 4116(a) of this title; (D) has not had more than one conviction for any type of motor vehicle for serious traffic
  violations specified in subdivision 4103(16) of this title; and (E) has not had any conviction for a violation, other than a parking violation, of military,
  state, or local law relating to motor vehicle traffic control arising in connection
  with any crash, and has no record of a crash in which he or she was at fault; and (2) the applicant must provide evidence and certify that he or she: (A) is regularly employed or was regularly employed within the last 12 months in a military
  position requiring operation of a commercial motor vehicle; (B) was exempted from the commercial driver’s license requirements in 49 C.F.R. § 383.3(c); and (C) was operating for at least the two years immediately preceding discharge from the
  military a vehicle representative of the commercial motor vehicle the driver applicant
  operates or expects to operate. (e) Obtaining a commercial learner’s permit is a precondition to the initial issuance
  of a commercial driver’s license. The issuance of a commercial learner’s permit also
  is a precondition to the upgrade of a commercial driver’s license if the upgrade requires
  a skills test. A permit may be issued to an individual who holds a valid Vermont driver’s
  license who has passed the vision and written tests required for the class of license
  authorizing the operation of the type of vehicle for which the permit application
  is being made. A commercial learner’s permit holder is not eligible to take the commercial
  driver’s license skills test in the first 14 days after initial issuance of the commercial
  learner’s permit. A permit shall be issued for a period of one year, and only one
  renewal or reissuance of a commercial learner’s permit may be granted within a two-year
  period. (f) The fee for a knowledge test and the fee for a skills test shall each be $39.00. The
  fee for an endorsement test shall be $17.00. In the event that an applicant fails
  a test three times, the applicant may not take the test again for at least six months.
  A fee of $29.00 shall be paid by the applicant before the applicant may schedule a
  skills test. If an applicant does not appear for the scheduled skills test, the $29.00
  scheduling fee is forfeited, unless the applicant has given the Department of Motor
  Vehicles at least 48 hours’ notice of cancellation of the test. If the applicant appears
  for the skills test, the $29.00 scheduling fee for that test will be used as part
  of the test fee. Use of an interpreter is prohibited during the administration of
  the knowledge or skills tests. (g) A commercial driver’s license or commercial learner’s permit may not be issued to
  an individual while the individual is subject to a disqualification from driving a
  commercial motor vehicle or while the individual’s driver’s license is suspended,
  revoked, or cancelled in any state. A driver’s license may not be issued to an individual
  who has a commercial driver’s license issued by any state unless the individual first
  surrenders all driver’s licenses issued by any state, which licenses shall be returned
  to the issuing states for cancellation. (h) An individual shall be entitled to take the test for a commercial driver’s license
  unless his or her driver’s license is, at the time of the requested test, suspended,
  revoked, cancelled, or disqualified in any other state. (Added 1989, No. 239 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 1991, No. 88, § 9; 1995, No. 47, § 15, eff. April 20, 1995; 1999, No. 110 (Adj. Sess.), § 8; 2003, No. 154 (Adj. Sess.), § 13, eff. June 8, 2004; 2009, No. 108 (Adj. Sess.), § 5, eff. July 1, 2011; 2011, No. 128 (Adj. Sess.), § 23; 2013, No. 20, § 1; 2015, No. 50, § 27, eff. June 3, 2015; 2015, No. 159 (Adj. Sess.), § 54; 2017, No. 113 (Adj. Sess.), § 154; 2019, No. 60, §§ 5, 6; 2019, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), § 254; 2021, No. 76, §§ 25, 31; 2023, No. 41, § 37, eff. November 18, 2024; 2023, No. 78, § G.139, eff. January 1, 2024; 2023, No. 85 (Adj. Sess.), § 324, eff. July 1, 2024.)