A few years ago, I went through adding a restriction (yes, I said restriction) upgrade in California for my RV endorsement. Read on.
For California, one can tow a
fifth-wheel 10,000 lbs or less with a Class C (standard) license.
10,001 to 15,000 lbs. requires an
RV endorsement, but the key words to ask the DMV is "Restriction 41", which is the endorsement. This endorsement requires a non-commercial Class A written test, but not the road test, nor the medical form. The DMV workers do not know what the RV endorsement is, but they do know what Restriction 41 is, so if you go for this, make sure that you use these words, otherwise you'll be there for 2-3 hours like I was while they look it up and argue with you that there is no such thing (even though I showed them the manual from the web site).
15,001 and over requires a
non-commercial Class A license, which includes the written test, a road test with trailer (and I found there might be a parallel parking portion with trailer - a former moderator DianneOK had this happen to her a few years ago, and a medical form submittal every two years.
Finally, if you want to double tow (tow vehicle, fifth-wheel, boat trailer), you must get a Commercial Class A with the double towing endorsement. There is no non-commercial license for this type of towing in California.
The precise wording on the back of my Class C CA drivers license read as follows:
CLASS C - Veh w/GVWR <= 26000. NO M/C
ENDORSEMENTS: None
RESTRICTIONS: 41-ClassA restricted to operating fifth-wheel travel trailer between 10,001 and 15,000 GVWR
There was no cost to add the endorsement and it was renewed automatically when my CA license expired.
So, if you're at that "edge" of 10,000 and 10,001, go for the endorsement and sleep well at night.
PS: Now that I'm living in Colorado and awaiting my DMV appointment (December was the earliest appointment I could get), I'm checking into CO RV endorsements along the same line.
