CDL Required to Drive Class A?
I'm sure this has been covered; however, I searched the forums and came up with nothing. I drive a 39' Class A pusher with air brakes. Data as follows: GVWR (lbs) -- 31,000/Front GAWR 12,000/Rear 1...
Forum Discussion
JaxDad wrote:
Doc, I think you missed my point. Air brakes are NOT a “license” issue and so not covered by reciprocity either. An air brake “endorsement” is a sort of qualification to operate air brake systems.
In fact I watched exactly that happen. Spot checks are very common in Canada on holiday weekends, aimed at getting unsafe **** off the road. A guy & his wife in a DP class A found out 1,000+ miles from home that he didn’t have the required air brake endorsement. Unfortunately LEO’s can’t just look the other way anymore when they discover a problem.
I haven't looked at Canadian provincial licensing regulations in years, but in the US, if you are properly licensed in your own state for the class of vehicle you're operating, you're good in all US states. Since not all states even issue an air brake endorsement for non-commercial vehicles, there's no way drivers from those states can be cited for not having one. NY State, for example, issues an 'R' endorsement that allows personal use "multi-purpose vehicles" (includes motorhomes) over 26,000 lbs to be driven with a standard Class D license, but no air brake specific endorsement. No other state can cite you for not having the specific class of license they use for that application. Canada and the US have had full drivers license reciprocity since at least 1943 when the "CONVENTION ON THE REGULATION OF INTER–AMERICAN AUTOMOTIVE TRAFFIC" took place resulting eventually in the "Foreign Reciprocity Resource Guide". There have been some modifications over the years due to technology changes, but the basic premise is still the same. License good in the US? Good in Canada and Mexico...
