Maine CDL Permit Test 2026: Rules, Fees and Exam Changes

Which vehicles need a CDL in Maine?

The Driver’s License Manual sets out the classes:

Class	What it covers
A	Combinations of 26,001 pounds or more, towing over 10,000 pounds
B	Single vehicles of 26,001 pounds or more, towing up to 10,000 pounds
C	Everything else; a CDL only with a hazardous materials, tank or passenger endorsement

You also need a CDL for a vehicle carrying hazardous materials that must be placarded, or one built to carry more than 15 passengers, driver included. School buses, passenger buses and motorcycles aren’t separate classes: each needs an endorsement and its own exam.

Motorcycle permit steps →

What does the Maine CDL permit test include?

You pass the general knowledge test for the class of vehicle you expect to drive, and an endorsement knowledge test for a passenger, school bus or tank endorsement. The BMV’s CDL exam page names two exam changes and the date each one starts:

From November 1, 2026, a vehicle inspection module is required for all applicants
From September 1, 2027, modernized testing is required for all applicants

The page also says which Commercial Drivers License Manual you need for those changes, so check it before you study. To prepare for the knowledge exams, it points you to that manual and lists no practice test. For questions, call the BMV’s CDL Examination Section at 207-624-9000, ext. 52122.

Rules while you hold a CLP

State law sets these:

A CDL holder with the right class and endorsements is with you at all times, in the front seat beside you or, in a passenger vehicle, directly behind you or in the first row behind
No hazardous materials loads
For a passenger or school bus endorsement, you must be at least 21, and the CDL holder with you at least 22, with a passenger endorsement and a year’s driving experience. You carry no passengers other than the examiners and that CDL holder
With a tank endorsement, you drive only empty tank vehicles, purged of any hazardous materials they carried

The permit has to come first: the BMV issues a first CDL, or an upgrade that needs a skills test, only to a CLP holder.

Training and fees

Entry-level driver training, required from February 7, 2022, applies to a Class A or B CDL and to a passenger, school bus or hazardous materials endorsement. You take it from a provider on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Training Provider Registry. The BMV’s fee page lists:

Item	Fee
Each endorsement exam	$20
Commercial license, under 65	$34
REAL ID commercial license, under 65	$59
Commercial license, 65 or older	$27
REAL ID commercial, 65 or older	$47

A commercial license lasts 5 years under 65, and 4 years at 65 or older. A reexamination costs the same as the first CDL exam fee.

Medical certificate and the military waiver

Each CDL holder fills in a self-certification form. If you certify to non-excepted interstate or intrastate driving, you give the BMV a copy of your medical examiner’s certificate and keep it up to date, sending a fresh one before the old one expires to avoid a downgrade.

Service members licensed and employed in the past 12 months in a military job driving a vehicle like a commercial one may have the skills test waived. You need at least two years in that class and type of vehicle and a discharge within the past year. In that time you can’t have had a suspension, revocation or disqualifying conviction, or a license from another jurisdiction apart from a military one. Passenger and school bus endorsements can’t transfer this way.

Sources: Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles · Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes and 4 more. Checked November 2026.

Rules and fees can change, so check the official site before your test.

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