Florida CDL requirements, in plain language

To get a Class A CDL in Florida you need to be at least 18, hold a regular Florida license, pass a DOT physical, pass the written tests to get a commercial learner permit, complete federally required entry-level driver training, and then pass a three-part skills test. That is the whole list. What trips people up is not the list — it is that the requirements are split between two different agencies and the county tax collector, and none of them tells you what the other two want.

Here is who enforces what, in the order you will run into it.

The federal floor, and where Florida sits on top of it

FMCSA sets the rules every state has to follow. Florida cannot make its CDL easier than the federal minimum, and mostly it does not try to make it harder either. So most of what you are reading about "Florida requirements" is actually federal rule administered by Florida.

The federal age line matters more than people expect. You can hold a Florida CDL at 18, but 49 CFR 391.11 requires a driver to be at least 21 to operate a commercial vehicle in interstate commerce. Under 21, your CDL is marked for intrastate operation only — Florida loads, Florida deliveries. We wrote a whole guide on what an under-21 CDL in Florida can and cannot do, because it changes which jobs you can take on day one.

Hazmat is a separate age line: 21, plus a TSA background check, no matter what your CDL says.

A regular Florida license first

Before any of this, you need a valid Florida driver license — a Class E. Florida will not issue a commercial learner permit to someone who does not already hold one, and the residency and identity documents for that license are the same ones you will show again for the CDL.

If you are new to Florida, get the Class E squared away first. Trying to do both in one visit is how people lose a day.

The DOT medical card, and the part that changed

You need a DOT physical from an examiner listed on FMCSA's National Registry. Not your family doctor unless they happen to be certified.

The process changed on June 23, 2025. Certified examiners now transmit your exam results electronically to FMCSA's National Registry, which passes them to state licensing agencies. FLHSMV's own guidance says that once your certificate is submitted electronically, "you are not required to carry a Med Card." Florida offices have stopped accepting paper certificates handed across the counter as the way to get your medical status on file — here is what that means when your card does not show up in the system.

You also have to self-certify. FLHSMV makes you pick one of four categories describing the kind of driving you expect to do: non-excepted interstate, excepted interstate, non-excepted intrastate, or excepted intrastate. Most new Class A drivers pick non-excepted interstate, which is the one that requires a current medical certificate on file. Pick wrong and your license can be downgraded later without you understanding why. FLHSMV explains all four on its CDL medical certification page.

If you are worried about passing the physical at all, read what actually disqualifies people before you book it. Most of it is fixable. Some of it is fixable only if you deal with it early.

The written tests and the permit

For a Class A you take General Knowledge, Combination Vehicles, and Air Brakes. Florida gives these at county tax collector driver license offices — in Duval County that means the Tax Collector's branches, not a state DMV, because Florida has handed driver license service over to the counties.

Pass those and you get a commercial learner permit. The permit is what lets you drive a truck on a public road with a qualified CDL holder beside you, and it starts a clock: under federal rule you cannot take the skills test until you have held the permit for 14 days. The details of what the permit allows and how long it lasts are in our commercial learner permit guide.

Knowledge tests are offered in multiple languages and orally in English and Spanish. The skills test is English only, and no interpreter is allowed for any test. That is FLHSMV's stated policy, and it sits alongside a broader federal push on English proficiency at roadside — see where the English requirement actually bites.

Entry-level driver training is not optional

Since February 7, 2022, anyone getting a first Class A or Class B CDL has to complete entry-level driver training — theory plus behind-the-wheel — from a school listed on FMCSA's Training Provider Registry. The school reports your completion to the registry electronically. If it is not reported, the state will not let you test, and no amount of arguing at the counter fixes it.

There is no federal minimum number of hours for the behind-the-wheel portion. You train until your instructor certifies you are proficient. That is why two schools can both be compliant and be nothing alike, and it is the main thing to ask about when you are comparing CDL schools. Fenix is a registered provider and the four-week Class A program is built around exactly this: theory in week one, then the yard.

The skills test

Three parts, in this order: pre-trip inspection, basic control skills in the yard, and the on-road drive. Fail any part and you stop there.

In Florida the skills test is generally not given by the tax collector's office. It is given by third-party administrators the state contracts with, and FLHSMV says plainly that "it is the responsibility of the Third Party Administrator to set the fees" — which is why the road test price is different from school to school. At Fenix it is $510, it is not included in tuition, and we schedule it while you are still training. How that works in Duval County is worth ten minutes of your time before you pay anyone.

Documents, and the one that surprises people

Florida wants primary identification, proof of your Social Security number, and two separate documents showing your Florida residential address. Two. Not one. People arrive with a lease and get sent home for the second document more than for any other reason.

The full list, including what counts as proof of address and what does not, is in the documents Florida will ask you for.

What this costs you beyond tuition

FLHSMV's published fee schedule lists $75 for an original or renewal commercial driver license and $7 per endorsement, with county offices adding a service fee of up to $6.25. Retests cost less than the original. The road test is separate again, and so is the DOT physical. We broke all of it out in what the state charges on top of tuition, because the number in a school's ad is never the number you end up paying.

Do this next

Book the DOT physical. It is the only requirement on this list that can end the process before it starts, it is cheap relative to tuition, and every other step assumes it is done. If it comes back clean, you are ready to start an application and week one gets you the permit.

If it does not come back clean, call the school at (904) 898-9989 anyway. Most of what examiners flag is temporary.