§ 383.77 Substitute for driving skills tests.

At the discretion of a State, the driving skill test as specified in § 383.113 may be waived for a CMV operator who is currently licensed at the time of his/her application for a CDL, and substituted with either an applicant's driving record and previous passage of an acceptable skills test, or an applicant's driving record in combination with certain driving experience. The State shall impose conditions and limitations to restrict the applicants from whom a State may accept alternative requirements for the skills test described in § 383.113. Such conditions must require at least the following:

(a) An applicant must certify that, during the two-year period immediately prior to applying for a CDL, he/she:

(1) Has not had more than one license (except in the instances specified in § 383.21(b));

(2) Has not had any license suspended, revoked, or canceled;

(3) Has not had any convictions for any type of motor vehicle for the disqualifying offenses contained in § 383.51(b);

(4) Has not had more than one conviction for any type of motor vehicle for serious traffic violations; and

(5) Has not had any conviction for a violation of State or local law relating to motor vehicle traffic control (other than a parking violation) arising in connection with any traffic accident, and has no record of an accident in which he/she was at fault; and

(b) An applicant must provide evidence and certify that:

(1) He/she is regularly employed in a job requiring operation of a CMV, and that either:

(2) He/she has previously taken and passed a skills test given by a State with a classified licensing and testing system, and that the test was behind-the-wheel in a representative vehicle for that applicant's driver's license classification; or

(3) He/she has operated, for at least 2 years immediately preceding application for a CDL, a vehicle representative of the commercial motor vehicle the driver applicant operates or expects to operate.

[53 FR 27649, July 21, 1988, as amended at 55 FR 25606, June 22, 1990; 67 FR 49760, July 31, 2002]