How to Transfer Your CDL to Another State
TL;DR
Federal rule gives you no more than 30 days after establishing your new domicile to apply for a CDL in that state. You surrender the old state's CDL, you list every state you have been licensed in over the previous 10 years, and you cannot hold two licenses at once. In most cases you do not retake the knowledge and skills tests for the same class you already hold.
You have 30 days, and the clock starts at domicile
The federal rule is specific. 49 CFR 383.71(c) says that when applying to transfer a CDL from one state of domicile to a new state of domicile, an applicant must apply for a CDL from the new state within no more than 30 days after establishing that new domicile. Read the trigger carefully. The countdown starts when you establish domicile, not when you take a job, not when you first drive through, and not when your old license expires. Domicile is where you have your true, fixed and permanent home. If you sign a lease, register to vote, or otherwise settle in the new state, that is the event that starts the clock.
You cannot keep the old one
This is the part people get wrong, and it is not a formality. 49 CFR 383.21 states plainly that no person who operates a commercial motor vehicle shall at any time have more than one driver's license. When you transfer, 49 CFR 383.71(c) requires you to surrender the CDL from the old state of domicile to the new state. Holding licenses in two states is a serious violation, not an administrative slip. The whole reason the Commercial Driver's License Information System exists is to stop a driver from spreading violations across several licenses.
- Apply in the new state within 30 days of establishing domicile.
- Surrender your old state's CDL to the new state.
- Provide the names of every state where you have been licensed to drive any type of motor vehicle in the previous 10 years.
- Expect to self-certify your driving category again and to show a current medical examiner's certificate if you are in a non-excepted category.
Do you have to retake the tests?
Usually not for the class you already hold. A CDL is issued against federal standards, so a state accepting a transfer is accepting testing that already met those standards. What you are doing is a transfer, not a fresh application. Endorsements are where it gets less predictable. Some states accept your existing endorsements on transfer, others require you to retake the knowledge test for one or more of them. Hazmat is the reliable exception in the other direction: it involves a federal security threat assessment, so expect that process to restart rather than travel with you. Because this part genuinely varies, treat your new state's licensing agency as the authority rather than anything you read on a forum. Every state page on this site links to that agency.
The order that saves you a second trip
Transfers fail at the counter for boring reasons. Work through this before you go. Have proof of your new domicile, in the form the new state accepts. Have your current CDL from the old state, not a photocopy. Have your medical examiner's certificate if you self-certify as non-excepted, and check it will not expire in the middle of the process. Write down the states you have held any license in over the last decade, including a regular car license, because you are required to list them. If your medical card or your CDL is close to expiring, deal with the transfer first. Renewing in a state you are about to leave usually wastes the fee.