Hot Shot - And CDL Requirements

[Bill D]

There is some special endorsement required for air brakes. You can not have blue lights on the vehicle. If you are a mechanic doing a test drive they must be covered by a cloth bag unless you have the special emergency flashing light drivers license.
BilL D

 

[Ox]

There is some special endorsement required for air brakes. You can not have blue lights on the vehicle. If you are a mechanic doing a test drive they must be covered by a cloth bag unless you have the special emergency flashing light drivers license.
BilL D

OK, well that sounds like back in the 80's when we were all told that we needed to have the KC Daylighters on our roll bars covered to go down the road. (I never had any any KC's or roll bars, but...)
Not that I ever knew anyone getting a ticket for it....

And then now, 35-40 yrs later we are bombarded with dim lights that out power anything that passed as "bright" back then, and then every other person has to run their fogs as well. (knowingly or not)

Going out for a night drive can almost lead to welder burnt eyes these days!
And someone / some where is concerned about a blue light that's not turned on?

I git that you are just the quoting law, but ....


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Think Snow Eh!
Ox

 

[Rob F.]

Going out for a night drive can almost lead to welder burnt eyes these days!
And someone / some where is concerned about a blue light that's not turned on?

I git that you are just the quoting law, but ....


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Think Snow Eh!
Ox

Never underestimate the ability of the California government to over regulate any and everything....

 

[Steve in SoCal]

There is some special endorsement required for air brakes. You can not have blue lights on the vehicle. If you are a mechanic doing a test drive they must be covered by a cloth bag unless you have the special emergency flashing light drivers license.
BilL D

IDK about 'special endorsements" a class A or B CDL may have restrictions like no air brakes or auto trans only. There are some states that have an air brake endorsment for exempt license holders. Gramps can drive his diesel pusher with air brakes in most states without any extra endorsment or training.

CDL requirements are federal that states administer, an unrestricted class A CDL in every state allows you to operate a combination vehicle with air brakes UNLESS you test in a vehicle with hydraulic brakes. In that case you are limited or restricted to only vehicles with hydraulic brakes. Same thing goes for testing in a truck with an automated manual transmission AMT or heavy truck auto trans, you would be restricted to only these kinds of trucks. Either of these would require a road test/pre-trip to remove.

 

[triumph406]

Same thing goes for testing in a truck with an automated manual transmission AMT or heavy truck auto trans, you would be restricted to only these kinds of trucks. Either of these would require a road test/pre-trip to remove.

A friend was a dispatcher for CR England, said they had trouble getting drivers who could drive Semis with Manual transmissions

Another friend drives for Fed-Ex at nights. He's one of just a couple of drivers at his depot who can drive a semi with a manual transmission. He says it's great because nobody else drives his truck. Apparently when Fed-Ex was hiring drivers recently, all the recently qualified drivers could only drive trucks with automatic transmissions.

 

[Bill D]

I do not know about the law but school bus drivers have to get a certificate for air brakes to drive the bigger busses. Many who drive the short busses are not allowed to drive the longer air brake buses. A school bus driver license is a special class maybe the same as taxi and Limo?
BilLl D.

 

[Bill D]

What I do not like are the blue headlights. For some reson the DMV has not figured out how to ban them. Blue lights are illegal but the blue headlights are somehow not considered blue enough to ban. Heck fire trucks and ambulances can not show blue lights but civilian cars can?
BilL D

 

[Ox]

I do not know about the law but school bus drivers have to get a certificate for air brakes to drive the bigger busses. Many who drive the short busses are not allowed to drive the longer air brake buses. A school bus driver license is a special class maybe the same as taxi and Limo?
BilLl D.

Yes, that is a completely different class of requirements there, but yes, would need the same air brake endorsement.

You can git a Class A without the air brake adder if you have no expectation of ever driving an air brake rig.
(Hot shot)


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Think Snow Eh!
Ox

 

[john.k]

I dont see what the difference is ........I do recall that back in the day ,air brake trucks had to have a big rear sign,so as two wheel brake Dodges and Fords didnt crash into them following too close .........the big double reduction Timkens always had either "Kilroy" ,or "Smile as You Go Under" painted on the bowl .........the army regulation was the lower half painted white.

 

[john.k]

As a kid ,all I ever wanted to do was drive interstate ......now ,you wont get me out the gate .......... Ive still got three years to go on all my semi and combination licenses .......no way I d risk the stupid fines on truck drivers here .............which is why there are so many Iraquis and Indians driving trucks on visas .......big penalty ,next flight back.

 

[Rob F.]

Mad Max meets semi truck: You need more than a special license to drive this rig, you need X-ray vission to see through all those blowers....

 

[gbent]

There is no such thing as an air brake endorsement, only a no air brake restriction. Then there are a couple of different no air brake restrictions, depending on whether you took your CDL test and couldn't pass the air brake part of the walk around, or if you took your test in a vehicle with juice brakes. There are also no manual transmission restrictions if you took your test in a truck with an automatic.

Passenger (P) and school bus (S) endorsements are now separate.

 

[Ox]

Not sure if I ever knew this and forgot, or maybe never thought about it before ...
And with the change in the 26K min requirement, that may have changed anyhow...

So, does anyone know:

At what point does the "Hours Of Service" limits come into play?

Is it ever an issue in a situation where you are not required to have a CDL?

Can you show any link showing this?


Here is the breakdown of the limits, but I haven't found the application mins.

Summary of Hours of Service Regulations | FMCSA

The following table summarizes the HOS regulations for property-carrying and passenger-carrying drivers.

www.fmcsa.dot.gov

I see that they have a 2 hour provission for "adverse weather". IDK if that is new or not? I never heard of that before. (???) That should REALLY help with the trucks that won't slow down even in bad weather - b/c they don't have any spare time to make their destination - before their HOS puts them out. Which is for sure one of the worst parts of the electric logs for sure, but I really haven't been out on the roads in the winter enough the last few years to say if it's still a thing or not?



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Think Snow Eh!
Ox

 

[Ox]

OK, I found a page that works.

Hours of Service (HOS) | FMCSA

Most drivers must follow the HOS Regulations if they drive a commercial motor vehicle, or CMV. In general, a CMV is a vehicle that is used as part of a business and is involved in interstate commerce and fits any of these descriptions: Weighs 10,001 pounds or more Has a gross vehicle weight...

www.fmcsa.dot.gov

And it DOES mention the updates in 2020, one of which allows the 2hr weather permit.
Now IM/HO that cuts 2 ways.

A) It gives a driver the ability to slow down and take time as needed.
B) But if 11 hours of routine driving is max safe, then 13 white knuckles is OK?

It's still gotta be WAY better than these guuys still trying to run 70 on icey roads and puting everyone at risk.

Catch tho is that you will now git a late start tomorrow as you still need the 10 hrs off, so ....


Down at the bottom of that page - it states that the HOS is applicable to anyone "commercial" over 10K# basically.
Not just CDL drivers.
That is not listed as a 2020 change, so it must have always been that way.


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Think Snow Eh!
Ox

 

[john.k]

I really like the crazy hillbilly hot rods made from big truck bits,and a 12/71 GM ..... the driver sitting so low that there is no way they can see around the motor and radiator .......on utube is a hillbilly hotrod towing a trailer full of similar junk ,like crazy tractors with 16/71s in them.......love it.

 

[Ultradog MN]

This thread reminds me I need to renew my driver's licence soon.
I haven't done it yet because I am still hemming and hawing whether to renew my CDL or finally let it go.
Have had it since 1981 but haven't driven anything near 26K in 35 years.
Just kept it up for bragging rights I guess.
No real advantage to keeping it really.
At 70 yo I doubt I'll ever need it.
Advantages to letting it go are renewal is about $30 cheaper and I could drive with a blood alchohol level of .08 instead of only .04 but that ain't a factor either.
I'm curious what you guys would do...

 

[Rob F.]

This thread reminds me I need to renew my driver's licence soon.
I haven't done it yet because I am still hemming and hawing whether to renew my CDL or finally let it go.
Have had it since 1981 but haven't driven anything near 26K in 35 years.
Just kept it up for bragging rights I guess.
No real advantage to keeping it really.
At 70 yo I doubt I'll ever need it.
Advantages to letting it go are renewal is about $30 cheaper and I could drive with a blood alchohol level of .08 instead of only .04 but that ain't a factor either.
I'm curious what you guys would do...

As soon as you dont have it Mr Murphy will be sure that you wish you still did. If the $30 is not a problem then why not keep it?

 

[Mud]

This thread reminds me I need to renew my driver's licence soon.
I haven't done it yet because I am still hemming and hawing whether to renew my CDL or finally let it go.
Have had it since 1981 but haven't driven anything near 26K in 35 years.
Just kept it up for bragging rights I guess.
No real advantage to keeping it really.
At 70 yo I doubt I'll ever need it.
Advantages to letting it go are renewal is about $30 cheaper and I could drive with a blood alchohol level of .08 instead of only .04 but that ain't a factor either.
I'm curious what you guys would do...

FWIW - I was stopped once in the last 20+ years. It was for going 35+ MPH over the limit on a motorcycle. Cop said "You have 2 things going for you. You were respectful to me, and I see you have a CDL. We don't like to take away your way to make a living". He gave me a money only ticket, no points, and he could have taken my license for 35 over.

 

[john.k]

Question is do you want to be one of those guys carting old Cats and IHs around to machinery shows......all on your own dime..........feller I used to do work for has a giant 6 cyl diesel mounted on a special built trailer ,plus restored antique prime mover ......must gross 30 tons ......and its at shows for maybe 3 startups a day...........yeah ,I know if no one does it,there would be no machinery shows..........Its OK for guys still in business that can take the cost off their tax .