Question 1: What is the difference between a "Chauffeur License" and a Commercial Driver License (CDL)?

Guidance: Without being too technical, the "Chauffeur License" is a driver's license just as an "operator's license" is a driver's license. The State of Michigan requires its residents to obtain a "Chauffeur License" if they are employed for the principal purpose of operating a commercial motor vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or more. The CDL (although it is called a license) is really a privilege required and granted by the state to operate a larger sized commercial motor vehicle.

Upon meeting the testing requirements for a CDL, a Michigan resident will have a CDL vehicle designator (A, B or C), representative of the type of vehicle he/she is permitted to operate, added to his/her "Chauffeur License." In some cases, the CDL privilege can be added to an operator's license.

The key point is that a resident of Michigan cannot merely apply for a CDL. There must be an existing driver's license (chauffeur or operator) for the CDL privilege to be added.

Guidance: A farm vehicle driver, by definition, is exempt from CDL requirements. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations - Part 390 define a farm vehicle driver as a person who drives only a commercial motor vehicle that is:

(a) Controlled and operated by a farmer as a private motor carrier of property;

(b) Being used to transport either:

(1) Agricultural products, or

(2) Farm machinery, farm supplies or both, to or from a farm;

(c) Not being used in the operation of a for-hire motor carrier;

(d) Not carrying hazardous materials of a type or quantity that requires the commercial motor vehicle to be placarded in accordance with 177.823 of this subtitle; and

(e) Being used within 150 air miles of the farmer's farm.

If all of the requirements (listed above) cannot be met, the driver ceases to be a farm vehicle driver and CDL requirements would apply. Example: If operating a vehicle requiring a CDL and traveling beyond 150 miles from the farm, he/she would have to possess a CDL.

Question 3: I operate a straight truck with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 26,000 pounds but have registered the vehicle (in Michigan) for 28,000 pounds. Am I required to obtain a CDL?

Guidance: No. The (truck) CDL requirements contained in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations ? Part 382 are based on vehicle weight ratings or the need to placard a vehicle for hazardous materials. The GVWR for a straight truck (non-placarded) must be 26,001 pounds or more before a CDL is required, regardless of registered weight and/or actual loaded weight.

Question 4: Is a CDL required for a commercial motor vehicle (truck) equipped with air brakes, even though the weight rating is 26,000 pounds or less?

Guidance: No. Air brakes do not establish any requirements for CDL.

Question 5: In Michigan, what is "special mobile equipment?"

Guidance: Michigan Act 300 of 1949, chapter 257, section 16, defines "special mobile equipment" as every vehicle not designed or used primarily for the transportation of persons or property and incidentally operated or moved over the highways, including farm tractors, road construction or maintenance machinery , mobile office trailers, mobile tool shed trailers, mobile trailer units used for housing stationary construction equipment, ditch-digging apparatus, and well-boring and well-servicing apparatus. The foregoing enumeration shall be considered partial and shall not operate to exclude other vehicles which are within the general terms of this definition. Although not within the general terms of this definition, the combination of a mobile car crusher trailer permanently attached to a truck-tractor or road tractor shall be considered special mobile equipment for purposes of this Act (Act 300 of 1949)

Question 6: Is a person who operates special mobile equipment over the highway required to obtain a commercial driver license (CDL)?

Guidance: Yes, if the special mobile equipment is of a size requiring a CDL. Additionally, compliance with all state and federal safety regulations is required for operation of any vehicle that meets the definition of a commercial motor vehicle.