NY.gov Portal State Agency Listing

Introduction

When you apply for an original NYS Commercial Driver License (Class A, B or C) or a renewal, you must certify that:

  • You did not hold a driver license in any state or in the District of Columbia except NYS in the last 10 years, or you must report every US state (or the District of Columbia) where you held a driver license in the last 10 years.
  • You meet, or you do not meet, the requirements of the Federal regulations in 49 CFR Part 391, which include a requirement for a medical examination.

49 CFR Part 391 Certification

The federal regulations include a requirement that a commercial driver have a medical examination every two years and receive a Medical Examiner's Certificate. The Medical Examiner's Certificate can be valid for no more than two years. The Medical Examiner's Certificate includes the license number of the medical examiner who completed the exam, the state that issued the medical license of the examiner, and the expiration date of the Medical Examiner's Certificate.

When you complete your application for an original or a renewal of a NYS CDL, you must either:

  • certify that you do not have a current, valid Medical Examiner's Certificate, or
  • certify that you have a current, valid Medical Examiner's Certificate, and provide the license number of the medical examiner, the state that issued the medical license of the examiner, and the expiration date of the Medical Examiner's Certificate.

If you certify that you do not have a current, valid Medical Examiner's Certificate, you cannot receive or renew your NYS CDL unless:

  • You have a current NYS CDL that has a "K" restriction, and
    • your NYS CDL expires before April 1, 2006, or
    • your NYS CDL was issued before September 9, 1999.

OR

  • You certify that you will only:
    • operate school buses to drive students from home to school or from school to home only*, or
    • operate municipal vehicles, or
    • operate both of these types of vehicles.

* This does not include operation of a bus to and from a day camp, even if the school bus is a yellow school bus.  You cannot have an A3 restriction with the exemption from the medical certification requirement if you transport children to and from a day camp in any type of bus.  Make sure you also read the FAQ about the CDL "S" endorsement exemption for day camp bus drivers.

If you make this certification, your CDL will have an "A3" restriction that allows you to operate only school buses and municipal vehicles.

If you are not qualified to renew your CDL because of these certification requirements, go to a local DMV office for information and to renew your NYS driver license.

It is a violation of law to operate a commercial motor vehicle unless:

  • you have a current, valid Medical Examiner's Certificate, or
  • you have a valid "K" restriction and operate a commercial motor vehicle only inside NYS, or
  • you have a valid "A3" restriction and operate only a school vehicle or municipal vehicle.

Restrictions Codes on your Driver License Document

The codes for your driver license restrictions appear next to the "R:" on the front of your photo driver license document. The codes are explained on the back of your photo driver license document.

How to Get a Medical Examiner's Certificate

To get a Medical Examiner's Certificate, you must get a medical examination from a licensed medical examiner. Licensed medical examiners include, but are not limited to, doctors of medicine (MD), doctors of osteopathy (DO), physician assistants (PA), advanced practice nurses (APN) or doctors of chiropractic (DC).

Contact your primary medical care provider, and ask if the provider can conduct the medical examination for a commercial motor vehicle driver known as a "US Department of Transportation (DOT) physical." You can also find a medical examiner to do the examination through the yellow pages of your telephone directory or an Internet search.

If the examiner does not have the examination instructions and form, download the form external link from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration web site. You must have a version number of 7.0 or later of Adobe Acrobat Reader® installed on your computer to download the form. The latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader® is free at the Adobe web site. external link

More Information

You can download the form MV-44.5 (Federal Requirements for Commercial Driver License (CDL) Applicants).  The web site of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FCMSA) external link has more information about the 49 CFR Part 391 regulation requirements and other Federal requirements for CDL drivers.