321.188 - COMMERCIAL DRIVER'S LICENSE REQUIREMENTS.
321.188 COMMERCIAL DRIVER'S LICENSE REQUIREMENTS. 1. Before the department issues, renews, or upgrades a commercial driver's license and in addition to the requirements of section 321.182, the license applicant shall do all of the following: a. Certify whether the applicant is subject to and meets applicable driver qualifications of 49 C.F.R. part 391 as adopted by rule by the department. b. Certify the applicant is not subject to any commercial driver's license disqualification and has committed no offense and has not acted in a manner which either alone or with previous actions or offenses could result in commercial driver's license disqualification. c. Successfully pass knowledge tests and driving skills tests which the department shall require by rule. The rules adopted shall substantially comply with the federal minimum testing and licensing requirements in 49 C.F.R. part 383, subparts E, G, and H as adopted by rule by the department. Except as required under 49 C.F.R. part 383, subpart E, G, or H, a commercial driver's license is renewable without a driving skills test within one year after its expiration date. d. Certify the vehicle to be operated in the driving skills tests represents the largest class of vehicle the applicant will operate on the highway. e. Certify that the applicant is a resident of Iowa or a resident of a foreign jurisdiction. f. Identify all states where the applicant has been licensed to drive any type of motor vehicle during the previous ten years. 2. An applicant for a commercial driver's license may substitute for a driving skills test the applicant's operating record and previous passage of a driving skills test or the applicant's operating record and previous driving experience if all of the following conditions exist: a. The applicant is currently licensed to operate a commercial motor vehicle. b. The applicant certifies that during the two years immediately preceding application all of the following apply: (1) The applicant has not held driver's licenses valid for the operation of commercial motor vehicles from more than one state simultaneously. (2) The applicant has not had any convictions which are federal commercial driver's license disqualifying offenses under 49 C.F.R. § 383.51 as adopted by rule by the department while operating any type of vehicle. (3) The applicant has not committed a traffic violation, other than a parking violation, arising in connection with a traffic accident. (4) No record of an accident exists for which the applicant was convicted of a moving traffic violation. (5) The applicant has not had any driver's license suspended, revoked, or canceled. c. The applicant provides evidence of and certifies that the applicant is employed in a job requiring operation of a commercial motor vehicle and the applicant has done one of the following: (1) Has previously passed a driving skills test given by this state or its designee in a motor vehicle representative of the class of motor vehicle the applicant will operate. (2) Has operated during the two-year period immediately preceding the application a motor vehicle representative of the class of motor vehicle the applicant will operate. 3. An applicant for a hazardous material endorsement must pass a knowledge test as required under 49 C.F.R. § 383.121 as adopted by rule by the department to obtain or retain the endorsement. However, an applicant for license issuance who was previously issued a commercial driver's license from another state may retain the hazardous material endorsement from the previously issued license if the applicant successfully passed the endorsement test within the preceding twenty-four months. Pursuant to procedures established by the department, an applicant for a hazardous material endorsement must also comply with the application and security threat assessment requirements established under 49 C.F.R. pt. 383, 384, and 1572. A hazardous material endorsement shall be revoked or denied if the department determines that the applicant has not complied with or met the security threat assessment standards. 4. The department shall check the applicant's driving record as maintained by the applicant's current licensing state, the national commercial driver's license information system, and the national driver register to determine whether the applicant qualifies to be issued a commercial driver's license. The department shall notify the national commercial driver's license information system of the issuance, renewal, or upgrade of a commercial driver's license. 5. A resident of this state holding a commercial driver's license issued by a former state of residence in conformity with the federal commercial driver testing and licensing standards shall not be required to take a knowledge or driving skills test prior to issuance of a commercial driver's license in this state, except a basic Iowa rules of the road knowledge test and, when applicable, motorcycle operator knowledge and driving skills tests. The commercial driver's license issued by this state shall be valid for operation of the same class of vehicles with the same endorsements and restrictions as in the former state of licensure. However, a person with a hazardous materials endorsement must comply with subsection 3.
Section History: Recent Form 90 Acts, ch 1230, § 34; 92 Acts, ch 1175, § 21; 98 Acts, ch 1073, §9, 10; 99 Acts, ch 96, §30--32; 2000 Acts, ch 1133, §4; 2004 Acts, ch 1013, §28, 35; 2006 Acts, ch 1068, §25 Referred to in § 321.180, 321.196