How to Get a CDL Permit in Pennsylvania

Submit a Commercial Learner's Permit Application (Form DL-31CD) along with a Self-Certification Form (DL-11CD), and pay the required fees. If you'll be operating "non-excepted" commercial vehicles, you'll also need a valid Medical Examiner's Certificate before anything else can move forward.

You'll need a noncommercial Pennsylvania driver's license already in hand — Pennsylvania doesn't let you start the CDL process from scratch without one.

PennDOT reviews your application and issues a Knowledge Test Authorization (KTA) listing the specific CDL classes, endorsements, and restriction removals you're testing for. Bring the KTA to a Driver License Center — you can't take the knowledge test without it.

Only after you pass does PennDOT actually issue the CLP itself. This two-step sequence (authorization, then test, then permit) is a genuine Pennsylvania-specific quirk — most states issue the CLP and knowledge test on the same visit.

You must be 18 to drive commercially within Pennsylvania, 21 to cross state lines or haul hazardous materials, and complete entry-level driver training (ELDT) through an FMCSA-registered provider before your skills test, all under federal rules that apply regardless of state.

Pennsylvania requires holding the CLP for at least 15 days before the skills test — a day longer than the 14-day federal floor most states use as-is. The CLP itself remains valid for 180 days.

Complete your behind-the-wheel ELDT hours, then schedule the Class A, B, or C skills test at a PennDOT-authorized location: pre-trip inspection, basic control maneuvers, and a road test.

Any endorsements (passenger, school bus, hazardous materials) require their own separate knowledge tests, layered onto this same KTA-first sequence.