What Does a CDL License Cost?
For those who are interested in driving professionally, the cost of obtaining a CDL license might be problematic. There are costs associated with obtaining a CDL, from attending a certified professional trucking school to paying for the permit and road test. But it is an investment that can pay off once you hit the road to freedom.
Driving Academy offers CDL driver training at our Linden, NJ CDL school and other locations nationwide including in Florida, Indiana, New Jersey, and Oregon. Here, we discuss the costs associated with obtaining a CDL license.
What Is a CDL?
A CDL is a commercial driving license. It allows a person to drive large commercial vehicles, like tractor-trailers, box trucks, and buses.
At Driving Academy, we offer three CDL driver training programs, which students can complete before taking a licensure exam. Those programs align with the types of CDLs, which are:
- Class A CDL Training: A Class A CDL is a license for tractor-trailers and allows someone to drive a vehicle with a gross weight of 26,001 pounds or more, provided the towed vehicle is heavier than 10,000 pounds.
- Class B CDL Training: A Class B CDL is for box trucks and allows operators to drive a vehicle with a gross weight of 26,000 pounds or more without a trailer. If it has a trailer, the trailer must weigh less than 10,000 pounds.
- Class B+P CDL Training: A Class B+P CDL allows someone to drive a large passenger bus carrying 16 or more passengers, as well as any other Class B vehicle.
Costs Associated With Obtaining a CDL
CDL students may be concerned with the potential costs of earning their CDL license. There are a few costs associated with obtaining a CDL. Those include:
- Licensing fees: Each state has specific fees for CDLs, like application fees, knowledge test fees, and the cost of taking a road test. These fees can vary from state to state and usually range between $100 to $200 each.
- Medical exams: The Department of Transportation requires that new CDL drivers must have a physical examination. The cost of a physical varies on the medical provider and insurance copays.
- CDL training school: The cost of attending a CDL training school can vary greatly and depends on the length of the program. Some CDL training programs can cost over $10,000. At Driving Academy, we make it affordable. We offer payment plans that begin as low as $500 down. We can also work with you to come up with a custom payment plan for the rest of your CDL training. If you are interested in becoming a student at Driving Academy, reach out to us to learn more about the cost associated with one of our training programs. Most of our students invest around $5,500 into their CDL training.
- Endorsement costs: If you are looking to get an endorsement on your license for hauling hazardous materials or driving a school bus, there are extra costs associated with those. Reach out to your state’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) for individual costs associated with endorsements.
- Miscellaneous expenses: There can be other costs associated with obtaining a CDL. Those other expenses can include background checks, studying materials, or license renewals.
Invest in Your Future
Are you ready to hit the road and become a professional driver? Make Driving Academy the place where your career starts. At Driving Academy, we offer a guaranteed CDL training program. This program allows students to enroll in a program and have unlimited chances to pass the CDL exam. The course guarantees:
- Over 100 hours of CDL training
- Preparation for permit and road test
- Unlimited road test attempts
With the guaranteed program, Driving Academy promises students that they will pass their road test and only pay one price. As long as students keep trying, we won’t give up on them. We will help them gain the skills they need to pass their road test, even if it takes more than one time.
How else do we stand out from other CDL programs? Some of the other benefits of attending a Driving Academy program include:
- State-of-the-art training simulators that teach students how to drive manual transmissions, in realistic settings and weather situations
- Students accepted nationwide
- Pick your own training schedule
- Open seven days a week
- Certified third-party testing sites available for your road test
- Payment plans that start as low as $500 down
- Free lifetime job placement help for our graduates, connecting graduates with employers, even years after they have graduated
Get Trucking With Driving Academy
If you are ready to take the next step in your trucking career, contact Driving Academy. Our training perks keep you in control. Find what you are looking for in three easy steps:
Pick Your CDL Training Course
Find which training course fits your lifestyle and choose between attending classes on a full-time or part-time basis.
Pick Your Schedule
Driving Academy is open seven days a week, allowing you to customize a program to fit your needs. Full-time students train for eight hours a day, while part-time students train for four hours a day.
Pass Your Road Test
After completion of your CDL training, the last step is passing the two-and-a-half-hour CDL road test. The road test is broken down into three parts:
- Pre-trip inspection
- Parking
- Road driving
We’ll teach you how to drive manual and automatic transmissions, and you can choose which to take your road test on.
Get started today with practice permit tests, available online. Driving Academy is headquartered in Linden, New Jersey, and we serve students nationwide. More Driving Academy locations are always on the way. If you want to learn more about Driving Academy, take a virtual school tour, and then contact us or call 908-525-3609 to get started.