By Evan Reid, Founder of Haul Handbook · Updated Sep 27, 2026
Quick answers for Arkansas CDL applicants
Use this page to answer the four searches most CDL applicants make before choosing a school or booking a test: what the state charges, which class of license the work needs, where the skills test is handled, and whether the state adds anything beyond federal ELDT.
- Published fee lines
- 3
- Skills testing
- the agency's own examiners
- Training rule
- Federal ELDT applies
- License class
- A, B or C, set by the truck
Amounts below come from Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration (DFA), Office of Driver Services.
Booking points to telegov.egov.com/aspdlskills.
State-specific ELDT notes are cited below.
Federal definitions, rendered below with the fee and test facts.
What an Arkansas CDL costs
These are the license-side fees Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration (DFA), Office of Driver Services publishes; training tuition is a separate, school-set cost covered in our CDL training cost guide. A line reading "Not confirmed" means the agency publishes no figure; the note beside it says what the agency does say.
- Commercial Learner's Permit
- DFA's CLP page publishes no permit fee, and the $50 application fee in § 27-23-110(a)(2) is stated for the commercial driver license, so no CLP amount is recorded. Each knowledge test carries the ASP examination fee described under tests.Term: Up to 1 year; after expiry the holder retakes the general and endorsement knowledge tests
- Commercial driver license application fee
- $50 (5 years)Ark. Code Ann. § 27-23-110(a)(2) sets a $50 application fee, and § 27-23-111(e) issues a CDL for five years. DFA's Recent Changes in the Law page records Act 753 of 2021 raising the CDL fee from $40 for four years to $50 for five years, effective January 1, 2022. Knowledge and skills test fees are separate.
- Commercial driver license renewal
- $50 (5 years)A renewing driver completes the § 27-23-110(a) application (§ 27-23-111(g)), and DFA states the CDL fee as $50 for a five-year license. Keeping a hazardous materials endorsement means passing the hazmat knowledge test again at renewal. The Office of Driver Services may shorten or extend terms, with a matching fee adjustment, to balance renewals across fiscal years (§ 27-23-111(f)).
Endorsement fees
Endorsements ride on the base license; hazmat also carries a federal background check handled outside the license fee. Our hazmat endorsement guide covers that federal layer.
Scroll sideways to see every column.
Test fees
Scroll sideways to see every column.
Other published fee lines
Arkansas fixes the CDL application fee in statute and leaves the per-test examination fee to Arkansas State Police regulation under a $50 cap; DFA's pages publish no CLP or endorsement fee.
Which class of CDL the work needs
The class is set by what you drive, and the definitions are federal: Arkansas issues licenses against these three rather than writing its own. Pick the class by the heaviest combination you will actually operate, because the skills test is taken in a vehicle of that class.
- Class A
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combination weight rating or gross combination weight of 26,001 pounds or more (whichever is greater), inclusive of a towed unit or units with a gross vehicle weight rating or gross vehicle weight of more than 10,000 pounds.
- Class B
- Any single vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating or gross vehicle weight of 26,001 pounds or more, or such a vehicle towing a vehicle not exceeding 10,000 pounds GVWR or gross vehicle weight.
- Class C
- Any single vehicle or combination that does not meet Class A or B but is designed to transport 16 or more passengers including the driver, or transports placarded hazardous materials or select agents.
- Which class a hotshot needs
- A hotshot combination needs a Class A CDL when the greater of its GCWR or actual combination weight reaches 26,001 pounds and the greater of the towed unit’s rating or actual weight exceeds 10,000 pounds. Check Class B for a heavy single vehicle and Class C for passenger or hazardous-material use. Federal registration requirements depend separately on the operation.
Endorsements ride on whichever class you hold; the hazmat endorsement guide covers the one carriers ask about most, and CDL versus non-CDL driving covers the boundary case of trucks that stay under the threshold. If the plan is a specific vehicle rather than a license, hotshot trucking and the box truck business guide walk what each one requires end to end.
Who gives the skills test in Arkansas
States split between running CDL skills tests themselves and certifying third-party testers; it changes where you book and who you pay.
- Testing model
- The Arkansas State Police gives the CDL written test at all of its troop testing sites and the skills test only at six troop locations: Troop A Little Rock, Troop B Newport, Troop G Hope, Troop I Harrison, Troop J Russellville, and Troop L Lowell. Bring a properly functioning commercial motor vehicle, proof of legal presence, a driver's license, the CLP, the CDL-1 forms from a DFA revenue office, wheel chocks, and an empty trailer or tank. A CLP holder may not take the skills test in the first 14 days after the permit issues. Ark. Code Ann. § 27-23-108 lets the State Police designate third-party skills testers by rule, but the ASP page names only the troop sites.
- Scheduling
- The ASP Driver Examination page links an online scheduler for skills and knowledge tests statewide. telegov.egov.com/aspdlskills
- Before you apply
- To hold a CLP: a valid driver's license from the same state that issues the CLP, age 18 or older, and a passed general knowledge test for the vehicle the driver will operate. The CLP is a precondition to a first CDL and to any upgrade that needs a skills test, and its holder may not take the skills test in the first 14 days after it issues.
Every applicant also needs a current medical certificate; our DOT physical guide covers the exam that produces it. Not sure your truck even needs a CDL? Start with CDL vs non-CDL.
The federal training rule, then Arkansas's position
Entry-level driver training (ELDT) is federal: it applies in every state before the tests it gates, and the training must come from a provider on FMCSA's registry. The full walkthrough lives in our how to get a CDL guide.
- Who must train
- First-time Class A or Class B applicants; Class B holders upgrading to Class A; First-time S, P, or H endorsement applicants
- Registry requirement
- Entry-level driver training means training received from an entity listed on FMCSA's Training Provider Registry, completed before taking the CDL skills test for a first or upgraded Class A or Class B CDL, before the skills test for a first P or S endorsement, or before the knowledge test for a first H endorsement. You must complete training with a provider listed on the registry.
- States may add more
- States with training requirements that exceed the federal minimum standard may prohibit you from taking the skills test, or the knowledge test for the H endorsement, until you meet their state requirements as well as the federal ones. Federal rules also allow you to receive training and take the CDL skills test in a state other than the state you are licensed in.
DFA's Entry Level Driver Training page carried no body text when read, so it settles nothing beyond the federal rule. Arkansas does add a separate state step for Class A: Ark. Code Ann. § 27-23-108(e) (Act 922 of 2017) issues a Class A CDL only after a human trafficking prevention course approved by the State Police or Truckers Against Trafficking certification, and a renewing Class A holder who completed it once does not repeat it.
The official manual and where this fits
The knowledge tests come straight from the state's own manual, so study the agency's current edition: Arkansas Commercial Driver's License Manual (March 2025). The CDL licenses you as a driver; if the plan is your own trucks and your own freight, the business side runs on its own track through start a trucking company in Arkansas.
If you searched for Arkansas CDL requirements, go here next
Still deciding if you need a CDL?
Start with the vehicle weight and use case. The national guide explains the CDL threshold before you pay for a permit or training.
Compare CDL vs non-CDLReady to drive under your own authority?
The CDL is the driver credential. Operating authority, IRP, IFTA, insurance, and permits are the business credential stack.
See the Arkansas startup sequence