By Evan Reid, Founder of Haul Handbook · Updated Jul 30, 2026
Quick answers for Michigan CDL applicants
Use this page to answer the three searches most CDL applicants make before choosing a school or booking a test: what the state charges, where the skills test is handled, and whether the state adds anything beyond federal ELDT.
- Published fee lines
- 12
- Skills testing
- state-certified third-party testers
- Training rule
- Federal ELDT applies
Amounts below come from Michigan Department of State (Secretary of State).
Booking points to michigan.gov/sos/industry-services/driver-testing-businesses-and-examiners.
State-specific ELDT notes are cited below.
What a Michigan CDL costs
These are the license-side fees Michigan Department of State (Secretary of State) 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 (CLP)
- MDOS publishes no price for the commercial learner's permit. The License and ID information fee table lists no permit line among the commercial amounts, and the CDL application page describes the permit without a figure. The one counter charge the page does flag comes later: after the skills test the applicant returns to a Secretary of State office for a CDL temporary permit and the page says only that a fee will be due. Confirm the amount at the office rather than budgeting a guess.
- Standard commercial driver's license, first-time
- $25 (4 years, expiring on the driver's birthday)The enhanced commercial driver's license costs the same first-time amount. MDOS states on the same page that a Michigan driver's license or ID expires on the holder's birthday every four years.
- Standard commercial driver's license, renewal
- $25 (4 years, expiring on the driver's birthday)The enhanced commercial driver's license renews at the same amount. A hazardous materials endorsement blocks online renewal, so that renewal is an office visit with a written hazmat knowledge test and a current Transportation Security Administration background record check.
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
Scroll sideways to see every column.
Michigan splits its CDL money across two published places and one unpublished one. The License and ID information page carries the commercial license and endorsement amounts. The CDL application page carries the two charges an applicant meets at the counter after the skills test. The skills test itself has no published price at all, because the state does not set it. Training tuition is set by the entry-level driver training provider and never appears on a state fee table.
Who gives the skills test in Michigan
States split between running CDL skills tests themselves and certifying third-party testers; it changes where you book and who you pay.
- Testing model
- Michigan does not run the CDL skills test itself. MDOS states that driving skills tests are provided through public and private Driver Testing Businesses approved by the state to administer the CDL skills tests, and that the Michigan Department of State does not set driving skills test fees, which may vary between driver testing businesses. Knowledge tests stay with the state: they are given in written form at a computer testing station, a minimum score of 80 percent passes each one, and an applicant may take only one test per day from each testing category. After the commercial learner's permit issues, the applicant practices under a supervising CDL holder for at least 14 days, then books the skills test at least 2 days before the eligible date. Skills test results are good for one year from the test date, and letting that year lapse means retaking every required test.
- Scheduling
- MDOS runs an online locator for driver testing business locations and lists approved businesses and examiners on its industry services page. The knowledge tests and the final license transaction are booked separately as a Secretary of State office visit. michigan.gov/sos/industry-services/driver-testing-businesses-and-examiners
- Before you apply
- A Michigan CDL applicant visits a Secretary of State office with a current valid Michigan driver's license, proof of legal presence in the United States, and proof of a Social Security number, plus proof of a Federal Security Threat Assessment when applying for a hazardous materials endorsement. A CDL is required to operate a vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of 26,001 pounds or more, a combination towing a trailer rated 10,001 pounds or more where the combination rating is 26,001 pounds or more, a vehicle designed to transport 16 or more people including the driver, or a vehicle carrying hazardous materials in amounts requiring placards. Drivers between 18 and 21 may operate a commercial vehicle only inside Michigan; interstate work and placarded hazmat both need age 21. Michigan layers a chauffeur's license underneath all of that, which most states do not have: it is required of a driver employed for the principal purpose of operating a vehicle or combination with a GVWR, GCWR, GCW, or GVW of 10,000 pounds or more, or operating a motor vehicle as a carrier of passengers or as a common or contract carrier of property, and the CDL group designations and endorsements are added to that credential. Farmers operating within a 150-mile radius of their farm need no CDL at all, and an F endorsement, which is not a CDL, covers combination vehicles whose towing vehicle is rated 26,001 pounds or more.
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 Michigan'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.
Michigan restates the federal entry-level driver training rule and adds no state training standard of its own. MDOS points applicants at the FMCSA Training Provider Registry, confirms a commercial learner's permit may be issued before the training is finished, and requires a first-time hazardous materials applicant to complete the hazardous portion of the training before the written knowledge test is given at a Secretary of State office. For every other class and endorsement the applicant may take knowledge tests and hold the permit first, but must finish the training before booking a skills test with a driver testing business. Completion posts to the state system automatically through the federal Commercial Skills Test Information Management System, and MDOS states there are no minimum training hours. Drivers who received a Class A or B permit before February 7, 2022 are outside the rule until that permit expires.
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: Michigan Commercial Driver License Manual. 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 Michigan.
If you searched for Michigan 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 Michigan startup sequenceFrequently asked questions
Who gives the CDL skills test in Michigan?
- Michigan does not run the CDL skills test itself. MDOS states that driving skills tests are provided through public and private Driver Testing Businesses approved by the state to administer the CDL skills tests, and that the Michigan Department of State does not set driving skills test fees, which may vary between driver testing businesses. Knowledge tests stay with the state: they are given in written form at a computer testing station, a minimum score of 80 percent passes each one, and an applicant may take only one test per day from each testing category. After the commercial learner's permit issues, the applicant practices under a supervising CDL holder for at least 14 days, then books the skills test at least 2 days before the eligible date. Skills test results are good for one year from the test date, and letting that year lapse means retaking every required test.
Does Michigan require training beyond the federal ELDT rule?
- Michigan restates the federal entry-level driver training rule and adds no state training standard of its own. MDOS points applicants at the FMCSA Training Provider Registry, confirms a commercial learner's permit may be issued before the training is finished, and requires a first-time hazardous materials applicant to complete the hazardous portion of the training before the written knowledge test is given at a Secretary of State office. For every other class and endorsement the applicant may take knowledge tests and hold the permit first, but must finish the training before booking a skills test with a driver testing business. Completion posts to the state system automatically through the federal Commercial Skills Test Information Management System, and MDOS states there are no minimum training hours. Drivers who received a Class A or B permit before February 7, 2022 are outside the rule until that permit expires.
Where do the Michigan CDL fees on this page come from?
- Every dollar amount renders from Michigan Department of State (Secretary of State)'s own published fee schedule, cited beside the figure. When the agency publishes no figure for a line, this page shows the agency's own note instead of a guess.
Do I need my CDL before starting a trucking company?
- They are separate tracks: the CDL licenses the driver, while operating authority licenses the business. Most owner-operators finish the CDL first because revenue depends on it, then file the business-side registrations. The state startup guide linked on this page covers that second track in order.
Haul Handbook publishes educational information about trucking registration and compliance requirements. This is not legal, financial, or tax advice. Rules, fees, and deadlines change; confirm with the agency before you file or pay.