frenchyd said:
In reply to Don49 (Forum Supporter) :
Do you need a CDL for a Class 8 if it's a private coach? I know in Minnesota you need to pass the air brake test for anything with air brakes. Not hard if you read before. And it's a separate test.
Interesting thing is you don't get a air brake endorsement on your license. Instead you don't have a restriction.
A while ago USDOT tried to make a more standardized set of rules for heavy/commercial vehicles. What it ended up doing was causing states to make a bunch of changes. While the overlying US laws are now somewhat standard, each state has their own way of licensing it.
PA for example used to have three classes (plus motorcycle of course): Class C (normal stuff under 26k single), CDL-B (commercial, single vehicle over 26k, trailer under 15k), and CDL-A (commercial, single over 26k and trailer over 15k) Basically, passenger vehicles, buses, and tractor trailers.... which you know, being a bus driver. Another important distinction in PA is that the Class C restriction of trailer under 15k is not enforced for two reasons. 1) it's an outdated law and you can buy an F150 these days rated to tow 15k. New duallys are rated for well over 30k. 2) The only law enforcement entity who enforces weights is a specific department of the state police that only targets commercial vehicles. Non-commercial vehicles are mostly under the radar. Much like removing your catalytic converter in a county that doesn't do smog checks. It's still illegal, but there is no one who would notice it. A similar intersectionality happens if I were to purchase an MCI or Prevost motorcoach and convert it to an RV and title/register it as an RV. GVWR might be 32k, but since it's a "not-for-hire" motorhome, there is really no jurisdiction which would give me crap about driving it on a vanilla class-C license. Illegal by US transportation law, but since the US doesn't have highway patrol, there is no real agency that would pull me over.
After the USDOT changes, PA now added non-CDL versions of B and A, which is what the USDOT was kinda hoping. When I got my CDL, I had to have the commercial part on a class B with an air brake endorsement. Now I could drive one on a class C without air brake endorsement. The only need for the commercial part is if I'm getting paid to be in the driver's seat. It used to be that if I wanted to drive something with air brakes, I had to have a commercial license because that was the only way to get the endorsement. Now air brakes are free reign. I can rent a 26' box truck with air brakes on a Vanilla class C... as long as it's under 26k GVWR.
PA, like many other states, enforces many laws only if/after. There's a term for it and it's escaping my brain. For instance, everybody in PA posts on FB in the winter about remembering to clean the snow off the top of your car so you don't get a ticket. That isn't the case. It's not illegal to have snow on your car. If your snow flies off and breaks something, you can be cited for whatever law covers "loose E36 M3 falling off your vehicle" but you won't get a ticket for the snow. PA laws are sometimes like "you can weld a sword on your front bumper and we won't say anything, but if you stab someone, then we charge you with illegal bumper swording."